Jimmy Carter, the former US president, has said any future permanent Israeli-Palestinian agreement has to include Hamas, the Palestinian movement that controls the Gaza Strip.

Carter also told Al Jazeera's Riz Khan on Wednesday that US presidents were unable or unwilling to take on Israel's supporters in the US, but said he had high hopes for George Mitchell, the new US Middle East envoy.

The former US leader said there was "no way to have a permanent peace in the Middle East without the inclusion of Hamas".

"Hamas has got to be involved before peace can be concluded."

Carter said reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, the faction led by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, had been "objected to and obstructed by the US and Israel".

He hoped the new Obama administration would work to bring the Palestinian factions together.

The US government has branded Hamas as a terrorist group and Barack Obama, the new US president, has reiterated international demands that it recognise Israel, renounce violence and recognise previous peace agreements before it can sit at the negotiating table.

Abbas sacked a unity government led by Hamas in 2007, leading to Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip, while Abbas' Palestinian Authority remained in charge of the West Bank.

Carter also said Hamas had mainly kept to its truce agreement not to attack Israel.

The truce ended last December and was followed by a massive 22-day Israeli assault on Gaza that left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead.

Israel says the operation was necessary to stop Palestinian fighters firing rockets into southern Israel.

Mitchell praise

Carter said that US presidents had officially backed UN resolutions calling on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian land, but that they had been unwilling to take on Israel's political allies.

"The fact is that very few of the presidents have been willing to confront Israel's forces in the United States, politically speaking," Carter said in what appeared to be a reference to the powerful Israeli lobby.

Carter, a Democrat who was president from 1976 until 1980, praised Obama for signalling deeper US involvement in the quest for Middle East peace by appointing Mitchell.

"If you look at US Middle East envoys in the past, almost all of them have been closely associated with Israel, sometimes even working professionally for Israel. George Mitchell is a balanced and honest broker compared to the others."

Mitchell, a former senator, has held talks in Israel and Egypt during his first tour of the region aimed at promoting what he said would be a bid for "lasting peace" between Israel and the Palestinians.

He had served as special envoy to Northern Ireland during the Clinton administration and brokered the landmark Good Friday accord in 1998 that ended decades of bloody violence in the conflict.


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/01/200912823298296434.html

"The fact is that very few of the presidents have been willing to confront Israel's forces in the United States, politically speaking," Carter said in what appeared to be a reference to the powerful Israeli lobby.

This is a very clear indication that Zionists are in control of the White House.

Carter is a former US President, but I am sure Nairaland Zionists will come and start attacking this man for telling the true facts.

Mr. Carter shld the US talk to hezbollah and al qaeda too?

hezbollah, yes, al qaeda . . no.

hezbollah like hamas are visible structures. hamas was elected. they have some authority here. al qaeda is faceless and underground, has no moral authority(was not elected) unlike hamas. hesbollah can be talked to. u know their leaders and whee they are. they participate politically in lebanon. they can be talked to. somehow a deal can be reached.

alternative? keep on fighting.

What happens if al qaeda's proxies, the taliban, take over Afghanistan? Do we now sit with them because they are now "elected"?
Why didnt the world sit in negotiations with Hitler? Wasnt he also "elected"?

People can be funny.

I also beg to disagree on the idea that the US be forced to talk to hezbollah and HAMAS because they are "visible structures". Both started out like al qaeda yrs ago . . . simply faceless, underground terrorists who found a base and plenty of arab support to force themselves into the power structure of their host countries.

HAMAS is an offshoot of the muslim brotherhood, a party which is banned in Egypt . . . talking to them will simply enbolden their Egyptian cousins and spark off more trouble. The minute you legitimise terrorism by engaging them in "negotiations", we begin the downward slide to eventual capitulation.

