Now Carter is telling Americans to have a litmus test for presidential candidates. Of course, it concerns the “Israel lobby.”
As long as American politicians are seen as “knee-jerk supporters” of Israel, the country’s role as the principal Mideast peace broker will be endangered, former President Jimmy Carter told a crowd Wednesday at the University of Iowa.
[…] “I wrote this book to describe the plight of the Palestinians,” he said. “And because I was convinced that we need a debate about where we are and where we need to go.”
Carter told the crowd that he chose Iowa out of the 100 university lecture invitations he received because Iowa caucus voters have the power to select candidates who will bolster peace efforts after six years of what he sees as inaction by the Bush administration.
“The main reason I came to Iowa is to make sure you knew you could shape an outcome in the 2008 presidential election. At least you can screen out candidates,” he said. “Make them pledge to you … that they will take a balanced position between Israel and Palestinians.”
In response to accusations that he’s biased, Carter noted his work with Israeli and Jewish groups. But he said that unlike current U.S. politicians and diplomats, he’s not subject to pressure from interest groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Uh-huh. And the tens of millions of dollars that the Carter Center has received from the Saudis and other Arab nations has nothing to do with his views toward Israel. Nothing at all.
And just in case you think Jimmah is alone in his views, read the sole comment on the article:
don adams wrote on April 19, 2007 3:03 PM:”Why does anyone pay any attention to Dennis Ross. He is a card carrying member of the Israel Lobby so his comments can be assumed before he speaks.
The Israel Lobby is the new dual loyalty charge, for the new century. Thank you, Walt & Mearsheimer. Thank you, Jimmy Carter. You have given the Jew-haters their newest euphemism and raised the art of Jew-hating to new heights, all while pretending to take the moral high ground.
I would like to ram my knee into that jerk’s gonads.
Interesting that somebody like Carter does the Arabs’ propaganda work for them, not only against Israel but against the USA as well, and receives millions of dollars from them, then has the gall to accuse Jews of dual loyalty. A phrase about eyes, motes, and beams occurs to me. Carter may have heard of the phrase at one time, but has obviously forgotten it. It can’t be important to him.
I am a knee-jerk supporter of Israel because I am a knee-jerk opponent of genocide. Hey Jimmy, you got a problem with that?
Carter’s call for “balance” reminds me of Golda Meir’s remark about “the evenhandedness of a one-handed man.”
It also reminds me of my high school debate partners observation that, “If you want to shoot me twice and I don’t want you to shoot me at all, it’s not really a compromise to let you shoot me once.”