The Nation: Get Carter

[marmar]

Get Carter
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.'" ........

The rest of the article is at: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070108/hedges

[rodeodance]

1. I am sorry to see Pelosi say what she did.

[Lena inRI]

2. Yeah. . .I'm cringing with her obvious kiss-up. . .

to the Israeli lobby. . .not good news. . .not at all.

:thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:

[aquart]

3. Really?

She hasn't jumped on your bandwagon? What a shame.

[Warpy]

5. They have to kiss Israel's ass or else

Lieberman will bolt to the Repugs.

Trust me, that's exactly what they're afraid of and that's exactly what I'd expect him to do if anyone on the Dem side of the aisle dares to offer the mildest criticism of his precious Israel or its lobby, AIPAC.

Expect a lot of ass kissing and compromised foreign policy because of it.

[Lena inRI]

6. Yiiikes!

If you're correct, Warpy, I'm more discouraged than I thought I could be. . .and the Pelosi/Reid session will be handing over so much power-playing control to Loserman to keep the Democratic Senate majority!

What irony.

Makes me admire Jimmy Carter moreso. . .speaking for human rights in the face of his own party's snubbing.

Courageous Carter
:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

[acmejack]

7. It would be for some other reason, absent Lieberman

They are all beholden to, or in fear of, AIPAC. What Carter dares is an act of singular courage. If only Twain were here today, imagine his observations on this state of affairs!

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

4. He speaks for something more important than Democrats.

He speaks for peace.

[brer cat]

8. Amen and Amen.

Nothing more needs to be said.

k&r

[bonito]

9. Loud and clear

For all to hear WCR. Peace

[Tom Joad]

11. Sadly, Conyers dissed Carter too, btw.

[Tom Joad]

10. Human rights and Peace and such. More important than a political party.

A political party is only a tool, it is not the ends... when it becomes the ends, it is time to step back and reevaluate.

[brer cat]

12. Amen, again.

Agree Tom Joad.

Peace.

[rollopollo]

13. Well said

Values before politics.

[Vidar]

14. Carter takes the high road, as always, while the Democratic party

follows the Republicans into AIPAC's sewer.

[ixion]

15. a note on 'the timidity of our intellectual class'

*Disclaimer: I consider myself to be a member of this so-called 'intellectual' class. That is to say: I spend time actively engaged in cognitive activity.


With abject consistency, the 'intellectual class' in this country is mocked, jailed and generally abused by those who are apparently adamantly opposed to thinking too much. Our society simultaneously reveres (after the fact), and despises the intellectual class. Intellect is seen as some type of birth defect that is best hidden away in polite society, and further, the educational system. To be an intellect in the public school system is to spend your life being mocked and beaten by the cro-magnon class. The cro-magnon class has a distinct advantage in our society, as evidenced by those currently in charge, but I digress.

The intellectual class, when a new despot invades, is the first group that gets a one-way ticket to the back-country landfill. The intellectual class, particularly in the US, spends much of its time fending off insinuations of insanity. The intellectual class often find themselves behind bars, or worse, simply for speaking the Truth.

So if we're timid -- and I know that I have that tendency -- it's survival instinct, because we've been witness to how society treats our 'defect'.

Just my two cents...

[knitter4democracy]

16. I thought he meant for president.

I'd support that. He's well-loved by millions, and he has no fear anymore.

[Briar]

17. "The Israel lobby in the United States does not serve Israel

"The Israel lobby in the United States does not serve Israel or the Jewish community--it serves the interests of the Israeli extreme right wing. Most Israelis have come to understand that peace will be possible only when their country complies with international law and permits Palestinians to build a viable and sustainable state based on the 1967 borders, including, in some configuration, East Jerusalem.

"This stark demarcation between Israeli pragmatists and the extreme right wing was apparent when I was in the Middle East for the New York Times during Yitzhak Rabin's 1992 campaign for prime minister. The majority of American Jewish organizations and neoconservative intellectuals made no pretense of neutrality. They had morphed into extensions of the right-wing Likud Party. These American groups, to Rabin's dismay, had gone on to build, with Likud, an alliance with right-wing Christian groups filled with real anti-Semites whose cultural and historical ignorance of the Middle East was breathtaking. This collection of messianic Jews and Christians, leavened with rabid American imperialists, believed they had been handed a divine or moral mandate to rule the Middle East, whether the Arabs liked it or not."

A sobering article. Speaking truth to power doesn't guarantee change for the better, I fear.

[furman]

18. Why are you fawning over this book?

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.

[marmar]

19. Umm, I posted it, how that equates to fawning is beyond me....

And quite frankly, your post to me is a good example of why the discourse about Israel and Palestine never seems to advance.

