Palestine

[lisagurl]

Jimmy Carter has been criticized a lot by the administration and the press lately. If you have been following the story you know he met with Hamas leaders. The saga of Israel and Palestine has been going on for over 50 years. Carter has been intimately involved for over 30 of those years. His knowledge and experience qualify him much more than Bush. The tip of information is in his book "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid".

I think Carter is correct in saying that there can be no peace without having the elected Palestinian officials Hamas be a part of it. It is true that Hamas has claimed responsibility for some of the terrorist acts in Israel. They have been expelled from their homes just as the US moved the native Indians off land here. They had very few weapons for defense. As they still have very little influence on the Israel legal system. Some Palestine and Israel extremists are not controlled by either government.

Carter made 6 proposals that Hamas agreed on. One of the main one's was to put to a vote if Palestinians want to recognize Israel.
Carter's ideas got a 64% approval in a poll in Israel as well as 74% of Americans says his visit to Hamas was necessary. Americans are poorly informed by the administration because the administration is strongly controlled by Jewish lobbyists.

[RebeccaFog]

Hi Lisa

   I lean to the side of the Palestinians myself.

   I'm okay with what Carter is doing, or attempting to do.   I am not happy with the Isreali influence in our government.  If those politicians think Israel is so great, why don't they just move there?

   Power to the people.  Right now.

[Kaelin]

Has any President done more for the world after leaving office than Jimmy Carter?  Even combined, would their efforts hold up to what he's done?

Hamas has issues, but given the circumstances they are under (particularly as enforced by the US, but they're generally just not as developed as "the West" anyway, so it's unfair to hold them to the same standard as everyone else), you can't especially blame them.  And at least they are elected by the people and aren't the one country in the world that forbids women from driving, unlike Saudi Arabia, who is our... ally?

For an overview of US foreign policy, this video (scroll to near the bottom) is essential viewing.  Yeah, it's from last August, but it's classic.

[Kt]

I am amused how Palistine was to be considered an "EVOL DICTATORSHIP RUN BY TERRORISTS!" until the palistine people elected their own leaders, and then they did so, and elected Hamas, and the music from the States and Israel has not changed.

[tekla]

Hamas is terrorist group.  They don't deny it.  Israel is too, though they don't.