I'm not surprised a lot of people reason this way though, we are all miles away from the reach of these hydra-headed demons of destruction. Where they at our doorstep we'd be voting the military to take them out.

david ur points are duly noted and ur arguments are valid. but ur solutions are putrid. ur suggestion that israel shld wipe out hamas and assimilate them and damn the world is awful to be polite. it is no solution. they must try to talk peace in. . . .somehow. . . anyhow.

if the people chose hamas then they are behind hamas. this is a battle of ideology and u cant win it with bullets.

Toshmann your solutions make no sense either.

1. When hitler was going to over-run Europe were you also concerned that Europe and America simply try to "talk peace in somehow"? Why did the world feel it would be safer to completely wipe out the Nazi war machine rather than try to reason with it? Nazism was a battle of ideology too . . . it was worn by the blood of brave men, bullets and atomic bombs. There are some wars that even "peace" cannot win.

2. And lets look back at this idea of "talking" . . . for how long have the whole world been "talking peace"? what exactly has it achieved in 60 yrs? Was it talking that brought Egypt to the negotiating table? No . . . two good hidings in 1967 and 1973 and the loss of the Sinai was enough to send them scurrying for a cold peace.

3. As is usual with "peace advocates" like you . . . you dont bring up any serious solutions. All we hear is "talk peace somehow anyhow" . . . pls HOW? What else can Israel do?

there will be no peace for israel until a negotiated settlement is reached with ALL the palestinian factions, not only hamas. where did you go with THE AL-AQSA MARTYRS BRIGADE, ISLAMIC JIHAD, FATAH AND PLO. violence will lead nowhere, afterall they've been fighting for 61 years now. once a settlement is reached with the palestinians, then hizballah and others will seize to be threat.

David there are expert diplomats. toshman is no expert here. but there are expert diplomats that can secure something. there are ways to do this. this is 2009. this is not I939. forget the hitler analogy.

toxicguy:

there will be no peace for israel until a negotiated settlement is reached with ALL the palestinian factions, not only hamas. where did you go with THE AL-AQSA MARTYRS BRIGADE, ISLAMIC JIHAD, FATAH AND PLO. violence will lead nowhere, afterall they've been fighting for 61 years now. once a settlement is reached with the palestinians, then hizballah and others will seize to be threat.

and what will this "settlement" be?
Havent we had enough of specious claims . . . that convey little or no meaning?

These people want ONLY ONE settlement . . . the arabization of Israel - simple! They say it every day, they have it in their charters, they quote the quran and the prophet to support their jihad and we have dreamy eyed people coming here to talk about "settlements"?

toshmann:

David there are expert diplomats. toshman is no expert here. but there are expert diplomats that can secure something. there are ways to do this. this is 2009. this is not I939. forget the hitler analogy.

Again you really havent said anything but expose the fact that you dont have a good grip on the issues at stake here. The Hitler analogy is very valid . . . Neville Chamberlain and co came back crying "peace in our time" . . . care to tell us what London got back in response?

What do you think "expert diplomats" will achieve now that they havent tried in the last 60yrs? You cant hide your lack of solutions by saying you're not an expert diplomat then claiming other people's solutions are putrid. you either have a solution or you dont.

You say "there are ways to do this" . . . care to share with us what kind of "ways" you might envisage? you know, anything all these "experts" could have missed that only you and your fellow pacifists can see?

i'm sorry david but thats not true. when palestinians hijacked an israeli jet and took it to entebbe in uganda, the then president idi amin addressed the jewish population and the victims of that flight and told them that the palestinians are not criminals or killers. the palestinians only need a peace of land to live. what do you say about that. has israel ever tried to give them a peace of land to see if thats true. i mean they can easily take it back if it doesn't bring peace.

well david let me tell u something u seem not to care to know. . .

if israel damns the world and follows ur advice. . .the world will crumble. . , why?

the muslim world will align behind hamas, us will stand behing israel the war expands. . . . iran gets involved . . . perhaps russia with it . . .etc . . . . b4 u know it . . . . nuclear . . . gbam . . . the end.

toshmann:

well david let me tell u something u seem not to care to know. . .

if israel damns the world and follows ur advice. . .the world will crumble. . , why?

the muslim world will align behind hamas, us will stand behing israel the war expands. . . . iran gets involved . . . perhaps russia with it . . .etc . . . . b4 u know it . . . . nuclear . . . gbam . . . the end.

