Remembering Rev. Jesse Jackson, Trump and others share tributes

Late civil rights leader Jesse Jackson’s activism extended far beyond the United States. He made several high-profile international mediation efforts as an unofficial envoy for humanitarian causes, using personal diplomacy to free hostages and prisoners of war.

In 1984, Jackson traveled to Syria and helped secure the release of US Navy Lieutenant Robert Goodman, whose plane was shot down over Lebanon before he was taken as prisoner of war by Syrian troops.

The same year, the civil rights leader also helped get dozens of American and Cuban political prisoners released by then-Cuban leader Fidel Castro in 1984, traveling to Havana to bring them to the US. He was vocal in his criticism of US foreign policy on Cuba, stressing the need for dialogue between the two countries.

In 1990 Jackson met with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to secure the release of hundreds of people being held captive as “human shields” following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Following the talks, Iraq released several detained Americans who left with Jackson.

Jackson’s negotiation and diplomacy efforts also helped free an American who was held captive by guerillas in Colombia, and secured the release of Americans serving prison sentences in Gambia.

Jackson was also outspoken on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, lending support for a two-state solution and arguing that peace requires mutual recognition of both Israeli and Palestinian rights.

In a 1986 interview with the Journal of Palestine Studies, Jackson said the Palestinians must recognize “Israel’s right to exist in security.”

“Likewise, the Israelis must recognize the Palestinians’ right to a homeland, to a state,” he added.

In recognition of his decades-long civil rights activism and international humanitarian diplomacy, Jackson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000, the highest honor given to civilians in the US.