And at the urging of the Scribes & Pharisees the crowd cried out: "Give us Barabbus!"

Wow! Indeed. Ya really brought 'em out of the woodwork with this one, Rabbi Brad.

I do wonder that any Jew would seek Jimmy Carter's approval.

The way I read it, the Hebrews were the first people to teach their Creator justice. All Jimmy Carter owes is a "thanks."

All those are trite but true you say? Think again.

Think that justice is too expensive? Then measure the cost of war.

So much injustice has already been done that we must do more to win? You walk in madness.

"If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner." -Nelson Mandela

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." -Matthew 5:3

"No future without forgiveness." -Bishop Desmond Tutu

"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it stands than to anything on which it is poured." -Anonymous

"If you want peace, work for justice." -Pope Paul VI

BTW, there is a wonderful article that explains what Jimmy Carter means when he uses the word "we." In my experience with him he is usually referring to the love of his life, Rosalynn. http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/jimmy-and-rosalynn-a-259217.html

clkgtrss, before you talk about anti- Isreal sentiment and launch into the Islamic countries having rape of domestic healp, trade in stolen vehicles, political corruption, etc, let me point you toward recent stories on Ehud Olmert's corruption charges, or the story last year in Isreal of Yonatan Bassa who raped jewish women or earlier this year in NY/NJ where Rabbi Saul Kassin was taken into custody for money laudering charges or the men who have been caught stealing American State secrets and selling them to Isreal. The world is FILLED with dishonest men and it is shameful that you only point the finger at the Islamic countries. Islamic countries and people are inherently no more corrupt than any other. This proves Carter's point, fair and balanced reporting of facts, not a blind eye to the issues of one and viification of the other.

I could not agree more with TWM1 that Carter's assessment is balanced. The Jewish people should not be attacked, but the political and social contructs of Istreal are open to criticism, just as with Arerican policies and judical system. For any one people to beleive that THEY have a right to the land associated with historial Isral is to disregard the 2000 years of families raised on that same land. There is no clear answer and any division will certainly upset be compormise. I respect the right of Isreal to project its people, but with proportial strength. What the state of Isreal is doing now,in it's confinement, employment laws, educational access, water access, etc is panethic, and below the Jewish people. I have seen Isreali border gaurds break the wrists of Palastinean boys who were throwing rocks - a grown man with gun doing that should be ashamed of himself. Might does not make right.

When will Carter apologize for ushering in the reign of Islamic rule in Iran, a fount of terrorism that threatens both Israel and the USA?

How can carter be a Christian when he knows that our Lord Jesus the Christ the son of the living GOD was born a Jew...
and He was a Rabbi...
Jews and Christians are brothers, linked by our Saviour...
Our Lord spread out his arms and embraced all of us, regardless of the land or tribe we belonged to...
He who hears the truth will hear me, says the Lord...

"Someone wrote:
"Jimmy Carter is the worst President in U.S. history."
Sorry GWB has that one all sewed up, hands down, no argument. Just below Reagan, Hoover and Nixon.
Posted by: knjincvc | December 24, 2009 1:33 PM
Report Offensive Comment"

NO, OBAMA is looking like the worse of all time...
Obama will be the most cursed about President in the history of the world...

Reasons why Israel is not an APARTHEID STATE (you need to find a better term to describe the policies against palestinians).
Israel has arab members in it's parliament,in it's broader term sephardic jews are of the same race as iranian, yemeni and spanish people.
Do you realize how many jews visually look and have genetic links to iranian, yemeni, spanish descendants etc.
You don't use the word APARTHEID when israel has taken in large numbers of africans.
Certainly if close to sixteen islamic countries can identify themselves as islamic republics israel can describe itself as a jewish state.

Eham31 wrote:

"Why does it always have to be about religion when discussing Israel? "

Because it is a Jewish State. In other words, it is a fundamentalist country governed by the religious fundamentalists. That's why.

rjwash wrote:

"A few things to remember about Islamic countries: Honor Killings, Rape of Foreign Domestic Help, Massive Trade in Stolen Vehicles from Europe and Abroad, Political..."

Indeed. Religious fundamentalists are morons. Two examples:

1.)Pat Robertson believing that 9/11 was caused by homosexuals.

2.) Israel believing itself to be a democracy.

Israel is an apartheid state. There is no question about that. It is not a democracy. it will never be a democracy. Please stop pretending Israel belongs in the family of nations. It does not. It is an apartheid state. Clear as day.

For years England and the Americans the last powers of the earth still backing the state of Israel, believing this people specially the baptist and Protestant tha the state of Isarael have a relation with the "Israel of God". That Idea is false, Jehovah the God of the Hebrews have no relation with the actual state of Israel, you are killing palestinian, the new version of the Hollocaust with the aprobal of England and USA. God Kingdom is comming at high speed and will eliminated all the Kingdoms and goverments of the earth including Israel. Read Daniel 2:44 and all the chapter 2 & 7 of Daniel and say good by to the actual world system, including UD,England, USA, Israel, and other world powers. God desicion is Final and forever. The jewish Raby can cry for ever, but the coming God Judge is Jesuschrist the messiah, Julius XXII

One thing to consider. Many - being a significant percentage - of jews are very much opposed to not only the present Israeli government but also to actions that harm palestinians.
There are even sects of religious jews that concur with hardline Iranian sentiment opposed to Israel.
Israel military action against palestinians dwarfs muslim on muslim guerilla/military deaths - no matter how macabre this statement there seems to be a certain dynamics involved beyond the formation and presence of Israel.
As far as the Israeli K-street lobbyist, I for one if need be could certainly argue that NRA, pro-christian and others lobbying campaigns have a far higher destructive effect in this nation.

Israeli supporters buy off American politicians in the same way the corporations do. In return our fine upstanding representatives give Israel billions of our hard earned tax dollars every year. This has to end we cannot continue to allow foreign governments to have influence over our politicians and money like this.

quote

"Wow - lots of anti-Israel sentiment.

A few things to remember about Islamic countries: Honor Killings, Rape of Foreign Domestic Help, Massive Trade in Stolen Vehicles from Europe and Abroad, Political Corruption, Poor Development & Research by it's Universities, Accepting U.S. Government Aid, Restrictions on Foreign Observers, Daunting Restrictions on Domestic & International Press, Economies are the Personal Banks of Royal Families and Religious Institutions, Poverty, CORRUPTION in all levels of society and daily life."

-----

That Islamic countries have HUGE problems of their own is not a valid counterpoint to Israel's refusal to do what is right by the Palestinians. It is the kind of go to prepackaged thinking that Israel uses (along with anti-semetism) to dodge a hard self assessment of the fruits of their actions. The sad thing in all of this is the Palestinian question should have been Israel's opportunity to demonstrate a mutually beneficial coexistence with their neighbors. Instead they have dug themselves into a hole and drug the US in with them.

Offering conciliatory word to Israel or the Jewish lobby is an exercise in futility. They just take what they want and kick you in the balls on the way out. The sooner we stop letting them exploit the rest of our nation, the better off we'll be.

Sigh.... Look, the Israelis started this whole mess back in '48, and they dragged us into this running sore that passes for a bastion of democracy.

Israel should be treated exactly like the enemies it created. The U.S. should cut off any financial and political support to Israel until it gets out of the West Bank completely and helps the Palestinians (no paragon of virtue or organization themselves, after 60 years of oppression).

