Posted on 05/17/2006 11:11:51 AM PDT by anotherview
When it comes to Arab-Israeli affairs, is former U.S. President Jimmy Carter a) uninformed, b) misinformed, or c) blinded by an anti-Israel animus? His USA Today Op-Ed, "Israel's new plan: A land grab" (May 16 print edition) makes a strong case for "all of the above."
Carter falsely claims that:
1) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to establish Israel's permanent eastern border in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) "would take about half of the Palestinian West Bank ...."
According to the Israeli Supreme Court decision calling for the realignment of the route of the security barrier to lessen impact on Arabs in Judea and Samaria, the barrier will encompass only 7 percent (not "half") of the West Bank. Olmert's "convergence" proposal --- to be enacted if Palestinian Arabs do not negotiate a final agreement in good faith --- would lead to withdrawal from the more isolated Jewish communities to the east of Israel's security barrier. The residents of those settlements would be consolidated in the major settlement blocs west (on the Israeli side) of the barrier.
2) "The barrier is not located on the internationally recognized boundary between Israel and Palestine, but entirely within and deeply penetrating the occupied territories." There is no "internationally recognized boundary between Israel and Palestine." The 1949 - 1967 "green line" separating Israel from the Jordanian-o ccupied West Bank was and remains a temporary armistice line. The Arabs, refusing to recognize Israel, refused to negotiate a permanent border. Given the impermanent nature of the armistice lines, U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) called for, among other things, negotiations to establish "secure and recognized" boundaries. The authors did not expect Israel to return to the vulnerable pre-'67 armistice lines.
While there may be a sovereign nation of "Palestine" in the future, currently there is no "Palestine." The British Mandate for Palestine terminated in 1948. The West Bank is not "Palestinian" but disputed land and subject to negotiations, as Resolutions 242 and 338, and subsequent diplomatic intitiatives like the "road map" made clear. Jordan and Israel are successor states to "Palestine," and the West Bank and Gaza Strip await final allocation.
3) The only internationally recognized "division of territory between Israel and the Palestinian ... awarded 77 percent of the land to the nation of Israel ...." Land alloted to the original British Mandate included what became Jordan (77.5 percent), the Golan Heights (later transferred to the French Mandate for Syria), what became Israel (17.5 percent), and the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the remaining five percent.
4) "Gaza is now...almost completely isolated from the West Bank, Israel and the outside world."
Carter appears to have forgotten that the Gaza Strip shares a border with Egypt and, through it, the rest of the world. That may have something to do with recently reported al Qaeda infiltration of Gaza, on which the former president is silent. And of course, if the terrorism emanating from Gaza stopped, there would be no need for the security measures that restrict movement between Gaza and Israel.
5) "Deep [Israeli] intrusions would effectively divide [the West Bank] into three portions."
The security barrier's route and an Israeli proposal to connect the suburb-settlement of Ma'ale Adumim to Jerusalem still would leave the West Bank as one contigous area. In fact, at its narrowest the West Bank would be about nine miles wide --- the same as Israel at one of its most constricted points inside the pre-'67 "green line."
6) "This confiscation of land is to be carried out without resorting to peace talks with the Palestinians, and in direct contravention of the 'road map for peace' ...."
Despite constant, material Palestinian Arab violations (including terrorism and anti-Jewish incitement) of the Oslo Accords and related agreement, Israel persisted in negotiations from 1993 to 2001. This effort included the 2000 Israeli-U.S. offer of a state on 95 percent-plus of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and on 97 percent-plus in 2001. In violation of the Oslo agreements, the Palestinians launched the "al-Aqsa intifada" terrorist war in 2000. Attempted terrorism continues at a high level, with occasional deadly attacks. Olmert is still offering negotiations -- provided the Palestinian Arabs put forth a serious partner. But he said Israel will not wait much longer.
7) "Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the Israeli government rejected the key provisions of the 'road map' by the ... the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia ...."
