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Opinion
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Animus Toward Israel
F
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WE'RE PART OF THE TEAM
A32
May 8 2008
ormer President Jimmy Carter's
latest foray into Middle East pol-
itics — meeting with Hamas to
negotiate peace — was wrong on several
fronts: It was illegal, the height of hubris,
self-serving and
another example
of Carter's animus
toward Israel.
Let's take one
judgment at a
time.
Not only was
Carter asked
directly by the
Bush administra-
tion not to meet
with Hamas in
Gaza, but also
in rejecting the
pleas, Carter broke the law, specifically, the
Logan Act, which bars unauthorized U.S.
citizens from negotiating with foreign gov-
ernments.The act, adopted in 1799, states:
"Any citizen of the United States, wher-
ever he may be, who, without authority
of the U.S., directly or indirectly com-
mences or carries on any correspondence
or intercourse with any foreign govern-
ment or any officer or agent thereof, with
intent to influence the measures or con-
duct of any foreign government or of any
officer or agent thereof, in relation to any
disputes or controversies with the United
States, or to defeat the measures of the
United States, shall be fined under this
title or imprisoned not more than three
years, or both:"
There is little doubt the U.S. has "dis-
putes" and "controversies" with Hamas, and
Carter's mission was intended to "defeat
the measures" of the U.S., which does not
recognize Hamas. One hardly needs to be
lawyer to reach that a conclusion.
Carter undoubtedly was and is aware
of the Logan Act. Violations have faced
almost every administration but there
have been no prosecutions. The late
President Ronald Reagan said the Rev.
Jesse Jackson broke the law when he met
with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro but
no prosecution followed. Some accused
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of violating
the act for meeting with Syria, who the
U.S. says condones and abets state-spon-
sored terrorism.
There has been one indictment under
the act of a newspaper which argued in
1803 that part of the U.S. should be orga-
nized into a separate nation to be allied
with France, but there was no prosecution.
Carter, meeting with Hamas, proudly
reported that he managed to convince the
terrorist organization to recognize Israel
(with concessions from Israel, of course.)
Put aside for a moment that Hamas
officials maintained immediately after
the meeting that recognition will never
be offered to Israel, Carter cannot be so
naive or vain not to recognize the PR
value of his visit to Hamas.
Incidentally Carter is an equal oppor-
tunity offender, undermining Democratic
administrations as well. Carter embar-
rassed the Clinton administration by
negotiating with North Korea to end its
nuclear weapons program. Carter reported
success and we all know how North Korea
kept its word.
Which brings us to the issue of hubris.
Never in this country's history has a for-
mer president displayed such disrespect
to a successor. Indeed, former presidents,
no matter how strongly they may object
to the policies of those who followed
them to the Oval Office, usually maintain
their silence.
Understanding the pressures of the
office and how disagreement would
undermine the existing administration,
former presidents display respect though
they may disagree — even strongly —
with the politics of their replacements.
Not Carter, who generally is rated, by
Democrats and Republicans alike, as
probably one of the worst presidents in
U.S. history.
He plows ahead even though he no
longer has the most up-to-date sensitive
information that affects the development
of policies. As a former president, he can-
not be as informed, no matter how much
he reads or how much access he has to
world leaders, as he was when he held
office.
Most likely, he also angered Arab lead-
ers who are not prepared to welcome
Hamas into their political family.
None of this seems to bother Carter.
As he revealed when president, he is a
stubborn, mean-spirited man, not easily
swayed by the pleadings of the president
of the United States, logic or basic politi-
cal decency and courtesy.
But then, we must remember, this is
the man who wrote Palestine: Peace not
Apartheid, a hateful Israel-bashing polem-
ic that even evoked protests from some of
the most vocal critics of Israel, including
Congressman John Conyers, D-Detroit.
The Hamas meeting offered Carter
another chance to pressure Israel — or so
he thought — and, all the protests from a
variety of quarters notwithstanding, the
man from Georgia decided to take it. ❑
Berl Falbaum of Farmington Hills is a former
political reporter. He also is an author and
public relations executive. He teaches jour-
nalism part time at Wayne State University
in Detroit.
Light To The Nations
Jerusalem/JTA
I
is impossible
to augur the
future of the
Jewish people.
It can only be
summed up in
two words: "I
hope'
In a paradoxical
sense, the current
Avraham Burg
political, eco-
Special
nomic and mili-
Commentary
tary strength of
the Jewish people
does not suggest much self-confidence.
We never before have had such a strong
army and such a powerful state, just as
we never have had such a great support
network and influence as we have with
today's worldwide Jewry.
Nevertheless we are fearful. Every day,
we worry about our future and wonder if
there still is hope for us. We fear annihila-
tion and destruction. We see foes behind
every shadow. Is this security? Are the
fruits of independence and sovereignty
the loss of the Jewish people's faith in
netzach yisrael, the eternity of the Jewish
people?
We have tremendous national experi-
ence in survival and in forging means of
existence in the face of a hostile world.
But we have yet to develop a national
strategy for times of respite, acceptance
and equality, whether in our sovereign
nation or in our diaspora society.
The question for our future is, can the
Jewish people, the vast majority of whom
live today in the democratic hemisphere,
survive without an external enemy?
The key to that future doesn't really
depend on our military or political
strength but in decoding the Jewish
genome that succeeded in getting us
through so many challenging periods.
The Jewish people never survived
merely for purposes of survival or sub-
sisted solely for the purpose of subsist-
ing. Judaism and Jews can survive only
if we, connected with one another, are
aimed toward a goal far larger than phys-
ical survival. We must aim for the destiny
Light To Nations on page A33