Israel Matzav

Dhimmi Carter's three slaps

On Saturday night, I reported that Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice had consulted with several former Secretaries of State and Presidents of the United States regarding their experience in Middle East peacemaking. One of those on the list was Dhimmi Carter:

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has been meeting with former US Presidents Dhimmi Carter and Bill Clinton to discuss their experiences in brokering 'peace talks' between Israel and the 'Palestinians.'

The State Department also reported that Rice has recently conferred with former UN Middle East envoy Dennis Ross, as well as her predecessors James Baker, Henry Kissinger, and Madeline Albright.

Rice has stated that she intends to devote the rest of the 14 months remaining in her term to establishing an independent Palestinian state while ensuring Israel's security.

I guess she was not real successful here last week. YNet has a Reuters report with more details:

Rice invited Carter, a vocal critic of Bush administration policies, to the State Department on Wednesday where the two discussed his Arab-Israeli peacemaking efforts in the 1970s, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Friday.

Their talks were "good and cordial," he said. They focused on the Middle East and not Carter's recent criticism of President George W. Bush's policies in Iraq and elsewhere.

A Soviet specialist, Rice also telephoned another former Democratic president, Bill Clinton, who tried, and ultimately failed, in his eight years in office to bring the Israelis and Palestinians together.

"She's trying to draw on the historical record and the experiences of others to see -- see what she can glean and how that may be applicable to the current day," McCormack said.

"She is a student of history and has a keen appreciation for how we can apply the lessons of history, what we can learn from those who have gone before us," he said.

Other sources of advice have been former U.S. negotiator Dennis Ross and ex-secretaries of state James Baker, Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright. Rice meets frequently for lunch with Albright, whose father taught Rice at Denver University.

But today, The Forward reports that things were not what they seemed to be between Rice and Carter, that Rice's office has issued a clarification, and in the process given Carter a well-deserved slap across the face (Hat Tip: Pajamas Media):

Another stop during Carter’s day in Washington was at the State Department, where he met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss his views on the Middle East. Rice has recently conducted a series of consultations with former administration officials in order to “draw on the historical record and experiences of others,” as described by spokesman Sean McCormack. The consultations included talks with former president Bill Clinton and several of Rice’s predecessors: Madeleine Albright, James Baker and Henry Kissinger.

But a State Department official told the Forward that the meeting with Carter was not part of these consultations.

“She was not seeking advice from him,” the official said, stressing that it was Carter who asked for the meeting and that Rice agreed “out of respect.”

The Forward reports that this was one of three major slaps in the face that Carter received this week:

Carter’s first outreach effort came in an invitation to Jewish groups to discuss ways that the former president could help make the upcoming Middle East peace conference a success. While Carter invited most of the major Jewish organizations, the event was only attended by representatives of the Reform movement and by several smaller dovish Jewish groups.

“I didn’t want to be used,” said the Anti-Defamation League’s national director, Abraham Foxman, one of the leaders who turned down Carter’s invitation. “I didn’t think anything constructive could come out of the meeting, except for him being able to say he met with Jewish leaders.”

...

A Jewish organizational official speaking under condition of anonymity said that Carter invited “almost all major groups” but most of them turned down the invitation. This decision was criticized by those present.

“I think the refusal of Jewish groups to show up is offensive,” said M.J. Rosenberg, Israel Policy Forum’s policy analysis director, who was in attendance. “It is very unfortunate when a former president invites and people don’t show up.”

It was not clear if the decision not to attend was made by groups separately or was a result of consultations. Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, did not return calls from the Forward regarding the meeting with Carter.

Foxman rejects the claim that turning down the invitation was improper.

“I don’t disrespect him,” Foxman said, adding that his reason for not coming to the meeting was Carter’s refusal to apologize for arguing that Jews control the media and academia. “He is entitled not to support Israel, but he is not entitled to come out and fuel antisemitic canards.”

Bergman, who accompanied Carter in his meetings with the Jewish leaders, would not comment on the talks, saying they were “off the record and private.”

The third slap in the face that Carter endured came from Jewish members of Congress:

Carter’s chilly reception by the Jewish organizations only got worse a few hours later, when he met with Jewish lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The event, hosted by California Democrat Tom Lantos, served as a forum for Jewish Democrats to vent their outrage at Carter’s book.

“I told him that the Jewish community, that has great respect for his work around the world, is extremely hurt, disappointed and frustrated from his views and that he cannot serve as an honest broker,” Ackerman said.

A similar message was also voiced by Lantos and three other Jewish lawmakers who attended the meeting: Henry Waxman, Howard Berman and Jane Harman.

The members of Congress told Carter that he needs to apologize, but the former president did not do so.

...

“He left the room less happy than Lincoln was when he left the Ford Theatre,” said Rep. Gary Ackerman, a New York Democrat who attended the meeting.

The Forward reports that Carters sudden desire to make amends with the Jewish community is not out of any sense of guilt. According to the Forward, Carter and his group of elders - retired statesmen who also include anti-Semites Desmond Tutu and Kofi Anan - want to 'play a role' in the Middle East 'peace process.'

It's heart-warming to see that the Jewish community is almost wall-to-wall in its rejection of Carter - and that rejection carries over to the State Department and Democratic members of Congress. Maybe Carter should go live out his life in Riyadh. I'm sure they'd take good care of him there, and Rosalyn would look perfect in an abaya.

Hat tip for picture at top left: David A. Lunde.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:15 AM