Howard Gutman

Howard William Gutman is a lawyer, actor and former United States Ambassador to Belgium. After being nominated as Ambassador by United States President Barack Obama, Gutman was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 29, 2009 and sworn in as Ambassador on August 14, 2009.

Speaking at a legal conference on antisemitism organized by the European Jewish Union on November 30, 2011, Gutman talked about historic antisemitism, as well as a trend he described as a tension and perhaps hatred largely born of and reflecting the tension...in the Middle East over the continuing IsraeliPalestinian problem. He added that an IsraeliPalestinian peace treaty will significantly diminish Muslim antiSemitism. The comments were then misquoted in what Salon, the Economist and Mother Jones then demonstrated was a woefully inaccurate account of his remarks. Reliance on the misquotes led to high profile criticism from a number of rival politicians, including Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry as well as Abraham Foxman of the AntiDefamation League. Gutman issued a statement saying I deeply regret if my comments were taken the wrong way, highlighting his history of condemning and combating antisemitism, and making reference to his backgrou

Source: Wikipedia