Carter has nothing, repeat, nothing, to apologize for; he characterized Israel correctly and called them for what they are: land grabbers and oppressors of a people from whom they stole the land. One of these days most Americans will wake up to this ( the Israelis are really good marketing and public relations folks), and dump Israel, as we should have years ago, when they became the villains in all of this...

Jason Carter, his grandson, is running for Georgia Senate in a heavily jewish district. Enough said. What, again, do you pro-Carter people not understand about the insincerity of this "apology"?
Can any pro-Carter poster answer this simple question?
It is so obvious why he made the "apology", it would be comical if it weren't so sad that you don't understand this.
However, I think you do. You just want to ignore the question.

Wow - lots of anti-Israel sentiment.

A few things to remember about Islamic countries: Honor Killings, Rape of Foreign Domestic Help, Massive Trade in Stolen Vehicles from Europe and Abroad, Political Corruption, Poor Development & Research by it's Universities, Accepting U.S. Government Aid, Restrictions on Foreign Observers, Daunting Restrictions on Domestic & International Press, Economies are the Personal Banks of Royal Families and Religious Institutions, Poverty, CORRUPTION in all levels of society and daily life.

I, for one, am quite weary of Carter's 30 years of "holier than thou" personality, public comments and wearisome self centered obsessions. He does not understand that his words hold far less validity within the Christian faith than a homeless, sick and depressed believer seeking only love and compassion. In fact, in spite of his high opinion of himself,he has no comprehension of the pain and suffering of the millions living their daily lives who do not possess his extremely privileged life. I much prefer and respect the comments coming from "the least of these" who are "Jesus in His most distressing disguise" Mother Teresa.

Why does it always have to be about religion when discussing Israel? They are a country and their actions are political and have nothing to do with how they worship. It has to do with continued encroachment of land which is not their's, their military invading and destroying houses, farm lands and generally treating others as they were treated by the Germans when they were confined to the ghettos. When we invaded Iraq, it was not the Chrisians who sent the military, it was the government, the USA. I resent this business of "anti-semetic" when someone has the courage to speak out about the human rights abuses of the Palestinian people. Yes, there are terroist groups there just as there are gangs and other terrorist groups in our country, but it is the government's responsibility to make wars, policies.

To anyone who considers Palestinians "terrorists":

What would YOU do if you had been treated the way Israel treats you?

quote

"to those who disavow the existence of antisemitiam.they forget that it has travelled well for two thousand years and is not therefore about to disappear.
europe is the origin of most americans and europe has been the cauldron that has kept antisemitism cooking."

Is it not possible that it has traveled well for two thousand years because for two thousand years many Jewish communities have settled in foreign lands with little care for fostering good relations with their neighbors nay hosts. Is it not possible that Jewish behavior such as current Israeli state policy is one pariticpant causality of anti-Semitism and that it is not simply a naturally occuring phenomenon?

President Carter DIDN'T apologize, he only said he was sorry if certain (true) words were taken in this or that way.

THat this appears on the front page and is maganified ridiculously by this sorry writer is typical.

At the time when the Jews are trying to tell the Catholic church what to do, and who they can cannonize and show their records, constantly screaming and demanding.

While Israel commits atrocities over and over that makes the civilized world wretch.

Do the zionists/neocon/Jews/Israelis ever do anything (except ruin the world economy, scream for war here and everywhere) but look for something to scream about?

No wonder anti semitism grows exponentially. And it does.

To NOT be an anti Semite in 2009 you must accept
Harvesting of Palestinian body parts
Stealing another mans land,water and destroying his future
Ethnic cleansing
Phosphorus bombing of civilians
Using human shields while killing unarmed Palestinians
Attacking your benefactor [USS Liberty]
Spying on your benefactor [Pollard]
Dancing at Ground Zero.
Racial Purity
Nuclear Weapons in the hands of extremists
etc etc etc

IT IS VERY SAD THAT, AS AN EX-PRESIDENT, JIMMY CARTER, WHO IS NOW A PRIVATE CITIZEN, BROKE THE LAW BY MEETING WITH HEZBOLLAH WITHOUT THE FORMAL AUTHORIZATION OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT. HE KNEW HE WAS IN CONTEMPT OF U.S. LEGAL STATUES BUT DID NOT STOP WHEN HE WAS WARNED.

IT IS ALSO VERY SAD THAT HE DECIDED TO ACCUSE ISRAEL OF PRACTICING APARTHEID, WHEN HE KNEW QUITE WELL THAT THESE ACCUSATIONS WERE TOTALLY FALSE AND WOULD NEVER BE TOLERATED BY ANYONE.

THE "PEACEFUL" PALESTINIANS WERE OF COURSE VERY HAPPY BUT THE OUTCOME WAS, AS EXPECTED, QUITE NEGATIVE FOR THE PEACE PROCESS.

JIMMY CARTER APOLOGIES COULD BE ACCEPTED BUT, IN ALL HONESTY, NOTHING MUCH WILL CHANGE. IT IS WAY TOO LATE IN THE GAME OF LIFE. CARTER NOT ONLY HURT ISRAEL, THE ONE AND ONLY DEMOCRACY IN THE ENTIRE MIDDLE-EAST, BUT ALSO THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMUNITY THAT DID NOT DESERVE THIS TREATMENT FROM THE EX-PRESIDENT.

FINALLY, THIS TOPIC, AS EXPECTED, BROUGHT MANY ANTI-SEMITES CRAWLING FROM UNDER THE ROCKS WHERE THEY ARE USUALLY HIDING AND WE WILL SEE AN ENDLESS SERIES OF IDIOTIC, HATEFUL AND ENVIOUS COMMENTS POLLUTING THIS SITE, AS USUAL.

On reviewing the comments here.......... does anybody really care anymore about being branded antisemite for expressing real and reasonable concerns and realities about Israel? No my friends, it has become and old trick and the cup runneth over.

hey, if you Israelis want to separate yourselves from the rest of humanity, then deal with any critics or misunderstandings.

another thing, I am sick of my tax dollars supporting all the draft dodging Jews in Israel that hide behind some fake religious stuff.

get a job and quit ripping everyone off with your Ponzi schemes.

The apology while meaning well was a mistake. It does not distinguish between the avarice Zionists and the Jewish people who long for peace and brotherhood. Young people through out Israel are standing up and saying no more murder in the name of Israel's immoral vision. Don't apologize to the Zionists supported by 3 billion American tax dollars. Cut off all funding until the holocaust is ended.

It is very nice to hear all this typical Christian hatred toward Jews and Israel on the Christmas eve! This hatred is is what Jesus and his followers brought in the world! Happy Christmass, you mad haters!

Far be for me to comment in anyway about a problem that is so complex and deep rooted so as to defy even the most knowledgeable and well informed. But let me say this about Mr. Carter. He is a man albeit imperfect who has constantly striven to help while others have done nothing or made the situation worse. He has my respect as a thoroughly decent human being. Not many other US presidents can claim that.

to those who disavow the existence of antisemitiam.they forget that it has travelled well for two thousand years and is not therefore about to disappear.
europe is the origin of most americans and europe has been the cauldron that has kept antisemitism cooking.

Cater owes all of us an apology!

Jimmy Carter has been spot on in his assessment of the situation between the Israelis and Palestinians. There is much blood on both sides. The difference is that only Israel has the capability to bring this insanity to and end. To simplify his criticisms as being "idealized understandings" of the big guy versus the little is just another way of dismissing all valid criticism of Israeli foreign policy. If you are not an anti-Semite then at the very least you are idealist who fails to understand the complexity of that part of the world in which Israel must reside. Words, words, words. Stop the excuses, stop the settlements and give the Palestinains statehood and begin what will certainly be a difficult multi-generational road to peace.

