Jimmy Carter and the Chamber of Hamas

[Deckard]

Anyone here have any opinions about what Carter has been embarking on?

(Carter: Hamas will accept Israel)

How is the media in the US treating him? I imagine him to be coming in for a great deal of criticism there.

[Strangelet]

I think he's a goddam hero for this. And yes, most american media is going for the jugular. I think the israeli interest in this political campaign has been very interesting to watch. both clinton and the neo-con media making no bones about pointing to the "endorsement" of farakhan and hamas towards obama as a criticism of not only Obama's disadvantage, but actually calling his patriotism (towards america!!) into question.

While I don't think that Carter's going to single handedly bring a ticker tape parade of peace across the middle east, his mind is in the right place.

[cacophony]

everyone (including the democratic candidates) is abandoning him in droves. i think he's doing the right thing and i would have hoped his reputation as a peace seeker would have protected him from this kind of persecution. but i guess my mistake was hoping anything.

[BeautifulBurnout]

All this reminds me of the situation between the UK and the IRA in the early 90s. The remotest suggestion that we should actually be talking to them would be met by accusations of nigh-treason and "pandering to terrorists".

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, all kinds of secret negotiations were going on and here we are 15 years later with a lasting peace.

All this BS about not talking to the "enemy" just leads to deeper and deeper entrenched positions. Someone sticking their nose out of the top of their trench and saying hi should be lauded, not villified. Idiots.

[mmm skyscraper]

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal stressed that Hamas would not formally recognise Israel.

that headline isn't exactly right

[Deckard]

To my thinking, it's not so much that this dialogue represents an alternative route to peace; I honestly believe it is the only route. That political leaders in the US and Israel are unaware of this I find very hard to swallow - to the extent that, on occasion, I even find myself wondering if there's some kind of vested interest in maintaining conflict in the region.

And as you say BB, NI is an obvious analogy here. The fact that former IRA leader Martin McGuiness is now Deputy First Minister of NI, presiding over a remarkable peace, proves what can be achieved. But there has to be a starting point.

[Sean]

I may differ with some folks here on the idea of dialogue being the "only route to peace", but I would certainly agree that it's the first route we should be trying. I'm sure many will argue that Carter wasted his time since apparently nothing was achieved through this meeting ( http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1 ), but I'm of the mindset that although nothing immediate may have been achieved, at least we tried dialogue before doing anything more destructive.

We control the evolutionary path of our species in ways that no other animal can, and I think working towards more non-violent methods of resolving disputes is important for us to do.....as long as we're realistic about the fact that at times, our primitive, instinctive tendency to resort to violence will inevitably rear it's head, and we'll likely need to engage in it in some cases to achieve a greater good, as in WWII.

But personally, I applaud Carter's efforts whether successful or not, simply for the fact that it's a route we need to continue exploring and improving at. That's one of the reasons I support Obama in the Presidential race, too.

[Deckard]

Originally Posted by Sean

I may differ with some folks here on the idea of dialogue being the "only route to peace", but I would certainly agree that it's the first route we should be trying.

To clarify, when I talk about 'only' I'm referring specifically to resolving the Israeli Palestinian conflict. I would agree that dialogue isn't always the only solution in every conflict.

But in this one, I really don't see any alternative to talking to Hamas that won't make the situation worse, in fact I guarantee that eventually, Israel and the US will be doing this very same thing themselves despite everything they're currently saying to the contrary.

The fact that Carter knew his mission would be deeply controversial and unpopular, the fact that he knew full well he would receive the predictable tag of terrorist dupe and appeaser, only increases my admiration of him.