Actually that's not true. I partially blame Israel . . . she had the chance to unify Jerusalem and push Gaza back to Egypt, she refused because she kept capitulating to world opinion. It is those little mistakes that have morphed into serious problems today. the longer this continues to fester the more problems we have in future.

If Israel damns the world and takes out HAMAS and the PLO the arab world will do nothing, they are emboldened only by the fact that the world is too timid to do anything. Europe's expanding muslim population has muzzled it and the US seems to be more interested in protecting its oil interests in Saudi Arabia. If Iran got involved a few missiles shld be enough to make it shut up for good.

The reason peace will never work is because the arabs too are smart enough to think in the same way you have just done. they know you all are afraid of a fullscale arab-Israeli war . . . they sense that as a sign of weakness and thus are not going to simply go sit at a negotiating table to sign any peace.

toxicguy:

i'm sorry david but thats not true. when palestinians hijacked an israeli jet and took it to entebbe in uganda, the then president idi amin addressed the jewish population and the victims of that flight and told them that the palestinians are not criminals or killers. the palestinians only need a peace of land to live. what do you say about that. has israel ever tried to give them a peace of land to see if thats true. i mean they can easily take it back if it doesn't bring peace.

this man makes me laugh. Did the UN not give "palestinians" 85% of the land = Jordan today?
Did the UN not give the arabs yet more land in 1947 (UN partition plan)? what was there response? 6 nations surrounding Israel to destroy it.
Are they fighting for land? No, because there was no occupation in 1964 when the PLO was formed.
Did Israel not give up Gaza? What has it gotten in return? Rockets!

Yeah keep dreaming.

What negotiation do they need again?

To the extent that Israel pulled out of Gaza yet what did they get in return?

What does hamas want? peace for Palestine? No Death of Israel YES!!!!.

what happened to all the concession israel has made to get peace? What concession has Palestinians made since?

toshmann:

well david let me tell u something u seem not to care to know. . .

if israel damns the world and follows ur advice. . .the world will crumble. . , why?

the muslim world will align behind hamas, us will stand behing israel the war expands. . . . iran gets involved . . . perhaps russia with it . . .etc . . . . b4 u know it . . . . nuclear . . . gbam . . . the end.

@toshmann,

I've been trying to explain these issues to that brick head, davidylan, for years now, and he hasn't got it.

toshmann:

david ur points are duly noted and ur arguments are valid. but ur solutions are putrid. ur suggestion that israel shld wipe out hamas and assimilate them and damn the world is awful to be polite. it is no solution. they must try to talk peace in. . . .somehow. . . anyhow.

if the people chose hamas then they are behind hamas. this is a battle of ideology and u cant win it with bullets.

This may be too intricate for my nephew to understand!

@toshmann,
Thanks for trying to put some sense into davidylan's head.

RichyBlacK:

This may be too intricate for my nephew to understand!

@toshmann,
Thanks for trying to put some sense into davidylan's head.

for all his grammar, toshmann said nothing new. Same old pacifist tripe that has us back to square one 60 yrs after. Continue bleating until the terrorists get to your backyard.

dayokanu:

What negotiation do they need again?

To the extent that Israel pulled out of Gaza yet what did they get in return?

What does hamas want? peace for Palestine? No Death of Israel YES!!!!.

what happened to all the concession israel has made to get peace? What concession has Palestinians made since?

Pls help me preach it to these hard of hearing folks. They think HAMAS are a bunch of babies who will capitulate to peace flowers.

@toshman,

David there are expert diplomats. toshman is no expert here. but there are expert diplomats that can secure something. there are ways to do this. this is 2009. this is not I939. forget the hitler analogy.