(Sorry, a typo in my previous comment)

This episode only reinforces the fact that, for most mortals, reality always rules over ideology. For the decent but obviously not great President Carter, it is no exception. He might have nothing to lose by speaking out the truth, but his descendants no doubt do. It must deeply hurt his pride to even have to issue this half-hearted "apology". It's a sad occasion.

This episode only reinforces the fact that, for most mortals, reality always rules over ideology. For the decent but obviously only great President Carter, it is no exception. He might have nothing to lose by speaking out the truth, but his descendants no doubt do. It must deeply hurt his pride to even have to issue this half-hearted "apology". It's a sad occasion.

Someone wrote:
"Jimmy Carter is the worst President in U.S. history."

Sorry GWB has that one all sewed up, hands down, no argument. Just below Reagan, Hoover and Nixon.

TO:President Carter: Poster Boy for the
Arab Muslim world.

"The moving Finger writes and having writ
Moves on:nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancil half a Line
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it"
Stanza LXXI The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Perhaps it's time Israelis learned not to be so thin skined and not to take every criticism as an act of anti-Semitism.

Israelis aren't perfect and they aren't always right.

jckdoors cant think why you want israel to apologise.

Carter told it as it is, and no apology is necessary. The endless pandering to settlers and theocrats in Israel perpetuates the situation. Nothing will change until the entity that is most able and best equipped makes the decision to move forward toward civil discourse and eventual agreement. That is Israel, not the poorly governed, disorganized, impoverished, and far less able Palestinians. Failing to recognize this and correct it now will eventually corrupt and weaken everyone - including Israel.

Too bad Carter didn't need to apologize. Israel's policies are horrifically unjust, unlawful, and immoral. They are also NOT in Israel's interests. However, I think it has become very clear that Israel has no desire for peace at all. Their ultimate goal is to make life such hell for Palestinian civilians that they give up their homes and settle in other countries. It is not stigmatizing Israel to point out the facts of what they have done and continue to do. I hope someday they learn...

Iran has a right to protect itself against nations such as Israel, too bad the government of Ahmadinejad is quite unbalanced and may use nuclear weapons for more than self defence. North Korea learned that with a Big Stick (nukes), even the mightiest nation will negotiate. Ahmadinejad isn't wrong for persuing the use of nuclear weapons, its just that Ahmadinejad is the problem, not the nukes.

The thought police crucified Carter ... "crucify him" they squealed all over the media. Unfortunately- he cracked under the pressure.

Since when does Israel needs an apology? It is the only country that is proud of an apartheid tradition, uses military force liberally against civilian populations, destroys sovereign countries without provocations (Hezbollah is not and still isn't the official Lebanon government, and yet Lebanon was invaded for precisely for Hezbollah. Think of us invading El Salvadore for MS 13), ignores UN sanctions and condemnations, possess nuclear weapons without inspections, and liberally threatens to use its military against nations it doesn't like. This country doesn't need an apology. This country should be ostracized.

Mr. Carter is the only US politician I ever trusted. Unfortunately he is retired.

Rudy Haugeneder
Victoria, BC, Canada

bigbrother protests too much

we certainly dont think or expect all jews should support israel.i do.and it comes naturally to me.
you bigbrother do not have to.and thats ok

Carter doesn't owe Israel an apology. Israel owes the U.S. and, without a doubt, the Palestinians an apology.

Always difficult to interpret others' intentions. However, here I suspect that Mr. Carter is not so much apologizing for what he has previously said but how others have misconstrue his intentions. That he apologies for others' misinterpretation of his complaints of Israeli actions is in the spirit of his faith. It is also why the apology was aimed at the Jewish community and not the state of Israel.

an apology cannot be refused.whether it is by us jews are by anybody else.

carter has certainly made me uncomfortable
by his scathing commentary against israel.let us hope for better times with the former president

Considering the Israelis are harvesting Palestinian body parts The ironic to see them following in the footsteps of Josef Mengele

By apologizing for the 'any', Carter permits himself to repeat the offense by saying, Gosh! I didn't know that was one of the 'any.'

Jimmy Carter is the worst President in U.S. history. Since leaving office he has publicly criticized all his successors in newspaper columns, radio and t.v. interviews, something no other President in America ever has done. Instead of trying to be an honest broker seeking Mideast peace he continually and unashamedly took an extreme left position towards Israel while saying nothing about Palestinian terrorism that took the lives of thousands of innocent Israeli men, women, and children, he praised the Arabs.

His legacy, since leaving the White House
has been embracing all the world's dictators and believing their lies.

The man is a disgrace to America. His apology is empty and should not be accepted.

Historians will review the conduct of the Israelis without the benefit/ influence of the Jewish lobbies.
Based on Israels conduct, they will be compared with the Worlds most evil states and will be right at home with the very worst of those states.

For President Carter to have stigmatized Israel presupposes that anyone takes him seriously anymore.

After the Israeli's launched a full scale war against the Carter family, its patriarch has screamed "uncle" and apologized for telling the truth. What a sad story.

Lets not forget the Israelis invented modern terrorism when among other things they blew up the King David hotel. Still today they continue this tradition by using phosphorus and cluster bombs on civilians. As an American taxpayer I am tired of my tax dollars supporting these animals.

The apology may be heart felt and sincere about concerns that people may be using his truthful observations in a less than helpful manner; however, it is certainly not reflective of thee validity of his comments or his awareness of the absolutely unacceptable behavior and attitudes of the Zionist state of Israel. This criminal state is in violation of every civilized law regarding war; the occupation of war seized property, resources, and people; the unacceptable control of the borders, airspace, and rights of peoples not within the borders of the legal nation....which are the borders established by the UN in 1948! Every inch of land stolen since that day is illegal, criminal, barbaric, and unacceptable....all of those lands need to be returned to the rightful legal owners and full repatriation of the value taken by these "terrorists" must paid along with something like 300% penalties, interest, and serious stockade time for the leaders of this outlaw state. A single secular nation of Palestine needs to be created with full demilitarization, and a new secular government created that bars all existing Israeli and Palestinian officials from any participation for 20 years or more!

What part of the fact that this "apology" comes right before his grandson is planning on running for office in an area with a large Jewish population do you pro-Carter people not get? That, of course, is the only reason for the "apology" which also comes during the Jewish holidays. Case closed. Any other reason is hogwash.
Only TWASNEVA and JCM-51 seem to understand the obvious.
Posted by: johndoe21 | December 24, 2009 10:40 AM
Report Offensive Comment
AMEN wake up you guys

The apology is probably well-intentioned and appropriate, to some extent. However, it should have been directed to Zionists, not to Jews as a group. Many Jews have been at least as critical of Israeli policy and actions as President Carter, and many Jews are not Zionists. Also, many Zionists are not Jews.

To some extent, Mr. Hirschfield and President Carter are inadvertently promoting anti-Jewish stereotypes when characterizing those offended by the President's past comments as "Jews," rather than Zionists. Moreover, we must remember that many in Israel are very vocal in their criticism of Israel, as well.