[furman]

20. I used the word fawning because it got voted to the "Greatest Page"

and almost every post in the thread was favorable towards the book.
Plus any discussion about the factual content of the book on the I/P forum is met with denials and smears against Israel's defensive measures against their enemies' determination to destroy the Jewish state.

If Carter believes as you do that the discourse must advance, why does he refuse to debate Alan Dershowitz?

marmar, I didn't mean that you in particular were fawning over the book.
I apologize for that ambiguity in my last post.

[marmar]

21. Je comprends.

:hi:

[unc70]

22. What possible good could come from debating Mr. "Torture is OK" on this?

My Jewish relatives and friends believe that Alan has gone off the deep end, of late.

Jimmy Carter has credibility with almost all parties involved (exception of W) and might be able to significantly affect this situation. My limited, but not insignificant contacts, all respect him and generally concur with his assessments. This is all based on private, casual conversations over the last few months with people directly involved or who have family directly involved.

I personally view AIPAC (and similarly ATC) as part of the US/Israeli arms industry lobbying the US for "foreign aid", much of which is then used to buy US and Israeli-made arms and to cause all sorts of other mischief. Not to mention AIPAC funding spying on the US, "bribing" elected officials and civil officers, and much more.

Remember that the illegal NSA wiretapping was done using Israeli equipment.

I expect it will take a number of elected officials in jail before the AIPAC hold could be broken (probably some Dems included). In our efforts to remove corruption and influence, this must be one of our main focuses.

Just as much of the anti-Americanism is really anti-Bush, most of the anti-Semitism is really anti-Israeli government. (Of course, some of the other, more general forms exist; fifty years ago, the Catholic kids threw stones at my Jewish cousins.) There are similar anti-Arab racism that are apparently prevalent among Israeli Jews (see http://at.indymedia.org/newswire/display/55665/index.php).

Enough by me. Let the RANT continue.

P.S. I have a RW brother who would believes that Carter was the worst president ever (OK, he watches FAUX).

[furman]

24. The article you posted is just as biased as the Nation article and Carter's book

I may as well cut and paste what I said earlier.
There is no balance in this article whatsoever. It is simply an exercise in Israel-bashing.

Ask your "Jewish friends and relatives" what they think about Hamas and Hezbollah continually calling for Israel's destruction and their unwillingness to make any advances towards peace with Israel.

[unc70]

25. I will try to get my Jewish cousins to post here.

In the past, they haven't approved of the extremists on either side.

(BTW were you question the existance of my cousins?)

As for the article I linked, the poll it sites are not inconsistent with what friends and family have reported from their times in Israel. I regularly read various Israeli publications. Ha' retz often has similar stories.


Do you have evidence that the secondarily sited poll is invalid or not representative of opinion in Israel?

The repeated demonization of all groups by all groups reinforces the strongest prejudices.
Interestingly, the strongest anti-Arab sentiments are often among the most-recent immigrants to Israel from the old Soviet Union.
There are also all sorts of racism among various Jewish groups within Israel.



Anyway, nothing to be gained by Carter debating Alan D. or my further debating you.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

23. exactly. How dare ANYONE criticize Israel?

We must ignore their murder, their torture, their economic attacks, the misery inflicted on Palestinians. Otherwise, we are antisemites.
now, where's that sarcasm icon?

[scarletwoman]

26. Well, you've convinced me. I just added another vote for this thread.

Anyone who equates taking a hard look at the power of the Israel Lobby with "anti-semitism" is someone whose opinion I refuse to take seriously.

sw

[furman]

27. The power of the "Jewish Lobby" is one of the oldest and most common antisemitic themes

You don't have to take my word for it. Google it for yourself.

[cap]

28. what is the best way to have a debate about the diversity of Jewish opinion

on the state of Israel and the best way to protect it?

[scarletwoman]

29. I didn't write "Jewish Lobby", I wrote Israel Lobby -- look it up in my post.

I have never equated Israel with all Jews. And when I express a negative opinion, it is Israel's government or Israel's power brokers or Israel's policies that I am criticizing, not the People of Israel -- and certainly not Jews in general.

I refuse to accept any knee-jerk cries of "Anti-Semitism" for freely expressing my opinion about a foreign nation, any more than I would accept any accusations of bigotry against Chinese people if I criticize the government and policies of China.

I also refuse to accept any knee-jerk cries of "Anti-Americanism" for freely expressing my opinion about my OWN government and its policies.

Neither the U.S.A. nor Israel are beyond reproach. No nation-state and no government of a nation-state gets a free pass from criticism, period. What you seem to be calling "Anti-Semitism" is really nothing more than the refusal to give one particular nation -- out of all the nations of the world -- a complete free pass for everything it does.

Tough luck. Israel gets no more of a free pass than France, Russia, Saudi Arabia or Kenya. Go ahead and keep calling that "Anti-Semitism", it just demonstrates the bankruptcy of your argument.

sw