Wiesenthal Center grants Nikki Haley Humanitarian Laureate Award
The award was granted to her by Rabbi Marvin Hier for her "courage and compassion in protecting global human rights and the State of Israel," the Wiesenthal Center wrote in a press release.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFRobert Hartman SWC Trustee, Stuart Isen SWC Trustee, Dawn Arnall SWC Board of Trustees and Chairperson MOTJ Capital Campaign, Nikki Haley Former U.S. Ambassador, Rabbi Hier SWC Founder and Dean, Mary Hart and Burt Sugarman SWC Trustees(photo credit: SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER)
The Simon Wiesenthal Center awarded former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley with its highest honor - the Humanitarian Laureate Award - at its Midwest Region’s 2019 Spirit of Courage Benefit dinner in Chicago on Thursday.The award was granted to her by Rabbi Marvin Hier for her "courage and compassion in protecting global human rights and the State of Israel," the Wiesenthal Center wrote in a press release.Haley spoke about her upbringing at the event, telling the audience how being raised in an Indian immigrant family led her to feel like an "other" in the United States, but eventually made her stronger and feel pride in being an American.Haley pointed to the worsening political climate, adding: “There is true evil in the world and we must come together to fight for human rights around the world.”“Nikki Haley personifies the legacy of Simon Wiesenthal, who reminded the world that freedom is not a gift from heaven, rather, it is something that we must fight for each and every day,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Weisenthal Center.After the event, Haley thanked the organization for the honor on Twitter, calling the event "a great night."The former ambassador earned respect and adoration from Israel supporters around the world for her frank talk regarding the Jewish state while serving as envoy to the United Nations.She also helped spearhead the US's defunding of UNRWA, an organization that assists Palestinian refugees and their decendants. Haley and the Trump administration took the organization to task for its broad definition of what it means to be a refugee, including in the tally children and grandchildren of those forced to leave their homes in 1948.“We will be a donor if it reforms what it does,” she said of UNRWA, “if they actually change the number of refugees to an accurate account, we will look back at partnering them.”
