Jimmy Carter on Al-Jazeera: 'I Wasn’t Equating the Palestinian Missiles with Terrorism'

Former President Jimmy Carter was interviewed by Al-Jazeera on Sunday (hat tip to LGF, video available here), and the former peanut farmer made some statements that many in America might find quite objectionable.

For instance: “Well, I don’t really consider, I wasn’t equating the Palestinian missiles with terrorism.” What? Excuse me? Palestinian missiles aren't acts of terrorism? Really?

Alas, that was just the beginning of a series of truly shocking comments made by a former president on an Arab television network that has continually shown itself to be hostile to American interests. Take a gander at this next abomination if you've got the stomach for it: "Most of the condemnations of my book came from Jewish American organizations, which think that I believe there is racial segregation inside Israel.”

With all due respect to a former president, this is an extraordinary statement given the number of members of the Carter Center who have resigned as a result of his book. It seems that Carter must not be seeing this resignation letters.

Regardless, how about this little gem: “My whole book is written about Palestine and its lands, and about what is going on against the Palestinian people, which is, in my view, very similar, and in some cases even worse, than what happened to the blacks in South Africa.”

Finally, the former president not only seemed to voice his support for the Palestinians, but also once again expressed dissatisfaction with the policies of his own country for all of its enemies in the Arab world to hear:

Last January, after the elections were over and Hamas won, I went to London to meet the International Quartet. I urged them not to impose any kind of economic sanctions against the Palestinian people, but they decided to do so. When alternatives were proposed, by the Arab countries and by the United Nations, the US rejected the alternative, and (refused) to transfer money to the Palestinians. I think the reason is that the US wants to topple Hamas and (believes) that if it punishes the Palestinian people severely, the Palestinians will have to change their minds. I don’t know how true this is, but it’s not legal, proper, or morally right to deprive an entire people of the basic necessities of life because they participated in a democratic process and voted freely.  

How disgraceful and undiplomatic. For those that can stand it, what follows is a partial transcript of his interview translated by Memritv.org.

Most of the condemnations of my book came from Jewish American organizations, which think that I believe there is racial segregation inside Israel. I don’t base it on that. My whole book is written about Palestine and its lands, and about what is going on against the Palestinian people, which is, in my view, very similar, and in some cases even worse, than what happened to the blacks in South Africa.

Well, I don’t really consider, I wasn’t equating the Palestinian missiles with terrorism. But when the Palestinians commit terrorist acts, and I mean when a person blows himself up within a bus full of civilians, or when the target of the operation is women and children – such acts create a rejection of the Palestinians among those who care about them. It turns the world away from sympathy and support for the Palestinian people. That’s why I said that acts of terrorism like I just described are suicidal for the popularity and support for the Palestinian cause.

In my book, I talk about violence from both sides, and I describe very carefully and accurately the number of casualties among Palestinians and Israelis, including children. The number of Palestinian children who died because of the violence is five times greater than the number of Israeli children, and I condemn this kind of violence on both sides.

Last January, after the elections were over and Hamas won, I went to London to meet the International Quartet. I urged them not to impose any kind of economic sanctions against the Palestinian people, but they decided to do so. When alternatives were proposed, by the Arab countries and by the United Nations, the US rejected the alternative, and (refused) to transfer money to the Palestinians. I think the reason is that the US wants to topple Hamas and (believes) that if it punishes the Palestinian people severely, the Palestinians will have to change their minds. I don’t know how true this is, but it’s not legal, proper, or morally right to deprive an entire people of the basic necessities of life because they participated in a democratic process and voted freely.