Carter's Logic Faulty

At a conference of Irish human rights officials, former US President Jimmy Carter said on Tuesday that the US, Israel and the European Union must end their policy of favoring the Palestinian Fatah movement over rival Hamas. He said that by doing so, their actions are "criminal". He further went on to say that the 2006 election in which Hamas won 42 percent of the popular vote and a majority of parliamentary seats was "orderly and fair". He also said that, "The United States and Israel decided to punish all the people in Palestine (emphasis added) and did everything they could to deter a compromise between Hamas and Fatah." According to Carter, "All efforts of the international community should be to reconcile the two".

First off, let me say that if there are any "criminals" among the above-mentioned groups, it would have to be Hamas. Hamas is on the US State Department's List of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. You can learn more about their terrorist activities HERE. Hamas does not accept Israel's right to exist, and seeks instead its demise.

Secondly, let me say that Carter's assertion that the US, Israel and the European Union sought to "punish all the people in Palestine" is simply ludicrous. I need not elaborate.

Admittedly, Hamas won the elections (although it may be argued whether or not there was any vote tampering). But even assuming that the will of the Palestinian people was to put a bunch of terrorists in charge, this fact in no way requires the US, Israel or the European Union to recognize them. Doing so would be to confer legitimacy upon a terrorist organization. It would be no different than if Al-Qaeda had won the elections.

In response to the 2006 elections, the US and the European Union stopped all financial support of the Palestinians other than humanitarian aid through the auspices of the United Nations, and rightly so. Giving donations of cash to one's enemies seems hardly justifiable.

Instead, the way to deal with criminals is to put them in prison; to isolate them from society; to make them pay for their crimes. It is no different with terrorist organizations or rogue nations than it is with individual criminals who threaten, harrass and assault their neighbors. They must be isolated. Their finances must be cut off. They must be embargoed. They must be prevented from continuing their crime spree. And that is exactly what the US, Israel and the European Union has sought to do... to their credit.

For Carter to suggest that Hamas should be reconciled to Fatah is like suggesting that Al-Qaeda should be reconciled with "infidels". It will never happen, because Hamas is an Islamist religious organization with ties to Hizballah, Syria and Iran. Fatah on the other hand, is a secular organization that has shown its willingness to negotiate with Israel and establish a peaceful Palestinian state.

Hamas is not interested in a Palestinian state that enjoys peaceful coexistence with Israel. It wants Israel's destruction. When Israel pulled out of Gaza, Hamas was given an opportunity to govern in Gaza... and it failed miserably. Rather than show the world it could manage things in Gaza as a prelude to a Palestinian state, it chose instead to use Gaza as a platform to launch a new series of attacks against Israel. Rather than offer the world a reason to develop confidence in them, it chose instead to cement its terrorist reputation.

For Carter to suggest that we should negotiate with terrorists is naive at best. (Perhaps he would be willing to be US Ambassador to Al-Qaeda... or Iran?) His view of the US, Israel and Europe as "criminal" is like looking at the world through a mirror... where the image is completely reversed from the "real" world. His implication that we should recognize any elected government as legitimate, regardless of past crimes or historical context can only be described as a failure of logic.