Jimmy Carter:
Hamas a 'Legitimate Political Actor'
9:02 AM, Aug 5, 2014 • By JERYL BIER
Nobel Peace Prize recipient Jimmy Carter takes to ForeignPolicy.com to argue that the
key to ending the current war in Gaza
is "recognizing Hamas as a legitimate political actor." Writing along
with fellow "Elder"
Mary Robinson (part of an "international group of elder statesmen"),
the former president pins the blame for the current conflict on Israel's
refusal to appreciate a "major concession" made by Hamas in April and
to recognize the new Palestinian government formed by the Hamas-Fatah
"reconciliation":
This tragedy results from the deliberate
obstruction of a promising move toward peace in the region, when a
reconciliation agreement among the Palestinian factions was announced in April.
This was a major concession by Hamas, in opening Gaza to joint control under a technocratic
government that did not include any Hamas members. The new government also
pledged to adopt the three basic principles demanded by the Middle East Quartet
comprised of the United Nations, the United
States, the European Union, and Russia: nonviolence, recognition of Israel,
and adherence to past agreements. Tragically, Israel
rejected this opportunity for peace and has succeeded in preventing the new
government's deployment in Gaza.
While Carter and Robinson excoriate Israel for its
conduct of the war, Hamas escapes with only a single reference to its "war
crimes" (committed by "both sides") as "unacceptable":
There is no humane or legal justification
for the way the Israeli Defense Forces are
conducting this war. Israeli bombs, missiles, and artillery have pulverized
large parts of Gaza,
including thousands of homes, schools, and hospitals. More than 250,000 people
have been displaced from their homes in Gaza.
Hundreds of Palestinian noncombatants have been killed. Much of Gaza has lost access to
water and electricity completely. This is a humanitarian catastrophe.
There is never an excuse for deliberate
attacks on civilians in conflict. These are war crimes. This is true for both
sides. Hamas's indiscriminate targeting of Israeli civilians is equally
unacceptable. However, three Israeli civilians have been killed by Palestinian
rockets, while an overwhelming majority of the 1,600 Palestinians killed have
been civilians, including more than 330 children. The need for international
judicial proceedings to investigate and end these violations of international
law should be taken very seriously.
Carter and Robinson conclude:
The United States and EU should
recognize that Hamas is not just a military but also a political force... Only
by recognizing its legitimacy as a political actor -- one that represents a
substantial portion of the Palestinian people -- can the West begin to provide
the right incentives for Hamas to lay down its weapons...
Ultimately, however, lasting peace depends
on the creation of a Palestinian state next to Israel
Carter was awarded the Nobel prize in 2002 for "his
decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international
conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and
social development."
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
is a Nobel Foundation Nobel peace prize
winner, a member of The Elders, and
was an honorary co-chairman for the Millennium Promise.
Note: Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Millennium
Promise, the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace (think tank), the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Aspen Institute (think tank).
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to
Promote Open Society, and is a board member for the International Crisis Group.
Kofi A.
Annan is a board member for the International Crisis
Group, a Nobel
Foundation Nobel peace prize winner, the chairman for The Elders, and a trustee at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews
is the president of the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace (think tank), a director at the American
Friends of Bilderberg (think
tank), was a board member for the International Crisis
Group, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a
2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview
with Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for
population control by involving the United States in war)
Haim Saban
is a trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), a friend of Shimon Peres, a
benefactor for the Saban Center for Middle
East Policy, a board member at the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, the treasurer for the Saban Family Foundation, and
was a major contributor for the 2011 Rahm Emanuel mayoral
campaign.
Shimon
Peres is a friend of Haim Saban, and
the president of Israel.
Saban
Center for Middle East Policy is a policy center for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Cyrus
F. Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Saban
Family Foundation was a funder for the Friends of the Israel
Defense Forces.
Crown
Family Foundation is a funder for the Friends of the Israel
Defense Forces.
Lester Crown
is a VP at the Crown Family Foundation, a member
of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Newton N.
Minow is the president of the Crown Family Foundation,
a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama
was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Newton N. Minow
is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago
R. Eden
Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Rahm I.
Emanuel is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
the Chicago (IL) mayor, was the White House
chief of staff for the Barack Obama
administration, the candidate for the 2011 Rahm
Emanuel mayoral campaign, a civilian
volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces.
Haim Saban
was a major contributor for the 2011 Rahm Emanuel mayoral
campaign, is a friend of Shimon Peres, a
trustee at the Brookings Institution (think
tank), a benefactor for the Saban Center for Middle
East Policy, a board member at the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, and the treasurer for
the Saban Family Foundation.
Shimon
Peres is a friend of Haim Saban, and
the president of Israel.
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