Free Republic

Former US president defends meetings with Hamas terrorists, tells university students in Egypt sanctions imposed on Gaza Strip are 'criminal atrocity' after meeting in private with Hamas leaders. 'For every Israeli killed,' says Carter, 'between 30 to 40 Palestinians are killed because of the extreme military capability of Israel' News agencies Published: 04.18.08, 00:27 / Israel News Former US President Jimmy Carter called the blockade of Gaza a crime and an atrocity on Thursday and said US attempts to undermine the Islamist movement Hamas had been counterproductive. Speaking at the American University in Cairo after talks with Hamas leaders from,...

NEW YORK, (AP) -- In a new afterword to his controversial "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid," former President Carter criticizes the lack of "balanced debate" in the U.S. about the Middle East and warns officials against being "seen as knee-jerk supporters of every action and policy" of the Israeli government. Carter's book, a best-seller first published last year, accuses Israel of harshly mistreating the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Carter has said that conditions there merit the word "apartheid," associated with the former system of racial segregation and oppression in South Africa. Jewish groups and some fellow Democrats strongly...