Why do so many people feel that it is necessary to apologize to Israel?
It seems to me that Israel should be the one to apologize.
They have been the agressor and war monger in that region for the last 60 years, and yet all that Israel does is whine about everything.
WWII is over with, gone, past and done with, so get over it Israel, Your people were not the only ones who suffered greatly during WWII.
All told, something like 25 million people were murdered in that war.
Posted by: JimW2 | December 24, 2009 10:48 AM
Report Offensive Comment
Actually you need to get over it anti- semites like you are every where especially the muslim world. Israel has to fight everyday just to be safe and live get your facts straight and history correct. Israel is not the war monger you f*ckin moron oh yea merry christmas to you worshipping the birth of a Jew ( hurts huh)

What Carter has is learned is that, thanks to demagogues like Hirschfield, intelligent criticism of Israel is forbidden in American media.

Speaking as a Jew, I cannot begin to express my disgust at the Post and most other media outlets for their unwavering support of Israeli war crimes. People like Hirschfield who equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism are beneath contempt and actively contribute to the destruction of the Jewish faith and the Jewish people.

Carter cannot be trusted this letter is for political purposes only, to help Jason get elected his tue beliefs and thoughts have been spoken and felt, like a leopard spots still there. Go away peanut farmer I am a democrat but you were and are an embarassment

If we get Carter started on apologies we may miss the holidays.

May I respectfully ask that you consider changing the name of this section?

I think it highly inappropriate for you to comment on political questions under the heading "For God's Sake." The unmistakable suggestion is that you think you are somehow speaking on behalf of God - a ludicrous and grossly self-aggrandizing position that the Post should not allow you or anyone.

The only "abuse of religion in politics" demonstrated by this column is the author's.

I do not know what is more frightening, the continued belabouring of the theme: Carter and Israel by WAPO, or the asinine commentary litering in the wake of the article. H. L. Mencken would be most happy to be proven right were he alive today.

Why do so many people feel that it is necessary to apologize to Israel?
It seems to me that Israel should be the one to apologize.
They have been the agressor and war monger in that region for the last 60 years, and yet all that Israel does is whine about everything.
WWII is over with, gone, past and done with, so get over it Israel, Your people were not the only ones who suffered greatly during WWII.
All told, something like 25 million people were murdered in that war.

Too few American politicians will call the State of Israel on the BS it pulls as a state, subsidized by American funds.

Keep calling them on the BS when you see it, President Carter. A real friend of the Israeli people does not applaud their government for acts that many Israelis oppose.

It's a little late Jimma Cawta.

Former President Carter does not need to apologise to Israel. Israeli politics is dysfunctional and it is a state incapable of understanding what is in its best interest.

Zionism is racism and a secular Israel is a worthy counterpart to engage with the United States to resolve the Palestinian problem in the Near East.

The resolution to the Palestinian problem is a new state, called "Palestine", that is secular, primarily both Jewish and Arabic, consisting of the entire present-day Israeli state and the West Bank. Gaza should be recognized as a separate country by the region and the United Nations. All the holy lands in the region must be given a status similar to The Vatican.

What part of the fact that this "apology" comes right before his grandson is planning on running for office in an area with a large Jewish population do you pro-Carter people not get? That, of course, is the only reason for the "apology" which also comes during the Jewish holidays. Case closed. Any other reason is hogwash.
Only TWASNEVA and JCM-51 seem to understand the obvious.

'His past comments, which attacked Israel as an apartheid state and worse, were not problematic because they offended Jews; they were problematic because they were rooted in faulty comparisons and flawed analyses of very complex realities that did not fit with Carter's idealized understandings of "big bad Israel" and "good little Palestine".'
Was it Nelson Mandela or Bishop Desmond Tutu who made the same comparisons to apartheid? Or was it both? I guess they too have flawed analyses.

Carter's grandson is running for office in a heavily Jewish district. This is the pandering and opportunism Jimmuh is most famous for. An insincere apology is worse than no apology at all.

President Carter's book made many of us feel that one is an antisemite if one:

(1) opposes bulldozing of Palestinian homes and businesses by the Israelis,

(2) opposes the cutting down of olive trees which supports Palestinian farmers,

(3) opposes the usurpation of Palestinian land and building of Jewish settlements,

(4) opposes the building of walls to carve out Palestinian territory,

(5) opposes choking off of Palestinian economy,

(6) opposes the erection of check points to restrict the Palestinian movement even in medical emergencies,

(7) in short, opposes the Israeli Appartheid. There is lot more to be said.

Mr Carter is non a reasonable and intelligent person.
Israel is doing his best effort in order to achieve peace but hammas and Hezbolla are terrorist groups...That is the true that Mr Carter didn't speak about....

'Are his comments also an admission that he has rallied a great many people to a position which he now regrets having taken? If so, that too should be noted.'
My position, which has been the same as Jimmy Carter's, comes from thinking about what the Israelis say and what they do in the 'peace process.' I don't need any more than that.
Jimmy Carter will always take the high road and he always has in this matter. This is just another instance. Parse his 'apology' all you want - that is not the high road.

"sacred cow
 
–noun
an individual, organization, institution, etc., considered to be exempt from criticism or questioning."

Moo. Moo . . .

Would even a single one of those who are unhappy about Carter's original comments please critically address their substance? If you can't ("I could but I won't" is for 1st graders), you've already lost the moral argument. It's that simple.

Remarks such as those by tmaertens above simply show how ignorant the anti israel bashers are. Truth is that Jews occupied the area known as Israel or palestine for 4500 years. The Palestinian villages you write about were all built on land occupied by Jews for thosuands of years. In fact, the bible, history and the artifacts found in the area all prove this. The suggestion that Israel or palestine is some how arab property is a complete fraudulent rewrite of history. In 1947 when oartition occured, there was no country Palestine, so how did it suddenly become a historical fact. The only reason that anyone tolerates this stupidity being repeated is that there are 1.3 billion muslims who control the world's oil. if not for that the world would laugh at them including their claims of being the true chosen people. Arab claims to Israel are a farce and joke. The real;ity that everyone, including Carter, wants to ignore is that arab rejectionism and incitment reamin the real causes for unrest in the middle east. And the more europe and morons like carter suck up to terrorists like hamas, and make them into vitims, the longer the problem will go on. If carter wanted to set things straight let him go get hamas to relase shalit and renounce terror. He didn't because it was easier and more popular to bash Israel. Listen up Mr. Carter and your anti semitic defenders, Israel is here to stay .. and the sooner you convince your arab handlers of that fact the sooner there will be peace to the middle east.

Totally insincere political pandering. Motivation is his young relative wanting to run for office and needing Jewish support.

There is an unwritten law that every soul upon earth must rigorously respect:

Everything that Israel does is good, necessary and benfits us all, and especially the Palestinians, who rather than spend years starving and suffering illnesses, are wiped out, or blown to pieces, and hence suffer no more. Isn't this a sign of the most altruistic sentiment?

To say otherwise is antisemetic, and when it happens that jews do so, they are just a bunch of self-hating jews

Considering this subject is the only we Carter and I agreed on, his lack of firm conviction surprises me not! A worm of a man and a worm of a politician.

I had the extreme misfortunate of attending one of Jimmy Carter's "sunday school classes" in Plains Georgia with some of my ex-friends from the Carter Center.
At CHURCH, he spent the first 20 minutes bashing Bush (this was during Bush's first term). Only then did he go into any kind of appropriate Sunday School class dialogue.
This man used the CHURCH to bash our President and to preach hate.
Jimmy Carter is a disgrace.

Please Carter....GO AWAY!!!!

