CARTER, THE APES AND THE PIGS

Jimmy Carter is getting the cold shoulder treatment from the Israelis because he is meeting Hamas leader Khaled Meshal in Damascus this week and because they are offended by Carter's book "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid" where he inferred that Israel's military occupation and settlement of the West Bank and Gaza was like the policies of apartheid South Africa, reports Ed O'Loughlin in Israeli leaders shun Carter:

"In an interview with the Israeli daily Haaretz, Mr Carter said he believed that for peace talks to work all parties had to be engaged.

"'Hamas' position is that they are perfectly willing for (Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas) to represent them in all direct negotiations with the Israelis, and they also maintain that they will accept any agreement that he brokers with Israelis provided it will be submitted to the Palestinians in a referendum. Hamas is also willing to accept a mutual ceasefire with Israel,' Mr Carter said.

"I do not agree with … the unwillingness to talk to someone who disagrees with you unless he agrees with all your prerequisites."

Pardon my cynicism here but is Carter certain that the declared Hamas position remotely resembles anything like that which he is suggesting? Perhaps when they meet, Carter might ask Meshal what he means when he speaks of liberating "every inch of Palestine" when he brandishes maps of the region showing a Palestine in place of all of Israel?

Surely, both Carter and O'Loughlin are aware of Hamas' racist Charter which calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and for Jews everwhere to be killed and of the constant and repeated refusals of Hamas to recognise previous agreements made between Israel and the Palestine Authority let alone to recognise the Jewish State?

Further, it is more than somewhat astounding that neither the peanut farming former President nor the journalist who has supposedly been covering the news from the region for six years (and "still counting") is aware of the rantings broadcast on official Hamas television last Friday by Hamas MP Yunis Al-Astal (above) in which he describes Jews as "the brothers of apes and pigs" and explains that the destruction of the Jews is just a precursor to Islam’s conquest of the entire world. Surely, this would have been a newsworthy item to add some perspective to the report?

For my part, I can't figure out why any reasonable observer would remain silent about such matters unless, of course, they were running a PR campaign for Hamas or something like that but surely, these two are honourable men and wouldn't contemplate such a thing.

In Carter's case, I think it's best put down to the onset of senility. After all, did he not admit that Israel wasn't really an apartheid state and he was exaggerating for effect and that it all had nothing to do with the fact that his Carter Centre is heavily subsidised by the Saudis?

But I'm scratching my head in wonderment as to why Carter would advise the Israelis to meet with terrorists who want to slit their throats while forgetting that it was only last year when he himself turned down an offer to debate the contents of his own book with Professor Alan Dershowitz on a U.S. campus when the challenge to do so was thrown at him!

FOOTNOTE AND AN "UP YOURS" TO THE ENEMIES OF ISRAEL:

Isn't it more than a trifle ironic, that as a footnote to his article, O'Loughlin refers to the fact that representatives of Lebanon and Iran have pulled out of a conference in Qatar due to the attendance of Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni?

Not only that but Ms. Livni provided the perfect "up yours" to the likes of Carter and O'Loughlin with her response to Israeli Arab MK Ahmed Tibi as reported in Haaretz Newspaper Qatar's emir tells Livni Israel should lift blockade on Gaza :-

"Moments after delivering her address, Livni traded barbs over the nature of Israeli democracy with MK Ahmed Tibi, who attended the conference.

"In a question and answer session following the speech, Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) asked for an opportunity to respond to Livni's comments, and told her, 'Israel is an apartheid state. How can you speak about democracy when you speak about a Jewish state?'

"Livni responded that, 'If we return to '47, a Jewish state and an Arab Palestinian state [were on the agenda]. Do you also not agree to this? The fact is that you are an MK in Israel, and represent 20 percent of the public, and can say whatever you please. This is the proof that Israel is a democratic state.'"