Jimmy Carter, Self Respect and the Distinction Among MurderersContrary to today's editorial in Haaretz, Israel's shunning of Jimmy Carter is a rare and welcome moment of self respect and independence by Israel.
Six years ago today, American Jews similarly demonstrated self respect and independence, when we rallied for Israel on Capitol Hill. Our "leaders" who organized that rally apparently thought it should resemble a quiet shul sermon and presented one lecture after another from various political hacks, relegating the terror victims and their survivors to the very end of the program. But even that could not override the fact that hundreds of thousands of people came to Washington on a Monday shortly after Pesach, insisting, with success, that the Bush Administration cease making distinctions - as it routinely did then - betweeen Arab terror against Americans and Arab terror against Israelis. And among the charedim, scores came to Washington even as the "gedoilim" hemmed and hawed as to whether the rally was appropriate.
On the way home from the rally, we got the good news that Israel had finally captured leading Fatah terrorist Marwan Barghouti.
Six years later, Labor and Kadima hacks are fighting over which most wants to release Barghouti from prison. The Bush Administration and Israel's government apparently agree that occasional outbreaks of Fatah terror are okay since Fatah must maintain the respect of the street, that rockets on Sderot are not really terror, and that only Hamas terror from Ashkelon and northward are to be condemned.
In this context, the otherwise appropriate shunning of Carter is rendered absurd. The moral outrage over Carter's meeting with leading Hamas murderers is completely illogical in the face of Israel's own red carpet treatment for Fatah murderers.
Haaretz and Carter are, at least, consistent in their political support for Palestinian murderers of all kinds.
posted on 4/15/2008
