Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson wrote an op-ed, published in Foreign Policy and many newspapers, that continue their shameful record of supporting terror.
There is really no other way to look at it.
Their only criticism of Hamas is a perfunctory condemnation of missiles - the same kind of fake condemnation that we see from groups like Human Rights Watch, as a fig-leaf to pretend that they are "balanced" when they are anything but. Carter and Robinson couch it this way:
There is no humane or legal justification for the way the Israeli Defense Forces are conducting this war. Israeli bombs, missiles and artillery have pulverized large parts of Gaza, including thousands of homes, schools and hospitals. More than 250,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinian noncombatants have been killed. Much of Gaza has lost access to water and electricity completely. This is a humanitarian catastrophe.That's it.
There is never an excuse for deliberate attacks on civilians in conflict. These are war crimes. This is true for both sides. Hamas' indiscriminate targeting of Israeli civilians is equally unacceptable. However, three Israeli civilians have been killed by Palestinian rockets, while an overwhelming majority of the 1,600 Palestinians killed have been civilians, including more than 330 children. The need for international judicial proceedings to investigate and end these violations of international law should be taken very seriously.
Carter and Robinson spin a tale of fantasy:
Only by recognizing its legitimacy as a political actor — one that represents a substantial portion of the Palestinian people — can the West begin to provide the right incentives for Hamas to lay down its weapons. Ever since the internationally monitored 2006 elections that brought Hamas to power in Palestine, the West's approach has manifestly contributed to the opposite result.Hamas killing hundreds of Fatah members in 2006 as it seized full control of Gaza seems to indicate otherwise!
Unity between Fatah and Hamas is currently stronger than it has been for many years. As Elders, we believe this is one of the most encouraging developments in recent years and welcome it warmly.The very first act Hamas did after "unity" was to brutally kidnap and murder three Israeli boys. And it was done deliberately in the West Bank in order for Hamas to assert itself there - not to accept the PA's cooperation with Israel but to impose Hamas terror specifically where it had been largely suppressed by the PA.
Make no mistake - if the kidnapping would have been successful and Hamas held a child hostage, the entire Palestinian Arab population would have cheered, and Carter's op-ed today would be to justify that as legitimate "resistance" even as he would offer to negotiate Israel's capitulation to terror.
Worst of all, and the biggest indication of Carter's and Robinson's utter depravity in tacitly supporting terror, is what they refuse to say about Hamas as they mercilessly blame Israel for everything.
They don't mention the many other Hamas war crimes besides rockets, like holding Gazans and the media as human shields, firing rockets from the vicinity of hospitals and schools and hotels.
They don't mention Hamas' using the war as a reason to kill and maim its political enemies in Fatah.
They don't mention Hamas' repeated attempts to take Israelis hostage.
They don't mention Hamas' attempts at nuclear terrorism, nor their targeting civilian airports.
Worst of all, they don't mention Hamas extensive terror tunnel network that reached into the midst of Israeli communities - terror tunnels that cost millions of diverted Western aid dollars, whose entire purpose was to perform one or many mega-terror attacks against innocent civilians. The entire goal of the ground war is ignored, as if Israel just felt like killing Gaza civilians for fun.
In the name of "peace" and "humanitarianism," Carter and Robinson are tacitly encouraging and supporting Hamas terror. And now they are trying as hard as possible to ensure that Hamas gains politically for their terror.
They are truly beneath contempt.