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Jimmy Carter Blames Israel One More Time

(National Review) Elliott Abrams - In Monday's New York Times, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter writes that "America must recognize Palestine" and presents a version of Israeli reality that simply takes leave of the facts. Granting diplomatic recognition to "the state of Palestine" will no more make it a legitimate and genuine country than granting diplomatic recognition to Plains, Ga. Carter writes that "Israel is building more and more settlements, displacing Palestinians," but he offers no data - because there is none to support his claim. Anyone who has visited the West Bank knows that virtually all settlements have not displaced Palestinians but have been, instead, built on fallow land. The actual land area taken up by settler buildings themselves covers perhaps 1% of the West Bank. What is really needed to move toward peace is security - an end to terrorism. That is a subject entirely absent from Carter's op-ed. Since 1978, round after round of Palestinian terror has killed nearly 2,000 Israelis in hundreds of attacks. But Carter holds the Palestinians responsible for nothing and accountable for nothing. George W. Bush used to refer to "the soft bigotry of low expectations," and the phrase surely applies here. Mr. Carter infantilizes the Palestinians, but then says they must immediately have a state. The writer, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, handled Middle East affairs at the U.S. National Security Council from 2001 to 2009.
2016-11-30 00:00:00
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