As long as Jews consider criticism of Israel as a criticism of the religion of Judaism, as you apparently do, then there will be no improvement in the situation.

When Israel invaded Lebanon in '06 my Jewish friends, including my girl friend, eventually of two years, at the time, called me anti-Semitic for questioning the policy. As it turns out the Israeli government wrote a damning report about the invasion, including many of the concerns that I had at the time of the invasion. Nonetheless, one cannot object to Israeli policy without being painted as an anti-Semite, even if you, as I am, are for the long life of the state of Israel.

Your column extends that concern as you write "when Jews scream "anti-Semite" at every critic of Israel, including Mr. Carter, as too many do, we help create the very pitfall into which he fell." Perhaps we should examine YOUR use of the word "we."

Ah, the Big Lie again -- if you hate what Israel has become, you are somehow anti-Semitic. This is the same sort of mindset that suggests people are anti-black if they hate African-American homophobic preachers; that people are anti-Catholic if they think Pope Benny is a repellent crossdressing former Nazi...you get the picture.

Pro-Jewish ancestry; anti-Israeli war crimes. Why is that such a hard concept to grasp?

Carter's "apology" should be read carefully, since the choice of words is important. He apologizes for any of his comments which may "stigmatize" Israel. the word stigmatize refers to the way others may use his words. It does not mean that he now considers his words untrue or inaccurate; nor should he. Anyone who has been to Israel plainly sees that the Palestinians are living in an apartheid state. The only difference with apartheid South Africa is that the Israeli version is worse and more pervasive. Arab Palestinians within Israel do not live under apartheid as such; they live under Jim Crow realities. These are simple truths, and Carter works very hard to try to get Israel - which he loves - to become a better and more lawful and moral place. There are indeed people who are simply anti-Zionist, or anti-Israel, or even anti-Jewish who will try to use Carter's words , criticisms and suggestions to stigmatize (i.e. brand,mark, define) Israel rather than using them for the helpful, self-improvement purposes for which they were intended. His original words and criticisms were and remain true and accurate; his apology for the way some people misuse them is sincere and appropriate. Carter continues to be the best ex-president in the history of the Republic.

The Carter Center's funding by Arab donors makes it extremely easy to know where Carter's anti-Israel sentiments come from. Money talks.

I can recall the Jimmy Who? back in 1976 when Mr Carter ran for President. We all know who he is now and we also realize what he is not. However worded his apology, we do know that it is sincere and thought through. His longevity has allowed him the time to leave an imprint that is favorable to those who take the time to Google his deeds. His statements, much like his advanced scientific cum navy achievements, are often beyond the reach of the so called average person. They eventually make sense to us much as his warning on gas consumption in the seventies now makes sense to many who openly ridiculed it back in the day. This is a great and unusual American white man from the South who has publicly confronted and admitted to some of his personal demons while relentlessly pursuing the removal of barriers which impede peaceful progress of all people. I continue to regard him as one of America's great sons.

Carter is a complex psyche. His deep Christian faith, his narcissistic ego, his desire to believe that his mediation can solve all the world's problems, his desire for a profound place in history, and the funding of his Carter center by Arab donors, make it extremely difficult to know where his feelings and statements about Israel come from or how he genuinely feels.

Carter will undergo a serious revision when historians more fully study this complex and intelligent man. His presidency was decades ahead of his time. He was talking renewable energy, spending money on research to create solar wind and hydro power decades ago. His handling of the hostage crisis - while much maligned, was actually a triumph. It was so because it ended with release of the hostages instead of their deaths, and he managed to not start a ME war, did this while oficially opening diplomacy with China (nixon opened the door but it was Carter who did the actual diplmatic hard work of having formal relations) AND he managed all this while balancing the very real threat of a nuclear exchange with the last gasp hardliners of the USSR. AND on top of all that he managed the first meaningful Arab Israeli accord since Israelis took over all Palestinian lands in 1948.

Carter was unpopular because of circumstances beyond his control. He was unpopular with Israelis of late because he sought to bring some balance to the dialogue and also pointed out some hard truths about he uneven and heavy handed tactics of Israel. He is a great man and will be remembered as such through the ages. I can think of very few conservatives for whom any of that can be said.

Carter's "apology" was made because his grandson, Jason Carter, plans on running for a Georgia State senate seat that is likely to be vacated by David Adelman, who is likely to be appointed Ambassador to Singapore. This district is a heavily jewish district. That is the ONLY reason for the "apology."
I am appalled that this very important fact was not even mentioned in the Washington Post story.
Jimmy Carter is a disgrace to this country, Jew and non-Jew alike. He never forgave the American public for their complete and utter rejection of him in 1980, and he has worked tirelessly since then to demean this country and all that it stands for.

Atlanta, GA

From Julian Tepper in Placitas, NM:

Most of the comments so far, especially those from Jew-haters, display an overwhelming lack of interest in historical fact.

This is not a surprise, given the failure of the public schools to teach history.

That said, it may be that to some the history is of no moment, so rabid is their dislike of the Jewish state.

I wonder: were Dershowitz's The Case for Israel required reading, would the comments be any different? The book is devoid of unacknowledged opinion and, like a trial brief, jammed with facts.

Nothing Carter does or says will change much of anything. It matters not how he views either Israel or Jews. His views will have no widespread or substantial effect on the views of others. He has no standing and is increasingly ignored.

For the uninitiated, this from BookRags: "Al Het (Hebrew. ‘For the sin’). Prayer of confession recited on *Yom Kippur. It consists of an alphabetical list of sins and every section concludes with the petition ‘And for all these *God of *forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us *atonement’.

words and deeds?anything like lust in my heart? typical politician,tells a lie then backs off when it is questioned.

What a non-piece of reporting. It seems the Post is falling down the hole of the media which is to report not on ISSUES and POLICY but merely the arguments that surround these things. Tabloid journalism.

It would be nice to discuss the substance of President Carter's comments. That is where the debate of ideas lie, not in the food fight you choose to report.

Israel is a state, not a religion. Zionists usually condemn critics of Israel as critics of Judaism, i.e., antisemites...the old bait-and-switch.

Here's some info about Israel, the state:

"Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I don't blame you because geography books no longer exist, not only do the books not exist, the Arab villages are not there either. Nahlal arose in the place of Mahlul; Kibbutz Gvat in the place of Jibta; Kibbutz Sarid in the place of Huneifis; and Kefar Yehushu'a in the place of Tal al-Shuman. There is not one single place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population." (Moshe Dayan quoted by Ha'aretz, April 4 1969.)

“If I were an Arab leader, I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country . . . We come from Israel, but two thousand years ago, and what is that to them? There has been anti-semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?”
(David Ben-Gurion to Nahum Goldmann, WJC)

On West Bank settlements:

--Israeli database shows that 38.8 percent of Israeli settlements built on Palestinian land
--The Israeli Supreme Court declared in 1979 that the seizure of private land to establish settlements for security purposes is illegal
--Official data shows that 32 percent of the land in settlements established after 1979 is private land. (New York Times, 3/14/07)
--UN declared that the Israeli wall is built partially on illegally-annexed Palestinian land

The only constant in Israeli policy is that settlement on the West Bank and Jerusalem will continue, no matter what promises are made or lies told to American presidents. Roads will be built to balkanize any future Palestinian state, and Palestinians will not be allowed to use them.

Settlements will be built, with tacit or explicit government support, and then the Israeli army will move in to "protect" the settlers.

Meanwhile, the U.S. continues its assistance to Israel, which in the 1970s, reached $1500 for every Israeli man, woman or child.

