Three days after declaring that “Mideast peace is impossible without Hamas,” and a day after receiving one of the highest awards bestowed by the Palestinian Authority, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is set to visit Neve Daniel in Gush Etzion on Sunday – and residents say they are very unhappy with the visit, to say the least. In a letter, a grassroots residents' committee urged residents to contact Gush Etzion Regional Council Head Shaul Goldstein, whose home Carter is supposed to visit Sunday, and express their disapproval of the meeting. Several petitions are being circulated condemning the visit. The committee's letter said that the former U.S. president, known for his hostitlity towards Israel, was trying to put on a guise of “even-handedness” in visiting a town in Judea and Samaria (Yesha), but “Carter is unfair and is far from being objective." “Carter has always, and will always, speak up and defend those who wish to destroy the State of Israel. He pushes an anti-Israel agenda, while presenting himself as a good-willed broker who seeks peace and is ready to listen to 'both sides.' This makes him all the more dangerous,” the letter added. Slanderous statements American Jews are less naïve about Carter, the committee's letter says. Quoting several articles by prominent American attorney Alan Dershowitz on the subject of Carter, the letter lists the former president's numerous anti-Israel writings and stances: - Carter's Atlanta-based research center is funded by Arab and anti-Semitic elements. The center has received a one million dollar donation from the Bin Laden family, among others. - While Carter professes to be an advocate for human rights, he is in truth an advocate only for Arab rights, ignoring the real suffering of hundreds of millions in China, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran. - In his book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” Carter makes numerous slanderous statements against Jews, and mangles the history of the land of Israel, claiming erroneously that Christians and Arabs have inhabited the land since Roman times. Meanwhile, he completely ignores the continuous Jewish residency in the land for the past 2,000 years. - His book also blames Israel for the mideast conflict, ignoring the fact that Israel proposed and agreed to many diplomatic compromises in an attempt to forge a peace treaty. In response to criticism of his book, Carter responded with the charge that “any voice that does not agree with Israel is immediately forced to shut up.” 'In love' with the Palestinians The letter says that Carter long ago crossed the line, and that “he is a clear supporter of our enemies. Now he is attempting to present himself as an 'honest broker.' We cannot allow ourselves to be the instruments of his rehabilitation. We must tell him: 'You are working against the Jewish nation in its land, and you cannot be an honest broker.'” Receiving the Palestinian Authority's International Award for Excellence and Creativity on Saturday, Carter said in Ramallah that he has “been in love with the Palestinian people for many years. I have two great-grandsons that are rapidly learning about the people here and the anguish and suffering and deprivation of human rights that you have experienced ever since 1948," he said. Adding that he supported fully President Barack Obama's call for a freeze in construction in communities in Judea and Samaria, Carter said that "in the future, I am sure, he will call for the dismantling of the settlements that exist."