Here is what Hamas has to say about your position:
From time to time a clamoring is voiced, to hold an International Conference in search for a solution to the problem. Some accept the idea, others reject it, for one reason or another, demanding the implementation of this or that condition, as a prerequisite for agreeing to convene the Conference or for participating in it. But the Islamic Resistance Movement, which is aware of the [prospective] parties to this conference, and of their past and present positions towards the problems of the Muslims, does not believe that those conferences are capable of responding to demands, or of restoring rights or doing justice to the oppressed. Those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the nonbelievers as arbitrators in the lands of Islam. Since when did the Unbelievers do justice to the Believers? “And the Jews will not be pleased with thee, nor will the Christians, till thou follow their creed. Say: Lo! the guidance of Allah [himself] is the Guidance. And if you should follow their desires after the knowledge which has come unto thee, then you would have from Allah no protecting friend nor helper.” Sura 2 (the Cow), verse 120 There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. The initiatives, proposals and International Conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility.

You will find all the above in Hamas' Charter.

So what were you saying about expert diplomats again?

Hehehe oga Tayo . . . let the "diplomats" waste another 60yrs traipsing around the middle east to no avail.

There's no such thing as an expert diplomat as a Japanese ambassador pointed out. There may be famous ones, high ranking ones, scholarly diplomats but no expert diplomats.
Another point I'd like to make is that you do not negotiate with terrorists either you give in to their demands or you reject them entirely. They are terrorists they'll think they've won even if they've lost.
Hamas was elected by the people and it's up to the people to ensure that their desires are represented in the leadership. I strongly doubt that majority of Gazans right now want the attacks on Israel to continue since they know they'll bear the brunt of any retaliatory action.

Of course I belong to the Jimmy Carter school on foreign policy. Yes, Carter made some mistakes of his own, but since leaving office, he has become one of the moral voices in America. Jimmy Carter, I hail you!

You dont negotiate with terrorist yet america negotiated with the Iraqi sunni fighters in Anbar province resulting in the awakening council

you dont negotiate with terrorist yet Britain is already considering negotiating and talking to Taliban.

You dont negotiate with terrorist yet the NATO commanders have said bullets will not end the Afghan war and Taliban had to come to the table.

We should not fear to negotiate with the enemy but we should not negotiate out of fear - JFK

See Davidylan rattling it is cos of islam arabs are fighting. Did you hear about what the jewish rabbis told the soldiers in the last war perhaps i would dig it out and paste it here.

@Tayo
The same concept applies to the israeli right wing as well they have religious justification for their reign of terror.

Alienitng hamas from any discussions is an excercise in futility!!! Hamas would not and can never be crushed it is high time u lot realised that. Hamas is a movement and not a building. Kill all their leaders new leaders would emerge.

As long as there is occupation there would always be Hamas. If israel were interested in peace why are they expanding their settlements in the west bank of which even the US had asked them to stop.

@lagosboy,

The same concept applies to the israeli right wing as well they have religious justification for their reign of terror.

You want to produce the charter of the religious wing you are refering to as proof of your position?

Alienitng hamas from any discussions is an excercise in futility!!!

I suppose it is the voices of people like you, Jimmy Carter and Richyblack that Hamas had in mind while writing this section of their charter: From time to time a clamoring is voiced, to hold an International Conference in search for a solution to the problem.
Unfortunately, you have failed to realise that Hamas is ideologically belligerent to the talks you refer to as expressed again in their charter: The initiatives, proposals and International Conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility.

Hamas would not and can never be crushed it is high time u lot realised that. Hamas is a movement and not a building. Kill all their leaders new leaders would emerge.

Maybe you need to preach to Hamas that the wet dreams by their prophet Mohammed to kill all Jews is not going to be realised. this is Hamas' goal as expressed in their charter. Again, let the charter speak for itself:  the Hamas has been looking forward to implement Allah’s promise whatever time it might take. The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree (cited by Bukhari and Muslim)

It is worthy of note that the marching orders by the deranged prophet Mohammed was to kill ALL Jews. This means if Hamas, Hezbollah and co are successfull in wiping out the Jews in Isreal, they will turn their attention to the rest all over the world. The only problem Hamas and other muslims have with the holocaust is the fact that it wasn't muslims doing the killings.

