Web Letters: Carter Speaks His Mind

It requires a thick skin to deal with the Israeli/Palestinian issue, and Carter has the nerves to take on the job. It is too bad that we don't have him in the White House now. Peace is possible, if we are willing to do a little arm-twisting on the Israeli side. While Hamas does present some problems, they have been paying attention to the problems Islamic parties have faced in Turkey, and they, along with the governments of the Middle East, will pay attention to the will of the Palestinian people on the subject of peace.

However, even some Israelis on the secular side of things, as an Israeli settler on the West Bank told Tom Friedman, have a sentimental attachment for Israel running from the river to the sea. They are not thrilled about Annapolis! Read Rosner's column in Ha'aretz.

Pervis J. Casey

Riverside, CA

It may be popular in jingoist & neocon circles to denigrate him, but that can't change the fact that James Earl Carter is the most honest and most candid President we've had in fifty years. A man's actions speak for themselves; since leaving office he has done everything you could expect of any man to advance peace, and work for justice for the poor and for all Americas. I think by any measure he is a stellar Christian role model. His book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, is an honest accounting of the Israeli/Palestinian situation and the reasons we don't know enough about it.

Carter has tried to shine some light on the attack dogs that work so effectively to prevent honest debate in the US on abuses by Israel within i's Palestinian occupation. True to form, an especially vile mud-slinger has immediately chimed in on this letter forum with a crude, dishonest, cheap shot. Too bad, but this only helps prove Carter's point.

It is remarkable that anyone, in the face of what Carter has done for Israel and his own deeply religious nature, would dare use the term anti-Semite in reference to him. Carter in fact seems selfless; conversely, those who attack him have nothing but self-interest.

Don't blame Judaism for Zionism's crimes in the name of Israel, Carter doesn't!

Chris Kent

Portsmouth, NH

Carter, as well as Nixon, are at least two of the most anti-Semitic/anti-Israel presidents in recent American history. Why condemn Israel for being willing to pursue human rights and religious freedom more than places like Serbia, where mentally challenged individuals are left in dire neglect, or Cambodia where young children are used and molested as prostitutes?

Carter's views do not seem to unite the Israelis and Palestinians; he's just a Palestinian mouth-piece. His book's title, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid does not seem to be good grammar. If it said "Palestine wants peace and not an apartheid," then it would be a clearer and less choppy title. And if he considers him an honest Christian, then does he realize that Christian teachings are derived from earlier, pagan myths, blended up with misinterpretations and mistranslations from Jewish scripture?

It is neither religion nor power that should be yoking the world but us using our best judgment in the global society.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult for Israel to make a compromise with the Palestinians, even after Israel has made a potential effort to the peace process, such as in the Oslo accords and giving up land in the West Bank. What has the Palestinian Authority done to help move forward with the peace process, in which to get a meeting of the minds in both parties?

Nicholas Rosen

Great Falls, VA