Get Carter

[IndianaGreen]

Published on Thursday, December 21, 2006 by The Nation

Get Carter

by Chris Hedges

Jimmy Carter, by publishing his book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, walked straight into the buzz saw that is the Israel lobby. Among the vitriolic attacks on the former President was the claim by Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, that Carter is "outrageous" and "bigoted" and that his book raises "the old canard and conspiracy theory of Jewish control of the media, Congress, and the U.S. government." Many Democratic Party leaders, anxious to keep the Israel lobby's money and support, have hotfooted it out the door, with incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing that Carter "does not speak for the Democratic Party on Israel."

Carter's book exposes little about Israel. The enforced segregation, abject humiliation and spiraling Israeli violence against Palestinians have been detailed in the Israeli and European press and, with remarkable consistency, by all the major human rights organizations. The assault against Carter, rather, says more about the failings of the American media--which have largely let Israel hawks heap calumny on Carter's book. It exposes the indifference of the Bush Administration and the Democratic leadership to the rule of law and basic human rights, the timidity of our intellectual class and the moral bankruptcy of institutions that claim to speak for American Jews and the Jewish state.

The bleakness of life for Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip, is a mystery only to us. In the current Israeli campaign in Gaza, now sealed off from the outside world, almost 500 Palestinians, most unarmed, have been killed. Sanctions, demanded by Israel and imposed by the international community after the Hamas victory last January in what were universally acknowledged to be free and fair elections, have led to the collapse of civil society in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as widespread malnutrition. And Palestinians in the West Bank are being encased, in open violation of international law, in a series of podlike militarized ghettos with Israel's massive $2 billion project to build a "security barrier." This barrier will gobble up at least 10 percent of the West Bank, including most of the precious aquifers and at least 40,000 acres of Palestinian farmland. The project is being financed in large part through $9 billion in American loan guarantees, although when Congress approved the legislation in April 2003, Israel was told that the loans could be used "only to support activities in the geographic areas which were subject to the administration of the Government of Israel prior to June 5, 1967." But it is in Gaza that conditions are currently reaching a full-blown humanitarian crisis. "Gaza is in its worst condition ever," Gideon Levy wrote recently in the Israeli paper Ha'aretz. "The Israel Defense Forces have been rampaging through Gaza--there's no other word to describe it--killing and demolishing, bombing and shelling, indiscriminately.... How contemptible all the sublime and nonsensical talk about 'the end of the occupation' and 'partitioning the land' now appears. Gaza is occupied, and with greater brutality than before.... This is disgraceful and shocking collective punishment."

And as Gaza descends into civil war, with Hamas and Fatah factions carrying out gun battles in the streets, Ha'aretz reporter Amira Hass bitterly notes, "The experiment was a success: The Palestinians are killing each other. They are behaving as expected at the end of the extended experiment called 'what happens when you imprison 1.3 million human beings in an enclosed space like battery hens.'"

In fact, if there is a failing in Carter's stance, it is that he is too kind to the Israelis, bending over backward to assert that he is only writing about the occupied territories. Israel itself, he says, is a democracy. This would come as a surprise to the 1.3 million Israeli Arabs who live as second-class citizens in the Jewish state.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1221-23.htm

[mitchtv]

1. Go Jimmy go

Or was that Jimmy Clanton?

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[madrchsod]

3. i`ve read more articles from israeli news sources

that were critical of the policies of the right wing israeli politicians than the combined media in this country. carter is the only president the usa has ever had that has come close to being a christian, i wonder if this is why he is attacked by the right wing christian and jewish leaders

[yankhadenuf]

14. Jimmy has bigger (more?) cajones than any warmonger

:toast:

I also thought it's kinda neat that his initials are JC ... O8)

[Tom Joad]

4. Any author who does not debate the most rabid, racist opponent must not be at all

worth reading. Sarcasm intended.

And yes, Carter was too kind to the present rulers of the Israeli regime.

[On the Road]

5. I Hope Carter Can Bring Some of This to Public Attention

It's amazing that even a US president can so little ability to bring public attention to such a huge well-known subject.

[furman]

6. This article made the Greatest Page, my response to it

This article was posted elsewhere in DU and made the Greatest Page.

Below was my response, recopied here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=252512&mesg_id=252659

I cannot even believe this thread made the "Greatest" page.

This book has been widely criticized for containing numerous factual errors,
and allegations of plagiarism have even been leveled against Carter for the unauthorized reproduction of maps originally drawn by Dennis Ross.

Never again will Jimmy Carter be seen as someone who can be considered an honest broker for the Middle East situation.

I am disappointed that such a controversial book is being received so positively here on DU.
Unfortunately, after seeing how badly Israel regularly gets demonized on the I/P forum at DU, I am not surprised.

As for this Nation article, it is completely biased against Israel as well.

Nowhere in the article does it mention that the security fence was built solely with the intention of stopping terrorist attacks against Israelis. It has been extremely effective in saving lives, by the way.

Nowhere in the article does it mention that Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and continutally calls for Israel's destruction. Hamas does not want peace, they want to drive Jews into the sea.

Nowhere in the article does it mention the ongoing Qassam rocket attacks from Gaza on Sderot, even during a "cease-fire".

Nowhere in the article does it mention the huge problem of arms smuggling into Gaza, forcing Israel to keep a tight seal on the border. It has been reported that Hamas is trying to build up their arms so they could replicate what Hezbollah has done in their efforts to destroy Israel.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza was brought on by the Palestinians themselves. Had the Palestinians recognized Israel's right to exist in peace and accepted the presence of a Jewish state, the Palestinians would probably have their own state by now "living side by side in peace". But instead they chose the route of terror and the election of Hamas, a reknowned terrorist organization committed to the destruction of Israel to be replaced by a fundamentalist Islamic state.

