Citizen G'kar: Musings on Earth

April 18, 2008

Carter - Israeli sanctions on Gaza a 'criminal atrocity'

The consummate statesman from the US, former President Carter, minces no words about Israel these days. By making impassioned statements about Israel's excesses, he hopes to carve space for Hamas to stop rocketing unilaterally. This man is truly courageous, devoting his final years to using his influence to cut through politics as usual and make a constructive impact, whatever the cost to his personal reputation. He is a man to be admired.
BigNewsNetwork.com
Former US president Jimmy Carter and high-level leaders of the radical Palestinian organisation Hamas, have held talks in the Egyptian capital Cairo. The United States and Israel oppose Mr Carter's private peace mission, especially since he is making a special effort to meet with leaders of the Islamic Hamas movement, which he says cannot be ignored.


On Friday, the former US president will meet with the most senior official in the Hamas movement, Khaled Meshaal, in the Syrian capital Damascus. Meanwhile, Mr Carter has defended his meetings with Hamas and has told university students in Egypt that sanctions imposed on Gaza Strip are “criminal atrocity”. He told the students: "For every Israeli killed, between 30 to 40 Palestinians are killed because of the extreme military capability of Israel".


Carter said Israel and the US were trying to make the quality of life in Gaza markedly worse than in the West Bank, where the rival Fatah group is in control. He said he had also asked Hamas officials to stop rocket attacks into Israel.

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