The Jimmy Carter apology is deeply suspicious and seems utterly insincere. In order for a person to receive forgiveness for his actions, he needs to atone for them. There is no atonement, as can be seen in his anti-Israel op-ed in the Guardian two days after he offered the “apology.” And the timing of the open letter is very suspicious. It coincides with his grandson’s run for office in Atlanta (though Carter denies this has anything to do with it), but it’s also nothing to do with Hanukkah.
In his JTA interview, Carter discussed “impressions” of his words:
Carter said he never meant to convey the impression that the pro-Israel lobby silenced criticism of Israel, only that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was the “most influential lobbying group” and that presidents including himself and congresses have historically been “totally committed” to Israel’s security. He was grateful for the rise of J Street, saying that the dovish group’s views were aligned with his own.
The “impression”? Well, let’s revisit Carter’s words.
You have to remember that the major Israeli lobbies, they’re not in favor of peace. They never have professed to be. What they are in favor of is protecting the policies of whatever government is in charge in Israel. If you look at their Web sites, they make that quite clear. So they’re for Israel, they’re not for peace between Israel and its neighbors.
Caught in a lie again, Mr. Carter. And there are more.
There would be no way a member of the House or Senate in Washington could make a public statement condemning Israel or supporting the Palestinians. They would probably be threatened with being out of office the next term.
I believe the word for that is “calumny”.
When Carter atones for all of his sins, we can begin to forgive him. Merely saying the words “al het” doesn’t make this apology sincere. And I’m not the only one who isn’t buying it.
In his interview with JTA, the elder Carter acknowledged that the negative impressions about his book and book tour had ruptured his relations with the Jewish community. Jewish friends, including Atlanta Rabbi Alvin Sugarman, prominent Atlanta lawyer Miles Alexander and Stuart Eizenstat, who was Carter’s chief White House domestic policy adviser, urged him to reach out to the Jews.
He attempted to do so by arranging a talk at a synagogue or another Jewish venue, Carter told JTA, but was rebuffed.
It sounds to me like it’s an apology of expedience, nothing more. Once again: Apology not accepted. I still think Carter’s problem with Israel is that there are Jews in it.
We don’t have to read Carter’s mind. All we have to do is look at his actions. His atonement will be proven sincere when he stops profiting from his lies. That means he will withdraw from sale all of his antisemitic books, and he will total up all the money he’s received in royalties from the sale of those books and donate it to nonprofit organizations that defend Israel and Jews from their enemies. If he’s truly repentant, he’ll do these things because his conscience impels him to, without prompting from other people.
Carter’s problem with Israel is not that there are Jews in it, it is that there are Jews who spoke the truth to him (such as Menachem Begin). He reacted to that in the same way that he reacted to the United States electorate for daring to turn him out of office. He has never forgiven us for that either (even though so many liberal Jews fell for his con and voted for him). His actions have shown that he regards the United States in the same way that he considers Israel.
Sabba Hillel – you nailed it. To Jimmy Carter, Jews who speak the truth about him and his prejudices are just plain “uppity.” His foreign policy legacy includes the mullahs of Tehran, Chavez in Venezuela (when his Carter Center rubber-stamped a fraudulent election) and others spread throughout Latin America and the world. He was better off sticking to building houses.
“[Carter] was better off sticking to building houses.”
Except that, like all the stuff Carter touches, the houses
he built are falling apart. The man is simply ego wrapped
up in piousness.
Since Jew-hate is popular world wide, Carter is a Jew-hater.
His whole life has been one full of … manure.
Another example is his degree in “Nuclear” Engineering from
Annapolis. Somewhere the fact that he was never awarded the
“Nuclear” part of that degree was lost by the media.
Jonathan, from what I read, his houses are also falling apart, something about rotting foundations with no real substance, holding the framework together until exposed.
No, no, he loves Jews…real Jews…Jews who recognize their deep sins, Jews who do not give him a hard time, Jews who are for peace, Jews who love their enemies, that kind of Jew. The stiff-necked, stubborn ones are the ones for whom he has little sympathy.
By the way, if our lobbie’ goal is to cut off criticism of Israel, they’re doing a damn poor job of it.
Too bad Billy and his beer aren’t around anymore. It was nice to be able to have at least one Carter around that didn’t take himself too seriously.
Only Christians have to love their enemies, which would explain how the Middle East went from a Christian majority to a Muslim majority. You can’t really maintain your sovereignty when you’re busy loving your enemies. Just ask the Maronites, the Coptics or any of the other Middle Eastern Christian sects.
Alex, agreed on the lack of PR skills on the part of the pro-Israel lobbies.