Why is this in the U.S. interest?

CARTER ONLY SAYS WHAT IS RIGHT AND YES THE JEWS ARE NOT CHOSEN ,YOU ARE SIMIANS LIKE US ALL ,IT IS ONLY RELIGION THAT SEPARTES HUMANITY .THERE IS ONE RACE ,BUT RELIGION HAS DIVIDED HUMANITY AND IT WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO AND WE ALL WILL PAY THE PRICE...RELIGION IS TRULY THE OPIATE OF THE MASSES...WITHOUT DOUBT...THE JEWS ,CATHOLICS,PROTESTANTS,ETC,ETC...IT IS ALL BUNK,WITH YOUR HOLIER THAN THOU....RELIGION HAS BEEN A MASSIVE HINDRANCE FOR ALL OF HUMANITY!!!!

Ive never heard anything out of Israel or that part of the world except an excessive whine and it's almost constant. Get a clue! It's 2010.. it time for you to wake up and join the rest of 21st century society instead of trying, like others in the world, to turn the clock back to previous centuries and different times. Linear time, as we know it, doesn't work like that. Deal with it..

Jimmy Carter has always hated the Jews. One letter ain't gonna change that.

Nice to see this article bring out the israeli bashers and anti semites in support of Carter. Funny how Carter feels the need to apologize but so many readers do not, could it be that they consitutue the hate Israel and Jews no matter what crowd, I think so. And I am not trying to slam anyone who is anti israel as anti semtic, but rather when a person like Carter uses his bully pulpit to systematically and continously uses his access to the public media, and tries to enhance his message by traveling to Gaza and using it as a back drop to push his lefty, biased message, then you are engaging in spreading anti semtic propagander. When you intentionally name your book in such a way as to label Isael as an aparthied state, when the reality is the opposite, you are an anti semite. That is Carter's legacy. He failed as President and he has failed as the world statemen he aspires to be. No Nobel Prize, which we now know is just a polticial statement, no apology and no fake forgivenss from ADL will clean his slate. Cater is the first openly ex president who has systematically worked against US intiersts and that includes his Israel bashing. To me his apology is as worthless as the other anti israel rants on this site because they are born out of emnity, not logic, and give succor to our enemies, radical Islamic terrorists. Maybe with tonight being Xmas, the anti semites writing here will take a moment and relaize that Jesus was Jewish and that charitianity and Judism are tethtered by history. Compared to the Koran that supports jihad as the way to make the world Islamic, the anti Israel crowd, including Carter, might wake up and realize that a deal with the devil is no deal at all. And that includes the morons that support Iran's nuclear rights.

The worst president before Flight Suit Boy actually grew some nads and spoke out against Israeli terror. And now he is running away again. Repulsive.

too little too late...
but good news...
obama may end up being worse than carter...
and as for his son...
don't run...
people are tired of the carters, bushes, clinton's and obama's...
any relation to any of these should stay out of politics...

Jimmy Carter----A great man. Enough said.

Anybody who subscribes to gay marriage (like Carter) always make bad judgments. Most often, they have a twisted mind. Colin Powell, Dick Cheney and Bill Clinton belong to such group.

Hirshfield's analysis is silly. He ccaricatured Carter's understanding of Israel as "big bad Israel" and "good little Palestine". Jimmy Carter has probably a better understanding of Israel and what used to be known as the "Palestine question" than most American Jews. He is far more vilified by American Jews than he is by Israelis. The notion that Carter needs to "learn" something about Isreal is about as pompous as it gets.

He is a bigot and no better than a clansman in a white sheet. He thought other people agreed with him (and judging by some comments here, some do). Hes not sorry, he hasnt changed his mind, he just figured out his opinions and bigotry isnt mainstream and decided to go back in the closet with it.

Carter was a pathetic president and I only began to think of him as a good man once he summoned the strength, unique among American politicians, to speak honestly about Israel.

Now he's backing off from that. Is he going to go the way of that foreign agent Joe Lieberman (R-Israel)?

Too Little, Too Late!

History has already judged Carter & his administration as one of the weakest most ineffective ever!
=============
The worst President EVER!

The Camp David Accords were a significant achievement - a step unmatched since. So those who dismiss his views on Israel with simple insults rather than a discussion of his views must be too young or too biased to remember how greatly President Carter changed the context at that time.

GRANDSON, CONGRESS, CONGRESS, GRANDSON,
CONGRESS, GRANDSON, LIAR,LIAR,LIAR! JIMMY THE LIAR THE FALSE CHRISTIAN. PS I'M IRISH AND HAVE NO DOG IN CARTERS HUNT.

I think President Carter is a good President,cared for all people to include Israel's and Arabs, unfortunate no one can criticize Israel for anything even though what they have don to the Palestinian if its don to any one else , the Jews all over the world would be the first to complain, never again, i think that peace can be possible if the talk start in the US between Arab, Islamic, and Jewish American, for we can convince Congress that we want peace in the US, peace can be achieved. wishing all the best of a holiday seasons, and Peace, Salaam, and Shalom.

Jimmy Carter was the best President in the last 70 years, but, as he said on NPR about a year or two ago, being anti-Israel is political suicide.

Jimmy Carter has nothing to apologize for, he's been telling the truth all along about the apartheid state of Israel. Good for him that he is addressing the people of Israel directly.

Carter is pathetic. The ONLY reason he's trying to make mends with the Jew Community is because his GRANDSON, Jason Carter, is RUNNING for the Georgia State Senate and the district his grandson is running in, DeKalb, has a large number of Jewish voters.

It's purely political, and I know the truth hurts you Noble Peace, International types.

I certainly won't forget the Summer 2006, when with thousands of Hezbollah rockets falling on a strategic partner, Carter questioning Israel's right to defend itself.

Hopefully, the voters in Georgia won't be fooled by Carter's two faced lies to get HIS GRANDSON A POLITICAL SEAT.

Too Little, Too Late!

History has already judged Carter & his administration as one of the weakest most ineffective ever!

Carter both in office & out of office
showed himself to be a small-minded, unprincipled man.

One apology to an ethnic/religious group
will not change his past actions, sentiments, and their impacts on the U.S.
and the world.

That his grandson is running for a Congressional seat certainly has nothing to do with his apology or does it?

Why would you apologize??
You only said the truth about the terrorists (ISRAEL). ISRAEL is nothing but a terrorist state, and the US bows to its and cannot say anything. US lawmaker knows that ISRAEL is responsible for 9/11 and they cannot do a damn about it. WAKE UP AMERICA.
Also, all the banks money has been transferred to ISRAEL. GOLDMAN SACK and so on sent all the money to ISRAEL and asked the government for BAILOUT. WAKE UP AMERICA

I still admire Jimmy Carter for having the courage to speak the truth about Israel. He is the most honorable President we have had in my lifetime (I'm 72). I deeply regret the suffering of Jews in WWII, and I wish Jews to be treated as respectfully as other ethnic and religious groups are treated. But the Jews display a sense of special entitlement which is not becoming to them, and their mistreatment of Palestinians should be condemned. Former President Carter owes no mea culpa to anyone.

Just what did Carter receive for his so-called apology to the terrorist apartheid state of Israel for identifying them as the terrorist apartheid state that they are?