Sharon and his government accepted the "road map," but included a list of concerns that stressed that Palestinian obligations to halt terrorism and destroy terrorist infrastructure had to be carried out, not just Israeli obligations.
8) The " 'road map' has been endorsed unequivocally by the moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas."
Endorsed, maybe; implemented, rarely. The PA under Abbas and his Fatah movement often promised to curtail anti-Israel terrorism and the PA's pervasive anti-Israeli incitement, but for the most part did not. Now with Hamas leading the PA cabinet and legislature, Abbas wields even less influence.
9) "Although the recently elected Hamas legislators will neither recognize nor negotiate with Israel while Palestinian land is being occupied, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has expressed approval for direct Olmert-Abbas peace talks."
The "Palestinian land" Hamas considers occupied by Israel includes not just the West Bank but all of pre-'67 Israel as well. Hamas' charter and its campaign this January make that clear. A gesture of approval by the Hamas prime minister "for direct Olmert-Abbas peace talks" might help soften international opposition to funding the PA government of terrorists. It costs Haniyeh nothing; meanwhile, Hamas leader Khaled Mesha'al, "urged supporters around the world ... to send it arms, fighters and money to back its fight against arch-foe Israel," Reuters news agency reported recently. Is Palestinian rejectionism, terrorism and realpolitick over Carter's head, or does he not care?
10) Lack of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement is "one of the major causes of international terrorism ...."
Nonsense. Fanatical Islamists reject modernism and religious freedom. Any country or government that is not a theocracy practicing their particular extreme interpretation of Islam would be on the Islamist terrorists' enemies' list. Israel is just one of many hated countries and moderate Muslims are also targets. Numerous commentators have pointed out that al Qaeda's terrorism stemmed primarily from Osama bin Laden's desire to oust the "infidel" U.S. presence from Saudi Arabia and overthrow the "sacriligeous" Saudi dynasty; destroying the Jewish state was low on the priority list until bin Laden expanded his targets to include other pro-Western Arab regimes like Jordan and Egypt. Islamic fundamentalism, personified by Ayatollah Khomeini's revolution in Iran, has always seen the United States as "the Great Satan," Israel as only "the Little Satan." Carter's failure to recognize that threat, or to resp ond forcefully during the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, helped drive him from office. He appears to have learned little in the subsequent quarter-century.
Action Item:
Write to editors@usatoday.com; Op-Ed Page Editor Glen Nishimura, gnishimura@usatoday.com; Editor Ken Paulson, kpaulson@usatoday.com; and Publisher Craig Moon at cmoon@usatoday.com.
Please send CAMERA a blind copy: letters@camera.org
Highlight Carter's numerous errors. Stress that these mistakes are basic and --- made by someone in a position to know better --- reveal a deeply distorted view of the subject. Question whether the same commentary, riddled with falsehood as it is, would have been published if submitted by someone without Carter's name recognition. Insist that the ex-president's column ill-served USA Today readers and urge the newspaper to seek a qualified commentator to set the record straight.
With thanks, Eric Rozenman Washington Director CAMERA
Have to have brain to have alzheimers...must be something else.
Not for the lack of trying. I heard the Rabbit turned him down.
....wait for it
Carter definitely had the more entertaining family. If only William Faulkner or Tennessee Williams had lived to meet the Carters, they would have had a field day writing about them
Jimmuh's sons did coke in the White House, and his sister was a faith healing motorcycle evangelist, usually found roaring around the Ozarks. Her most noteable Christian convert was Larry Flynt, the owner of Penthouse Magazine, but Larry apparently fell off the wagon and that seems to be over. His brother was a paid lobbyist for the Libyans, except when he wasn't marketing his own creation, Billy Beer. The family matriarch, Ms. Lillian had wisely been shuffled off to India in the Peace Corps, a few years prior to the 1976 election, but on her return she had a lot to say.:)
The Clintons are rich white trash, agreed, but you couldn't buy entertainment like the Carters. Who else but Jimmuh could be chased in a fishing boat by a great big aquatic killer rabbit, for instance?:)
Perfect cartoon Alouette! Carter can burn in hell!
