Carter comes to Israel on peace mission, but finds himself shunned

[bemildred]

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, broker of the first Israeli-Arab peace treaty, is getting a cool reception on his latest mission to the region: Israeli leaders are shunning him for accusing the Jewish state of apartheid and planning to meet with the head of the violently anti-Israel Hamas group.

A schedule released by the U.S.-based Carter Center showed no plans for the former president to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni or Defense Minister Ehud Barak during this week's visit in Israel, which was scheduled to begin Sunday.

Scheduling problems was the official reason given, a senior Israeli official said - even though Olmert recently took time from his busy schedule to chat with Wentworth Miller of the U.S. TV drama, Prison Break. Olmert's office declined comment. What is really behind the cold shoulder is Carter's plan to meet with Hamas' Damascus-based political leader, Khaled Meshal, when his peacekeeping mission moves later in the week to Syria, the Israeli official said. "Israeli leaders are not publicly criticizing Carter out of respect for his former position as U.S. president," he added.

In remarks to air Sunday on ABC News' "This Week" Carter said that his upcoming visit to the Middle East will probably include a meeting in Syria with leaders of the militant group Hamas.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/974412.html

[YDogg]

1. I wonder what bush will do for the betterment of the world after he is out of office?

Agree or disagree with all of Pres Carter's actions, at least he is trying *something* rather than just sitting on his ass.

[Sal Minella]

3. " I wonder what bush will do for the betterment of the world after he is out of office?"

Sit quietly in his cell and contemplate his innumerable crimes against humanity???

[YDogg]

4. For the Win

[oberliner]

2. Jimmy Carter defends meeting with Hamas

WASHINGTON - Former President Carter said he feels "quite at ease" about meeting Hamas militants over the objections of Washington because the Palestinian group is essential to a future peace with Israel.

Carter, interviewed Saturday for ABC News' "This Week," airing Sunday, also said he would oppose a U.S. Olympic boycott and hopes all countries will join in the Beijing games.

He spoke from Katmandu, Nepal, where his team of observers from the Carter Center monitored an election that appeared likely to transform rule by royal dynasty into a democracy with former Maoist rebels in a strong position, judging by incomplete returns.

Several State Department officials, including the secretary, Condoleezza Rice, criticized Carter's plans to talk in Syria this week with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in the first public contact in two years between a prominent American figure and the group. Carter said he had not heard the objections directly, although a State Department spokesman said earlier that a senior official from the department had called the former president.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080413/ap_on_go_ot/carter_mideast

[ProgressiveMuslim]

5. Carter is indeed a moral man -- unlike what passes for current leadership

he is not dictated by prevailing (ignorant) winds.

[bemildred]

6. I liked the picture with the OP.

He doesn't look like he's going to back down.

[Vegasaurus]

8. What Carter does or doesn't do makes no difference

He is completely ineffectual in the I/P peace process, and holds no power over Israel or the US.

If it makes him feel like he is doing something, that is his prerogative, but he really is ineffectual.

[Rhiannon12866]

9. What exactly has Bush* done in the past eight years to advance Middle East peace?

Oh, right, he started a never-ending war in the region where thousands have died and that's inflamed the Middle East. Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for the work he did to broker peace between Israel and Egypt, more than any other president has done.

[breakaleg]

7. So Carter has damaged Israel and the peace process? Did he mean that as a joke?