Jimmy Carter has been occupied during his visit to the Palestinian territory with trying to build a bridge with the leaders of Hamas who support the myths found in The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, and who refuse to support a Jewish state. Carter believes that peace between Israel and the PA cannot be reached unless or until Hamas is directly engaged in the process. He also believes that Hamas and Fatah must reunite to engage in successful dialogue with Israel.
The former president talked with the media after a meeting with President Bashar Assad of Syria and prior to a meeting with Khaled Mashaal, Hamas’ exiled leader, in Damascus. Carter has met with Mashaal three times during the past year.
His last meeting with Mashaal took place during the final days of the George W. Bush administration when Mr. Carter defied the State Department and met with the terrorist leader. His current trip is just days before George Mitchell, President Obama’s special envoy, is scheduled to visit Damascus.
The former president outlined in his most recent book, We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan that Will Work, a solution he feels is very straightforward: Israel should embrace the plan put forth by the EU, UN, Arab League, the U.S. and Russia. The plan is also backed by a group known simply as The Elders, an idea formulated by British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and musician Peter Gabriel to create a world council of elders to tackle issues such as peace in the Middle East.
Jimmy Carter and the CarterCenter are heavily involved with this endeavor. Carter is one of three appointed as Elders to the Middle East. The delegation’s objectives were met with skepticism by the Israelis, but according to Mr. Carter, were eagerly embraced by the “Palestinians, peace groups and human rights activists in the region.”
Carter’s plan is to allow the Quartet to solve the Middle East problem. He calls for peace-loving organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas and states like Iran and Syria to be involved in the negotiating process in order to have peace in the Holy Land. He refers to Jews again and again as “radicals,” another word for terrorists. He called Menachem Begin a “radical” and then went on to describe him as the “most notorious terrorist in the region.” Of course, he said the British said that, not him. Carter describes Benjamin Netanyahu as a “key political associate and naysayer” who was strongly opposed to Israel relinquishing control over the Sinai.
The former president wrote that Begin agreed to divide Jerusalem. I found that to be astonishing…especially since Mr. Begin had given me a copy of the letter he wrote to Jimmy Carter on September 17, 1978. In the letter he wrote, “Dear Mr. President…. On the basis of this law, the government of Israel decreed in July 1967 that Jerusalem is one city indivisible, the capital of the State of Israel.”
According to Begin, Jimmy Carter informed him that the U.S. government did not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Begin told me he responded, “Excuse me sir, but the State of Israel does not recognize your non-recognition.”
Carter also stated that Prime Minister Menachem Begin agreed to a freeze on building Jewish settlements. Begin told me he had not agreed to a total freeze; he only agreed not to build new settlements for three months, during the negotiations. Carter gives the impression that he and Begin were close friends by saying that Begin and Sadat visited him in Plains to reaffirm the personal commitments each had made to the other. I found that quite humorous; Mr. Begin told me he had refused to meet with Jimmy Carter when the president traveled to Jerusalem. At that time, he was no longer Prime Minister but was outraged that Carter had misrepresented the events during their meetings.
Carter viewed Yasser Arafat as a Middle East George Washington. He penned, “We pursued the concept of non-violent resistance of Hamas leaders and gave them documentation and video presentations on the successful experiences of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and others.” Carter believes that peace in the Holy Land must include Palestinian militant leader, Marwan Barghouti, the serial killer/terrorist. Carter calls him the “most intriguing player in the Middle East.” He wants Barghouti to run for the office of the presidency in the Palestinian National Authority.
Apparently Mr. Carter’s playing footsy with Palestinian terrorists has paid off. Herecently added another “honor” to his list of achievements when he was awarded the Palestine International Award for Excellence and Creativity. The dubious honor was certainly well-deserved. Mr. Carter has been very creative in his support for the terrorists that surround Israel. In his acceptance speech, Carter promised to support the campaign for an independent Palestinian state to the death. He also implored the Palestinians to halt the internal strife. Was the implied intent that of uniting the warring factions into one cohesive unit in order to better attack their Jewish neighbors with rockets and suicide attacks?
Said the former president in his speech, “I have been in love with the Palestinian people for many years.” He indicated that his family shared his devotion: “I have two great-grandsons that are rapidly learning about the people here and the anguish and suffering and deprivation of human rights that you have experienced ever since 1948.” Mr. Carter doesn’t seem to share the same sympathy for the Jewish people whose history has been riddled with pogroms, hate crimes, and the Holocaust which claimed six million lives.
It appears that Carter, long a vocal proponent of establishing an ongoing relationship with Hamas’ terrorist leaders, has already made inroads in President Barack Obama’s Middle East policy plans. He has petitioned President Obama to “shape a comprehensive peace effort between Israel and the Palestinians….then use persuasion and enticements to reach these reasonable goals with the full backing of other members of the International Quartet [Russia, the UN, the EU, and the United States] and the Arab nations.” It is likely he would call on The Elders for their expertise. The best thing President Obama could do is completely ignore Jimmy Carter and his plan.
Michael D. Evans, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, is the author of Jimmy Carter: The Liberal Left and World Chaos.