As long as there is occupation there would always be Hamas. If israel were interested in peace why are they expanding their settlements in the west bank of which even the US had asked them to stop.

You might want to catalaogue how much land Isreal has given up just to have peace. You need a partner committed to peace before you can genuinely seek one. Isreal gave up land to Egypt and was in discussion to give up the Golan heights to Syria all for peace. They gave up Gaza to Egypt from whom they seized it and still there is no peace. How much of these land you refer to was occupied by Isreal when the murderous band of allah came to annihilate them in 1948? What about 1967?

There will be peace the moment Hamas renounce Mohammed and expunge those murderous intents that are clearly expressed in their charter. 

Question.  Do you support the setiments written in the charter?

@lagosboy,

By the way, have you heard the latest report about Hamas and their ever so compassionate disposition towards their people? They are so compassionate that they are seizing the food aid and blankets provided by UN.

Hamas police in Gaza seized thousands of blankets and food parcels meant for needy residents, a U.N. spokesman said Wednesday, threatening to fracture relations between the international agency that cares for most of Gaza's residents and the territory's militant rulers.

Hamas policemen forcibly broke into an aid warehouse in Gaza City on Tuesday evening and confiscated 3,500 blankets and over 4,000 food parcels, said Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.

Gunness said the incident was "absolutely unacceptable."

He said police confiscated aid meant for 500 families after U.N. refused to voluntarily hand it over to the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs. Similar U.N. aid packages had already been distributed to 70,000 residents over the past two weeks.

Ahmad Kurd, the Hamas Minister of Social Affairs, did not deny the seizure of the aid Wednesday. He charged the U.N. was giving the aid to local groups with ties to Hamas opponents.

"UNRWA did not do what it said it would do, and began distributing its aid to groups that tie their activities to political activism," Kurd said.

Israeli officials have charged in the past that the militant group routinely confiscates aid meant for needy Gazans, but Gunness said this was the first time Hamas had seized its goods since taking control of the territory in 2007.

The U.N. agency provides food, education and health care services to more than half of Gaza's 1.4 million residents.

Hamas is under pressure to provide aid to Gazans, who are facing more hardship than ever since Israel's devastating three-week military offensive, which ended Jan. 18. The operation, aimed at halting rocket fire from the territory, killed hundreds of civilians and left thousands destitute after their homes were damaged or destroyed.

Tensions between Hamas and the U.N. could make it difficult for the international agency to continue providing desperately needed services.

Some international donors had expressed concern that funds meant to rebuild Gaza could fall into Hamas' hands, and the U.N. had been trying to assuage those concerns.

The United Nations is expected to take a leading role in rebuilding Gaza, because Israel and the international community will not deal with Hamas. [url]http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews\Middle-East\20090204\ML-Israel-Palestinians.xml&cat=world&subcat=middleeast&pageid=1[/url]

What say ye!

Lagosboy is silent on the latest goodwill gesture of HAMAS towards their own people.

@david
you know that hamas soldiers are hungry and they need supplies,if they allow the civilians take all of the food who will feed them

as usual the Islamic brotherhood would always say they r right

@Post,

This is like white racism in South Africa all over again. Except the parties and the regions are different. US was subsidizing apartheid and sharing technology with the racist regime. We have come full circle. It's a shame!

Israel should not need any outside sponsorship to guide it forward on how to end this conflict. The Jews have earned enormous experience from history and their conscience, particularly reflecting upon their tragedy in Europe, should be their moral compass forward.

Both sides have faults but the Palestinians have not been through hell like the Jews have but in the hands of the Jewish state itself; this single inequity serves as a deterrent that should warn Israel to settle this conflict quick. When you oppress an opponent, you end up empowering them beyond imaginations!