more on carter...

David Brog is Executive Director of Christians United for Israel (CUFI)

Jimmy Carter Crosses the Line- April 21, 2008

I've been very slow to sour on Jimmy Carter.  Yes, he has become increasingly one-sided in his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  And yes, he has demonstrated a troubling tendency to coddle dictators while holding Israel under the most powerful of microscopes.  But I've always remembered that this was the man who helped to engineer a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.  The fact that Israel's southern border with Egypt is quiet is thanks in large part to Jimmy Carter.

My reservoir of good will for Jimmy Carter is now bone dry.  Carter has now crossed a bright red line.  He has taken actions that no reasonable interlocutor can take.  He has met with and literally embraced the leaders of Hamas. 

We and he all know what Hamas is.  Hamas is an organization that has never renounced terrorism but which actively promotes and celebrates it.  Hamas is an organization that does not recognize Israel but loudly calls for her destruction.   Hamas does not participate in the peace process because Hamas rejects the foundational principle of the peace process: mutual recognition.  While Israel, the United States and the European Union work to isolate Hamas, Carter has now chosen to end this isolation with his warm embrace. 

The double standard implicit in this meeting shocks the conscience.  Would Carter hug Osama bin Laden?  I don't think so.  But what is the difference between Hamas and al Qaeda?  They both embrace terror, and they have both amassed grisly body counts to demonstrate the depth of their depravity.  As far as I can tell, they differ only in their choice of target.  Bin Laden targets Americans, among others.  Hamas targets Israelis.  And when the victims are Israelis, Carter seems much quicker to forgive and forget.

Beyond his moral blindness, Carter's naivete is quite shocking.  Upon leaving his meeting with Hamas' leader Khalid Meshal, Carter announced that Hamas would support any peace deal reached between Israel and the Palestinians so long as it was approved by a referendum of the Palestinian people.  Poor Jimmy Carter.  Did it not occur to him that people who are so callous with thier bombs and missiles might not be so careful with their words?  By the end of the day, a Hamas spokesman clarified that Hamas would not be bound by any such referendum.  By word and deed, Hamas remains an enemy of peace. 

So much for Jimmy Carter.  He's worn out his credibility and his welcome.  It's time to move on to more relevant topics.