Thursday January 25th 2007, 9:20 am
Jimmy Carter, who caused himself a world of hurt by writing truthfully about the “Israeli-Palestinian issue,” that is to say more than a half century of Israeli brutality against Palestinians, was almost dis-invited from a speaking engagement at Brandeis University. You’d think his status as a former president would trump the political correctness of the ADL and the “American Jewish community,” many of them frankly sayanim. Carter made it by the skin of his teeth.
“Despite two months of a highly publicized campus debate over whether Carter would or would not be invited to campus, sparks did not fly at Tuesday’s event,” reports the Jewish Telegraph Agency. Carter used the event to backtrack one of his main claims. “In response to a question criticizing a section of his book that appears to justify the use of terrorism, Carter admitted it was a mistake…. Calling the wording ’stupid,’ Carter said, ‘I apologize to you personally and to everyone here.’ He said he has asked his publishers to change the wording in future editions.”
And what exactly is the egregious wording?
On page 213 of his book, Carter wrote: “It is imperative that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Roadmap for Peace are accepted by Israel.”
In other words, the Palestinians will stop resisting occupation—condemned as illegal under international law—when the Israelis agree to stop slaughtering Palestinian school kids, plowing under century-old orchards, dividing up historic Arab land into squalid Bantustans, stealing tax money, siphoning off precious water, throwing kids in medieval torture dungeons, and converting Gaza and the West Bank into the largest open-air prison on the planet.
Fingernail pulling apologist Alan Dershowitz wasted little time exploiting Carter’s reticence. “If Carter had written a book more like his comments, I do not believe there would have been so much controversy,” said the Dersh, an indefatigable stalwart for clusterbombing small Arab nations and DIME bombing teenagers. “You heard the Brandeis Jimmy Carter today and he was terrific. I support almost everything he said. But if you listen to the Al Jazeera Jimmy Carter, you’ll hear a very different perspective.”
“In his speech, Carter said he was accustomed to being stigmatized in political campaigns, but he confessed that he has been hurt by some of his critics,” the JTA continues. “This is the first time I’ve ever been called a liar and an anti-Semite and a coward and a plagiarist,” Carter said.
Get used to it, Jimmy. Many of us who dare to criticize Israel have weathered these insults for years. A few of us endure death threats for the crime of speaking our minds. Of course, Carter, as a former president, does not have to worry about death threats, as he is surrounded 24-7 by the Secret Service. It’s a bit dicier for the rest of us, mere commoners.
Of course, all of this may soon be water under the bridge, as Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, introduced H.R. 254, also known as the hate crime bill, earlier this month.
“Criminalizing speech that expresses ‘hate’ or ‘bias’ would require us to outlaw history’s most valuable speech, especially the political and religious speech that threatens social stasis and ignites progress,” writes Harmony Grant. “Americans are so used to our mudslinging, no-holds-barred political discourse that we find it hard to envision the way freedom of speech could disappear. But the freedom we enjoy is extremely rare in history, and quickly lost. Free expression for intellectuals is the first thing to go when tyrants rise to power…. Hate law advocates including the ADL argue that hateful speech incites violence, and appeal to the government’s interest in reducing violent crime.”
Even Jimmy Carter is beginning to realize that telling the truth about Israel’s brutality against the Palestinians is considered “hateful speech” with consequences.
Jimmy Carter, who caused himself a world of hurt by writing truthfully about the “Israeli-Palestinian issue,” that is to say more than a half century of Israeli brutality against Palestinians, was almost dis-invited from a speaking engagement at Brandeis University. You’d think his status as a former president would trump the political correctness of the ADL and the “American Jewish community,” many of them frankly sayanim. Carter made it by the skin of his teeth.
“Despite two months of a highly publicized campus debate over whether Carter would or would not be invited to campus, sparks did not fly at Tuesday’s event,” reports the Jewish Telegraph Agency. Carter used the event to backtrack one of his main claims. “In response to a question criticizing a section of his book that appears to justify the use of terrorism, Carter admitted it was a mistake…. Calling the wording ’stupid,’ Carter said, ‘I apologize to you personally and to everyone here.’ He said he has asked his publishers to change the wording in future editions.”
And what exactly is the egregious wording?
On page 213 of his book, Carter wrote: “It is imperative that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Roadmap for Peace are accepted by Israel.”
In other words, the Palestinians will stop resisting occupation—condemned as illegal under international law—when the Israelis agree to stop slaughtering Palestinian school kids, plowing under century-old orchards, dividing up historic Arab land into squalid Bantustans, stealing tax money, siphoning off precious water, throwing kids in medieval torture dungeons, and converting Gaza and the West Bank into the largest open-air prison on the planet.
Fingernail pulling apologist Alan Dershowitz wasted little time exploiting Carter’s reticence. “If Carter had written a book more like his comments, I do not believe there would have been so much controversy,” said the Dersh, an indefatigable stalwart for clusterbombing small Arab nations and DIME bombing teenagers. “You heard the Brandeis Jimmy Carter today and he was terrific. I support almost everything he said. But if you listen to the Al Jazeera Jimmy Carter, you’ll hear a very different perspective.”
“In his speech, Carter said he was accustomed to being stigmatized in political campaigns, but he confessed that he has been hurt by some of his critics,” the JTA continues. “This is the first time I’ve ever been called a liar and an anti-Semite and a coward and a plagiarist,” Carter said.
Get used to it, Jimmy. Many of us who dare to criticize Israel have weathered these insults for years. A few of us endure death threats for the crime of speaking our minds. Of course, Carter, as a former president, does not have to worry about death threats, as he is surrounded 24-7 by the Secret Service. It’s a bit dicier for the rest of us, mere commoners.
Of course, all of this may soon be water under the bridge, as Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, introduced H.R. 254, also known as the hate crime bill, earlier this month.
“Criminalizing speech that expresses ‘hate’ or ‘bias’ would require us to outlaw history’s most valuable speech, especially the political and religious speech that threatens social stasis and ignites progress,” writes Harmony Grant. “Americans are so used to our mudslinging, no-holds-barred political discourse that we find it hard to envision the way freedom of speech could disappear. But the freedom we enjoy is extremely rare in history, and quickly lost. Free expression for intellectuals is the first thing to go when tyrants rise to power…. Hate law advocates including the ADL argue that hateful speech incites violence, and appeal to the government’s interest in reducing violent crime.”
Even Jimmy Carter is beginning to realize that telling the truth about Israel’s brutality against the Palestinians is considered “hateful speech” with consequences.
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