About time someone invented a new word for " a loose cannon"
Tennessee Williams (died 1983) did meet them. He was their guest in the White House on at least one occasion, if I recall correctly (forgive me if I'm wrong).
I apologize for imputing more class to the Carters than they deserved. It's just that Clinton was so flamboyant about everything that all that seemed so dull!
thats why no one can find it !!! :)
He is also the most horrid ex-president, we have ever had.
He should stick to building houses for poor people, and stay out of foreign policy!
What so many don't know, or seem to forget that Carter has been a friend of feinds; Castro, Chavez, Aristed, warlords Mohamed and Hussein Aideed to name a few....read on:
Jimmy Carter (Democrat) pulled us out of the Olympics, and hurt the American farmer when he halted the sale of wheat to Russia in response to the soviet invasion of Afghanistan. His brother was given $250,000 from the terrorist nation of Libya, while his . He allowed 50 diplomats at our embassy to become hostages of terrorists in Iran. For 5 months Carter (Democrat) allowed those people to be held, while he attempted "diplomatic" and "economic" pressure to free them. This failed. His ill planned military rescue attempt ended with 3 damaged helicopters and 8 dead military troops. The hostages were held for over 14 months. When Ronald Reagan (a Republican) was elected President, the captors fearfully offered to negotiate release of the hostages. They were freed while Mr. Reagan (Republican) took his oath of office.
In 1993, clinton (Democrat) expanded the limited humanitarian mission in Somalia, to include rebuilding the nation. The UN "peacekeepers" embarked on a war against Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aideed. clinton (Democrat) included our troops in this war. Aideed and the Somalis never attacked us. In October, the forces of Aideed brought down two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters, in Mogadishu and precipitated a vicious daylong firefight, wounding 77 and killing 18 Americans, whose naked, mutilated bodies were drug through the streets. This horrifying act was broadcast around the world. This, despite clinton (Democrat) sending former President Carter (Democrat) to negotiate peace talks with Aideed. Afterward, clinton declined to bring Aideed to justice, when offered his capture by frightened clan allies, instead clinton (Democrat) decided to cut and run--quit the mission in Somalia. In fact, two months later to the day, US soldiers were escorting Aideed to the Mogadishu airport by motorcade and flying him to Addis Ababa in a US Army airplane! Aideed remained in power until Aug. 1995. Clinton's retreat broadcast a signal of weakness around the world. It sent a message to our foes, that America will change her policies if terrorists kill our people. During the war with Aideed, the clinton administration sent Mohamed Aideed's son, Hussein to Somalia as a Marine Corps translator. He left the military, and remained in Somalia, becoming a warlord himself and being responsible for the deaths and displacement of 50,000 Somali's. clinton (Democrat) invaded Haiti. Haiti never attacked us. A brokered deal instigated by former President Carter (Democrat), allowed clinton (Democrat) to send in our military to place Jean-Bertrand Aristide in power, knowing full well what a despot the man was. This is one of foreign policy’s all-time worst liberal bungles. Today, the disastrous results of Clinton’s experiment in Caribbean colonialism are painfully evident. On Oct. 12, 2000, terrorists bombed the USS Cole as it sat in the Yemeni port of Aden. The bomb killed 17 U.S. sailors. American officials quickly linked the attack to bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Nothing was done.
Rats, I knew I should have looked that up.:)
You made me look it up, though, and among many other things I didn't want to know about him was that he died in 1983 from choking to death on a bottle cap.
This could be a lesson to us all, use the bottle opener, not your front teeth.
Tennessee Williams died about the same time as an uncle of mine, so I remember the news about his death well. The official story is that he committed suicide by swallowing a bottle cap, but there are others (including his brother Dakin) who insist he was actually murdered.
You know he was homosexual, right?
I've been looking for the Cliff's Notes version of The Carter Blunders beginning when he first took office in the WH. Do you know where it's posted? I've seen it... a while ago.
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