President Jimmy Carter: "How To Fix It": Ending this war in Gaza begins with recognizing Hamas [View all]
as a legitimate political actor.
"Former President Jimmy Carter once again is getting way out in front of the U.S. government on the Middle East, co-authoring an op-ed in which he calls for Washington to recognize designated terror group Hamas as a legitimate "political actor" -- while blasting Israel for its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
"The scathing column on ForeignPolicy.com was written by Carter and Ireland's former president Mary Robinson.
The article called the current conflict a "humanitarian catastrophe," and while acknowledging Hamas' "indiscriminate targeting" of Israelis, focused its criticism on Israel.
"There is no humane or legal justification for the way the Israeli Defense Forces are conducting this war," they wrote. "Israeli bombs, missiles, and artillery have pulverized large parts of Gaza, including thousands of homes, schools, and hospitals."
They said "deliberate attacks on civilians" constitute "war crimes" on both sides, though noting far fewer Israelis have been killed in the fighting."
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"Hamas cannot be wished away, nor will it cooperate in its own demise," Carter writes, along with Mary Robinson, in a Foreign Policy op-ed Tuesday. "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."
Also in the op-ed, Carter faults Israel for stonewalling multilateral attempts at peace and for dangerously isolating Palestinians in Gaza, saying the "necessary requirements for a human standard of living continue to be denied." And though he accuses both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes through their "deliberate" attacks on civilians, he reserves his strongest criticisms for the IDF.
http://theweek.com/speedreads/index/265836/speedreads-jimmy-carter-israel-must-recognize-hamas-as-a-legitimate-political-actor
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/08/04/how_to_fix_it_jimmy_carter_mary_robinson_israel_palestine_gaza_hamas
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President Carter is saying exactly what many on DU have been saying for a month....is he anti-Israel also? Does he also not "get it"? Does his voice and so many others imperatively need to be suppressed so the killing can continue? Will the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset get his wish for a final ending to the Palestinian problem, send them to concentration camps abroad.....or else?
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