Hedges's quote: "Many Democratic Party leaders, anxious to keep the Israel lobby's money and support, have hotfooted it out the door, with incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing that Carter "does not speak for the Democratic Party on Israel."
clearly can be considered antisemitic by insinuating that the Israel lobby has so much power that it can have inordinate influence on US policy and the electorate.

Please people, learn the history of the Middle East from more balanced sources, not from this poor example of revisionist fiction.

Rating threads like this up and promoting Carter's book will only hurt the image of the Democratic Party.

Ironically, it will end up hurting the Palestinians the most because they will become even more entrenched in their idealism and not recognize their need to change in order to help bring peace to the region.

[cali]

7. I disagree.

that Hedges comments are remotely anti-semitic. The truth is that AIPAC does have an inordinate amount of influence on Capitol Hill. It's probably not as great as some make out, but it is problematic. I'm sure that's not the only reason lawmakers so consistently line up behind Israel, but it contributes. As I see it, the conditions in Gaza are akin to a Ghetto. The actions of the Israelis are collective punishment.
Israelis have done nothing to dismantle settlements.

The Occupation is a huge mistake and all the talk about not wanting to give up strategic land for fear of attacks strikes me as bizarre. If Israel gave up some settlements and those settlements became posts to attack Israel, most sensible people would not condemn Israel for retaliating, and they certainly have the capability of doing so.

[msmcghee]

8. Despite your reasonable approach in many cases . .

. . I find some of your statements disconnected from those.

For example,

"The truth is that AIPAC does have an inordinate amount of influence on Capitol Hill. It's probably not as great as some make out, but it is problematic. I'm sure that's not the only reason lawmakers so consistently line up behind Israel, but it contributes."

How does one define such a nebulous phrase as, "inordinate amount of influence on Capitol Hill"? Is it influence that disagrees with your pov? Our form of government establishes the election of lawmakers and gives all citizens the right to appeal to them in their own interests.

The Palestinians and their allies have very many friends in the world including friends in the US who petition their congresspeople on their behalf. There are many peace and civil rights organizations like HRW, PeaceNow, etc. whose articles are quoted to start threads here every day - who collect funds and petition our government to take actions opposite those recommended by AIPAC.

It seems to me that as long as bribes and illegal influence are not involved we have to trust those we elected to make the right decisions - or unelect them next time. That's kind of how it works. You have to expect that they will get a lot of "advice" with the intent of influencing their decisions.

If you think they get too much advice from AIPAC, donate to PeaceNow.

Our government consistently lines up behind Israel because the Palestinians refuse to recognize Israel, refuse to recognize past agreements and treaties with Israel and have pledged to destroy Israel.

If the Palestinians reversed that policy and genuinely tried to negotiate for a peace with Israel - I doubt there would be 1% of our reps or senators who not embrace the Palestinians and shower them with aid and anything else that would help to finalize a lasting peace. The state of Israel would do the same and the world would breath a sigh of relief.

[cali]

9. No. It's not about my POV

Look, there's really not any argument that AIPAC has enormous influence, so comparing their influence with HRW and Peace now is just silly. Yes, there are other lobbies that clearly have too much muscle on Capitol Hill to be good for democracy. Big Pharma comes to mind.

I don't believe that it's simply because Palestinians don't recognize Israel that our government lines behind Israel. They do so for a plethora of reasons; partly historical, partly self-interest, partly the Christian fundamentalists, partly the influence of AIPAC and money, etc.

It's past time for Israel, as the party with the greatest power, to make some real gestures of good faith. The route they've been taking will not lead to peace. They need to take positive steps to remove settlements and end the Occupation.

[msmcghee]

10. I appreciate your point of view . .

. . even if I disagree with it.

I also agree with you that there are several reasons for US support for Israel - but those are the main ones in the minds of most voters who elect our congress-critters.

My only point was that claiming that some group has "too much influence" in Washington - is like saying our basic form of government - which is based on the right of all citizens (and groups of citizens) to petition our lawmakers and try to influence them - is somehow the wrong system.

I'd agree that we need far more transparency and much stricter laws on gifts, meals, junkets, etc. but that's a matter of fine-tuning and enforcing the laws we have. Now with our Dems in power we may get some good reforms there.

I can't think of any fair way to establish just how much influence from a citizen or group of citizens is "too much influence". And like I said anyone who thinks AIPAC has too much influence is free to donate to or form an interest group to oppose AIPAC's interests.

[yankhadenuf]

11. IASPS , AIPAC , PNAC are all connected

It's time we had a dialog about THAT too!

A Clean Break , by Richard Perle, was delivered to Netanyahu on July 8, 1996:
www.iasps.org/strat1.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clean_Break:_A_New_Strategy_for_Securing_the_Realm


http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=complete_timeline_of_the_2003_invasion_of_iraq_74#complete_timeline_of_the_2003_invasion_of_iraq_74

[oberliner]

12. What do you want to say about it?

How would you begin that dialogue?

What do you think needs to be said and done?

[yankhadenuf]

13. Get it out of the I/P forum into General Discussion

The AIPAC/PNAC connection involves American blood and treasure.

Why are discussions of the ties between Israel's lobby and Bushco Administration quarantined to I/P section or deleted altogether?

[IndianaGreen]

15. The last thing Israelbots want is for the American people to get wise

as to the dysfunctional relationship between the USA and Israel.

One thing that has helped the most reactionary elements in Israel is Americans' dismal knowledge about Israel (they confuse it with the Israel of the Bible) or Jews (they confuse us with the cast of Fiddler On The Roof).