As one who well remembers carter's presidency Jimma was a devoted servant of the Israel lobby and his recent change of heart in the past is too little too late. In any case it is apparently not genuine.
If there is a God, Israel is God's plague on the United States for it's sins.
The United States will never know peace as long as it is chained to Israel. Every dead soldier in Iraq was sacrificed on the alter of "Israel Ueber Alles!"

To be fair:

1. Abraham founder/father of three major religions was either the embellishment of the lives of three different men or a
mythical character as was mythical Moses, the "Tablet-Man" who talked to burning bushes and made much magic in Egypt.
Many of the 1.5 million Conservative Jews and many of their rabbis have relegated Abraham to the myth pile along with most if not all the OT.

Current crisis:

Realization that the Jews are not god's chosen people.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20E1EFE35540C7A8CDDAA0894DA404482

2. Jesus was an illiterate Jewish peasant/carpenter/simple preacher man who suffered from hallucinations and who has been characterized anywhere from the Messiah from Nazareth to a mythical character from mythical Nazareth to a mamzer from Nazareth (Professor Bruce Chilton, in his book Rabbi Jesus). Analyses of Jesus’ life by many contemporary NT scholars (e.g. Professors Crossan, Borg and Fredriksen, On Faith panelists) via the NT and related documents have concluded that only about 30% of Jesus' sayings and ways noted in the NT were authentic. The rest being embellishments (e.g. miracles)/hallucinations made/had by the NT authors to impress various Christian, Jewish and Pagan sects.

The 30% of the NT that is "authentic Jesus" like everything in life was borrowed/plagiarized and/or improved from those who came before. In Jesus' case, it was the ways and sayings of the Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, OT, John the Baptizer and possibly the ways and sayings of traveling Greek Cynics.
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

For added "pizzazz", Catholic/Christian theologians divided god the singularity into three persons and invented atonement as an added guilt trip for the "pew people" to go along with this trinity of overseers. By doing so, they made god the padre into god the "filicider".

Current crises:

Pedophiliac priests, atonement theology and original sin!!!!

3. Luther, Calvin, Joe Smith, Henry VIII, Wesley, Roger Williams, the Great “Babs” et al, founders of Christian-based religions or combination religions also suffered from the belief in/hallucinations of "pretty wingie thingie" visits and "prophecies" for profits analogous to the myths of Catholicism (resurrections, apparitions, ascensions and immaculate conceptions).

Current crises:

Adulterous preachers, "propheteering/ profiteering" evangelicals and atonement theology, all male hierarchies and strange banking and funding.

AGGRESSION on this page. Pres Carter offered an apology, did he not? Yet there is much scorn in the hearts of many on this page. I see the strength, softness and compassion of Pres Carter. Do you see this? In yourself?

Well, Carter has contributed another important lesson in this regrettable pirouette.

He's demonstrated the power of the Zionist lobby, known for its ability to tip races with suddenly appearing money and candidates to deliver its message to anyone who would defy them.

Notice, I said Zionist lobby, not Jewish lobby. The brave Jews who dare to face the withering attacks the lobby can mount in their community deserve everyone's respect, and recognition that this is not a battle against Jews but a battle against a nationalistic delusion that distorts our foreign policy.

In order for Carter to completely apologize he must be completely transparent. This will require him to fully disclose his funding of the Carter Center.
Follow the money and it will detail that he and his center have been on the payroll of Arab/Oil interests.
*******************************************
If one were to follow your logic then the entire US senate and congress would need to disclose the money & influence exerted on them by the Israel Lobby. Not a pretty sight I would say. You don't want to go there and embarrass our 'for sale' leadership.

In order for Carter to completely apologize he must be completely transparent. This will require him to fully disclose his funding of the Carter Center.

Follow the money and it will detail that he and his center have been on the payroll of Arab/Oil interests.

Why should President Carter apologize for something that we all know is TRUE.

There are few holocaust survivors who deserve an apology from the Germans.

The Jews are just cashing in like they always do. They will never learn.

Carter had the courage to say what everybody knows – at least since the “symbolic weight” of the Holocaust fades and diminishes Israel’s legitamacy: Israel is by its own standards based on apartheid and can not change in the future. So there is no reason for an apology, only if someone thinks that apartheid is something dreadful and not a political necessity for Israel.

Mr. Carter's apology is insincere in my opinion. For years he has spent time defending his poor choice of words regarding Israel and the horribly inaccurate association with that nation and the former apartheid regime in South Africa. This has given rise to a new trend in Anti-Semitism that creates other false associations between Israel and the Palestinians by making allusions that Israel is the same as Nazism, its policies towards the "so-called" occupied territories are akin to Jewish Ghettos in Warsaw, or that Gaza is a virtual concentration camp. Mr. Carter is guilty of allowing this kind of vile and vulgar relationship develop.

There is one other point that cannot be ignored. Carter would like to see his grandson elected to public office, but he is now afraid that perhaps he has stepped on too many Jewish toes, and Jews will campaign against his grandson. I know if I were living in Georgia and in the district where his grandson lives, I would campaign and vote against electing this hypocrite and his family. Never Again is the message that we must take to the streets in Georgia. Israel was double-crossed by this man, and we American Jews should not simply forgive and forget turning the other cheek to him and his family because he would like to be thought of as a "good" and "wise" Christian. The minute he became a mouth piece to Arab oil interests and Palestinian Terrorist Groups, Carter's reputation and credibility diminished. That hasn't changed. Carter must come out and openly fight this new-wave of Anti-Semitism at home and abroad before I will ever begin accept his vacuous apologies and hidden agenda.

The only thing president Carter has to apologize for is allowing the settlements to continue to expand unabated outside the original UN partition of 1947, as they have during every presidency since President Truman’s initial tragic mistake. He should have cut all foreign and military aid to this racist state until they climbed back into their original border, about one-third the size of the present border.

Rick Jones, Fredricksburg, VA

Carter was relevant for 4 sad years. Beyond that, I'm not sure why anyone cares anymore.

Considering how much the US has done for Israel; the serious burden to the US taxpayer, and the loss of reputation for fairness in the world, I believe Mr. Hirschfield displays a great ingratitude in nit-picking the Nobel Peace Prize winning former President's comments.

It is easy to to get the impression as a non-jewish US citizen, that the Israel Nation and associated US lobby feel they have carte blance to any action, and to expect full US support, without even our concurrence.

It is simply not the United States responsibility to protect any ill-conceived action by Israel. Rather it is Israels responsibility to protect its primary benefactor. They can do so by behaving rationally, responsibly, and most of all, fairly to the Palestinians, and to all nations.

Jimmy Carter is an idiot who can't get over the fact that the American public repudiated him en masse after his first, worthless, term. Why people continue to pay any attention to him on any subject is a great mystery to me!

David A. Jewell
Philadelphia

Carter has relatively little to apologize for, and his critics have much, much more that should be said in apology to him.

Carter's book "Peace not Apartheid" was right on the money. His one fault is that he is probably overly optimistic about what negotiations with Hamas might produce.

But Israel should negotiate with Hamas, knowing that there is little chance of success. Why? How many governments are denouncing the government of Sri Lanka for having crushed the Tamil rebels? None. And why is this? Because the Sri Lankan government bent over backwards to try to negotiate with them and went out of their way to try for a peaceful settlement, making compromises of the kind that Israel has NEVER made with the Palestinians. When this failed, THEN the Sri Lankans went to full-scale war and they crushed the Tamils in a way that Israel has never attempted with the Palestinians. No one complained. There's a lesson here for Israel.

"Ok well now ol Jimmy just owes America an apology for almost losing the cold war and F#!king up our economy."
Posted by: Homunculus
***

Carter began the military build-up usually attributed to Reagan by rebuilding the Navy.

Carter initiated the strategy of confronting the USSR in Afghanistan later adopted by Reagan.

Carter inherited the screwed-up economy from Nixon and Ford. He appointed Volker to the Fed, beginning the process of conquering stagflation; Volker and his monetary policy were again adopted by Reagan.

Carter had his flaws, yes. However, you miss them entirely and blame him for problems where his policies actually set the ground for Reagan's latter accomplishments.

Dear Brad,

I am sure that Carter, asking forgiveness in good faith, was hoping to open dialogue with people such as yourself. You give his serious remarks a mostly serious response. What is not serious is the inclusion of little cuts such as the suggestion that he ever thought of the situtation as a confrontation between "big bad Israel" and "good little Palestine".

There are moral complexities, indeed. But we should not let inspection of the complexities lead us to overlook the differentials of power and suffering between the Israelis and the Palestinians, or the past and ongoing losses of land and livelihood. Carter's Al Het was well-offered and well taken; perhaps examinations of conscience and apologies are due in the other direction also?

Ok well now ol Jimmy just owes America an apology for almost losing the cold war and F#!king up our economy. Thank god for Reagan putting America back on track and snatching victory from near defeat with the Soviets. I'll take "Obama" over that idiot Carter any day of the week, and I'm conservative. At least Obama has a pair.

Prophets. Hmmpf!

In the old days we just stoned them when they got too uppity.

But will he now publish a book proclaiming Israel isn't an apartheid regime? Will he go on a lecture tour to correct the damage he has done to Israel through the baseless slander he has spread? If not, his apology isn't worth that much and becomes just window dressing in his on going relationship with Jewish donors to the fund he manages.

When Carter goes all out against the BDS crowd (bias, discriminate and slander) then it will be time to accept his apology.

Carter's apology has that wimpy style so often used by people who can't quite say "I was wrong" -- "If I offended anyone I apologize," or in this case, "we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel. I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so."
As in, "Someone explain to me again, what did I do that was wrong? It is possible, at least conceivable that I did something wrong. Well, gee, if I did, I'm sorry."
After he made that statement that the "overwhelming majority" of critics of Obama are racist (white citizens who have the audacity to criticize their own president), Carter, a guy I used to like, lost all credibility with me.

Carter is a humah hemmoroid.

Hirschfield's comments are thought-provoking, but maybe deeper than need be. Carter, while not our most successful President, is a decent man who has contributed enormously to international peace since he left office. I think he truly wants to see a fair Middle East peace (justice for Palestinians, security for Israel) and he doesn't want to offend Jews. His support for Palestinians does not mean he doesn't also support Israel. Since the 1967 war Israel has missed many chances to work out a lasting peace. Withdrawal to pre-'67 borders is essential. Carter may be a Baptist, but it shouldn't be held against him for his efforts to bring parties together. Israel doesn't mind criticizing, but seems a bit thin-skinned when it is criticized. Lighten up. Wish our ex-President well in his efforts.

Jimmy Carter seems committed to a fair, lasting peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. He is not hostile to the Jewish community.

Obviously most people who criticize some Israeli policies, especially their military actions and quasi-apartheid system on the West Bank, are not anti-Semitic. Thinking they are is as absurd as those African-Americans who think anyone opposed to affirmative action, reverse discrimination, programs is a racist.

This is always a difficult subject for so many reasons. For one thing, most American's understanding of the history of the region ends with the New Testament and picks up again with WWII. There were nearly 2000 years of events in between that have profoundly shaped the current situation.

The pain of the Jews at the Diaspora and later the Shoah, the pain of Palestinians dispossessed from their homes in the creation of the state of Israel, the terrible events since then are not easily healed and the opinions of Americans (whether pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian) may only deepen the wounds. Given the relationship between Israel and the US, it is possible that we cannot be active brokers of the peace because we are not an unbiased third party.

Pro-Israel and pro-Palestine solutions seem only to perpetuate the problem. The rash actions on both sides perpetuate the problem.

It is fatuous, if correct, to say there is no easy solution. I think that the answers must be found in regional rather than nationalistic thinking, perhaps with a two state system with a regional authority to mediate and manage resource allocation (water, arable land, mineral rights, etc.); and perhaps Jerusalem should be an independent city-state belonging to neither Israel or Palestine, instead being a neutral zone co-administered.

Or maybe, like so many other solutions, those would fall into intractable morasses, too.

BS"D

Shalom u"Brocho,

How nice that the former President, who in that capacity recognized Education Day USA and the importance of the US commitment to fulfillment of the universal laws of morality known to humanity since the days of Noah as the Noahide laws, which were again revealed and commanded to all people at Sinai through the hand of Moses, wich require that any non-Jews who desire legally reside in the land of Israel must abide by the seven basic laws of civilized life, including not to kill others. The renunciation of political violence in the land of Israel by those who seek to usurp the right of the Jewish people to reside and settle the land of Israel, is the key issue for actual progress in fact on the ground towards peaceful coexistence. While the US maintains her own law of war claims to the sovereignty of the Jewish land (especially Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria), albeit cestqui est, in trust for the Jewish people, by virtue of our conquest of the Germans and Ottoman Empire and the terms of the Treaty of Peace at Versailles and the US-UK Convention assenting for the US to control of the Mandate by the British in trust for the Jewish people, any acts of violence against Jews or Americans in the land of Israel, is an act of seditious conspiracy and treason against the United States' as yet unresolved and undetermined claims to the sovereignty of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. The full authority and weight of the US and our commitment to the universal laws of civilization, should be brought to bring to justice any perpetrators of political violence against the Jewish people or Americans in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. It would also seem that the status quo of Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria would color the natives thereof, regardless of ethnicity or religious faith, to allegiance to the US under the Fourteenth Amendment and the Treaty of Versailles, as explained by John Bellinger in the Zivotofsky case, and thus all the native persons should be US noncitizen nationals, unless and until the US shall recognize the sovereignty, or restore the sovereignty, of the Jewish people to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria by relinquishing our law of war claims thereto.

With Hatzlocho vliBrocho, for continued good health and all success as you set your heart for good,

Dr. Paul Maas Risenhoover
Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshiva Bnai Noah
Executive Director, The Robin Hood International Human Rights Legal Defense Fund
27-1 Yu Nung Rd. 5th Fl. 1-2, 5A3, East District, Tainan City 70164, American Formosa

Carter's comments were appropriate; his "apology" wasn't. Israel is long overdue for a wake-up call.

I think this is a refreshingly balanced assessment of the situation. I do appreciate the condemnation of some groups who attack any criticism of whoever happens to be in power in Israel at any time as "antisemitic". There are certain groups who will not accept the legitimacy of honest criticisms of Israeli politics which are routine in Israel itself, when they are made by people in the US.

Who the he11 cares what this old fool says or thinks. He was our worst President... until the current one.

"...whatever road to peace will be found in the Middle East, will demand at least some measure of that sense of shared fate, if not destiny, by all people in the region."

Hey Hirschfield! Try peddling this line of horse hockey to the people who have been displaced by illegal Jewish settlements.

Carter is a Christian and believes his way is the only way. This mind-set oozes out of everything he says and does. His attitude will not change until he comes to grips with the fact that his Jesus was not deity but a simple preacher man whose life was elevated to "god status" by the real founders/con artists? of Christianity, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul.