Jimmy Carter Pens Letter Of Apology To Israel

Jimmy Carter Apologizes For Criticizing Israel


Former President Jimmy Carter apologized this week for criticizing Israel for its treatment of Palestinians in his writings and comments, statements like calling the Jewish nation an "apartheid" state which, he suggests, may have stigmatized it.

Carter's Al Het, which means "for the sin" in Hebrew, actually came earlier in the week when Carter issued it to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. But it really started to go viral Wednesday.

Here's Carter's Al Het:

An open letter to the Jewish community at the season of Chanukah from former President Jimmy Carter:


The time of Chanukah and the Christian holidays presents an occasion for reflection on the past and for looking to the future. In that vein, I wish to share some thoughts with you about the State of Israel and the Middle East.

I have the hope and a prayer that the State of Israel will flourish as a Jewish state within secure and recognized borders in peaceful co-existence with its neighbors and with all the Moslem States, and that this peaceful co-existence will bring security, prosperity and happiness to the people of Israel and to the people of the Middle East of all faiths.

I have the hope and a prayer that the bloodshed and hatred will change to mutual respect and cooperation, fulfilling the prophetic aspiration that the lion shall lie down with the lamb in harmony and peace. I likewise hope that violent attacks against all civilians will end, which will help set a better framework for commencing negotiations. I further hope that peace negotiations can soon commence, with all issues on the negotiating table.

I have the hope and a prayer that just as Chanukah is the Festival of Lights, the State of Israel will fulfill its destiny as a light unto the nations.

We must recognize Israel's achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel. As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so.

May we work and pray for that better day.

Hag Semach and Happy Chanukah.

Carter's apology met with some skepticism. Did it have anything to do with his grandson running for a Georgia state senate seat? Carter said no.

JTA has a piece in which the two Carters seek to put to rest the idea of a link between the apology and the Senate race:

Jason Carter, 34, an Atlanta-area lawyer, is considering a run to fill a seat covering suburban DeKalb County should the incumbent, David Adelman, win confirmation as President Obama's designated ambassador to Singapore.

The seat, which is university heavy -- Emory, among others, is situated there -- also has a substantial Jewish community.

The senior Carter outraged Jewish leaders with his book "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid," and they strongly criticized the former U.S. president for what appeared to be his likening of Israel's settlement practices to apartheid and seeming to place the brunt of the blame for a lack of peace on Israel.

On the subsequent book tour, Carter further enraged many Jews by intimating that the pro-Israel lobby inhibited an evenhanded U.S. policy.

Such bad blood could potentially translate into problems for Carter's grandson as he considers launching a political career.

But in an interview with JTA, Carter insisted that ethnic electoral considerations were not reason enough to reach out to the Jewish community, although he did not outright deny that it was a factor.

"Jason has a district, the number of Jewish voters in it is only 2 percent," he said, chuckling.

In a statement issued through his campaign manager, the younger Carter said the statement was not connected to his campaign.

"While I was very happy to see my grandfather's letter, it was completely unrelated to my campaign. The letter is a product of discussions with some of his friends in the Jewish community that have been going on for a long time. I, like many others, see this as a great step towards reconciliation," Jason Carter said in the statement.

"As for my campaign, I intend to reach out to all people in District 42 and work hard to earn their trust and their votes. Ultimately, this campaign will focus on the people of this district and the issues that a good advocate in the Georgia State Senate can affect, including fixing a broken transportation system, getting the economy moving again, and providing a first-class education to our kids."



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Sources: NPR, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, AP, Wikipedia, Google Maps

White House Responds To Race Issue: What Race Issue?...Obama's 2008 Race Speech

(Then Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama delivers his expansive and intensely personal speech "A More Perfect Union". It was a politically necessary move which helped to get him elected but I truly believe it came from his heart.
No one will ever be able to say that Obama doesn't know how to give a speech. Circa March 18, 2008 in Philadelphia, PA.)



(Race becomes a hot topic at the White House. It needs to be. With all due respect, there's no way Pres. Obama will be able to ignore the subject of Racism during his four years in office. Racism is a mean bully. It won't leave you alone until you confront it once and for all.)

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(Is this Racial Fear stuff coming from the Right? Duh! GOP Chairman Michael Steele (also a Black man although he may have forgotten this fact) tries to pretend with a straight face that Racism is not at the root of those angry, hostility laced "Tea Party" protests. Where were these "Tea Party" kooks when Pres. George W. Bush was in office? Bush certainly wasn't a perfect President, so again I ask where were these kooks when Bush was in the oval office?)

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(Is Right Wing "Tea Party" rage being fueled by Race? You betcha!)

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Race Issue Deflected, Now as in Campaign

A debate over the role of race in the current criticism of President Obama is forcing the White House to confront a volatile issue it would rather avoid.

On Tuesday, Former President Jimmy Carter declared Racism to be the subtext of many of the attacks being lobbed at the president, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus are pointing to race as a driving force behind the current level of animosity.

But at the White House, the official line is: Race issue? What race issue?

"I'm not sure I see this large national conversation going on right now," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday. He said Pres. Obama "does not believe that that criticism comes based on the color of his skin," attributing it instead to honest policy disagreements.

The criticism at issue includes a movement questioning Pres. Obama's citizenship, the rancor at last month's town hall meetings on health care and protests in which Obama has been likened to Adolf Hitler. Suspicions were confirmed for many African Americans last week when Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted "You lie!" at Pres. Obama as he addressed Congress.

On Wednesday, Gibbs told reporters that Carter's remarks did not merit a broader discussion about why protesters had grown so hostile toward the nation's first African American president. And in the Oval Office, Pres. Obama declined to respond to a reporter's question about Carter's comments.

The reasons for the White House silence are varied, stemming largely from Pres. Obama's own measured approach to race. As a candidate, Pres. Obama rarely spoke about race overtly, projecting an image that his advisers hoped would appeal to all Americans and avoiding actions that might highlight the divide that still exists between blacks and whites.

When he finally did deliver a landmark race speech, in March 2008, it was in response to an uproar caused by his association with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., his controversial African American former pastor.

As the campaign wore on, however, Pres. Obama's supporters occasionally entertained the topic of race, particularly in response to what they saw as insensitive remarks about him, and by the end of 2008 the campaign had asked some black supporters to stop protesting in forceful terms for fear of a backlash.

On Wednesday, Gibbs said the White House has not asked members of the black caucus to stop ascribing a racist motive to Pres. Obama critics. Those comments have fueled a debate this week that has distracted from the president's main priority, health-care legislation.

Gibbs rejected a comparison to another race-related incident earlier this year, when Pres. Obama's friend Henry Louis Gates Jr., a Harvard professor, was arrested by a white Cambridge, Mass., police officer. Pres. Obama's remark that the officer had "acted stupidly" touched off an uproar that similarly shifted public focus from his health-care effort. The president summoned the pair to the White House and described it as a moment the nation could learn from. This time, however, Pres. Obama sees no such moment, Gibbs said.

That is not stopping the rest of the political establishment. Carter, a civil rights champion raised in the South, said Tuesday that "an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a Black man."

"I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that shared the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans," Carter said in an interview with Brian Williams, which was excerpted from an NBC News program set to mark the former president's 85th birthday next month. "And that racism inclination still exists. And I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply."

Carter reiterated the view later Tuesday at a town hall meeting held at his presidential center in Atlanta, which was webcast live. "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African American should not be president," Carter said.

Despite White House attempts to create distance from Carter's views, rebukes from Republicans came almost immediately, with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele calling the comments "a pathetic distraction by Democrats to shift attention away from the president's wildly unpopular government-run health-care plan."

"When you just look behind every corner and see race and racism -- now, that's not to say it doesn't exist," Steele said on CNN. "Lord knows it still does. And I've had a problem with this post-racial attitude that some in the Pres. Obama campaign, now in the administration, have tried to -- to hoist out there. But when you go down this road and you start just willy-nilly, as I believe President Carter has, throwing race out there, you diminish real instances of racism that needs to be addressed."

In an interview on Tuesday, White House communications director Anita Dunn said race "is less a part of it than some other people might think." Other advisers acknowledged that race is a factor but said it is not the dominant one, instead comparing it to the travails that Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson endured as they tried to bring major change to the country. Their tone -- playing down race and pointing to the president as the ultimate expert on the subject within the building -- was largely consistent with the one they struck during the campaign.

But the president's outside supporters were much more skeptical.

Alluding to what he called Carter's "wisdom," NAACP President Benjamin Jealous said the former president has given voice to a sentiment that many feel. "He is correct that the so-called tea party folks are unfortunately part of a lineage of groups that have throughout the history of our country sought to divide us," Jealous said, referring to grass-roots conservatives who have protested the administration's handling of the economy.

"Over the past several decades, the number of people committed to a truly multiracial society has increased and the number of people who are really committed to a vision of white supremacy and old racial hierarchy is at an all-time low, but there is a much larger ambiguous uncommitted middle, and the Republican Party's far-right-wing contingent is definitely fighting hard for those people in the middle," Jealous said.



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Sources: Washington Post, MSNBC, Whitehouse.gov, Politico, First Read, Buzz Feed,
Crooks & Liars, Wikipedia, Flickr, Youtube, Google Maps

Its Time For Eric Holder's Candid Conversation About Race...Racism's Out, Unity Is In

MSNBC----


AG on Race: America is a "nation of cowards".

(Watch Attorney General Eric Holder's speech at a US Department of Justice Black History Month program.)

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(Former Pres. Jimmy Carter derides Racist tone against Pres. Obama.)

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(Congresswoman Virgina Foxx (R-NC) brings race into a speech she recently delivered on the Congressional floor.)

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(The Daily Kos’ Markos Moulitsas talks with Keith Olbermann about the role of racism evident in the character of opposition to President Barack Obama.)

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Holder: U.S. "a nation of cowards" on race

Eric Holder, the nation’s first black attorney general, said Wednesday the United States was “a nation of cowards” on matters of race, with most Americans avoiding candid discussions of racial issues.

In a speech to Justice Department employees marking Black History Month, Holder said the workplace is largely integrated but Americans still self-segregate on the weekends and in their private lives.

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards,” Holder said.

Race issues continue to be a topic of political discussion, but “we, as average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race.”

Holder’s speech echoed President Barack Obama’s landmark address last year on race relations during the hotly contested Democratic primaries, when the then-candidate urged the nation to break “a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years” and bemoaned the “chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.” Obama delivered the speech to try to distance himself from the angry rhetoric of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

A call for honest discussion

Holder cited that speech by Obama as part of the motivation for his words Wednesday, saying Americans need to overcome an ingrained inhibition against talking about race.

“If we’re going to ever make progress, we’re going to have to have the guts, we have to have the determination, to be honest with each other. It also means we have to be able to accept criticism where that is justified,” Holder told reporters after the speech.

In the speech, Holder urged people of all races to use Black History Month as a chance for honest discussion of racial matters, including issues of health care, education and economic disparities.

Race, Holder said, “is an issue we have never been at ease with and, given our nation’s history, this is in some ways understandable... If we are to make progress in this area, we must feel comfortable enough with one another and tolerant enough of each other to have frank conversations about the racial matters that continue to divide us.”

In a country founded by slave owners, race has bedeviled the nation throughout its history, with blacks denied the right to vote just a few decades ago. Obama’s triumph last November as well as the nomination of Holder stand as historic achievements of two black Americans.

"Race-protected cocoons"

Holder told hundreds of Justice Department employees gathered for the event that they have a special responsibility to advance racial understanding.

Even when people mix at the workplace or afterwork social events, Holder argued, many Americans in their free time are still segregated inside what he called “race-protected cocoons.”

“Saturdays and Sundays, America in the year 2009 does not in some ways differ significantly from the country that existed almost 50 years ago. This is truly sad,” said Holder.

Matt Miller, a spokesman for Holder, said later the attorney general used “provocative words to be clear that Americans of all races should stop avoiding the difficult issues of race.”

Andrew Grant-Thomas, Deputy Director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University, praised Holder’s general message but said the wording of the speech may alienate some.

“He’s right on the substance, but that’s probably not the most politic way of saying it. I’m certain there are people who will hear him and say, ’That’s obnoxious,”’ he said, adding that what was missing from Holder’s speech were specific examples of what painful subjects need to be addressed.

Hilary Shelton, vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, called the speech “constructively provocative.”

“Nobody wants to be considered a coward. We’ve learned to get along by exclusion and silence. We need to talk about it. People need to feel comfortable saying the wrong things,” said Shelton.

Holder is headed to Guantanamo Bay early next week to inspect the terrorist detention facility there. Obama has assigned Holder to lead a special task force aimed at closing the site within a year.

Holder’s Justice Department will have to decide which suspects to bring to U.S. courts for trial, which to prosecute through the military justice system, and which to send back to their home countries.



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Sources: MSNBC, Huffington Post, Politico, Daily Kos, US Dept of Justice, Washington Post, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, AP, Google Maps

Joe Wilson's Son Refutes Claims His Dad May Be Racist...He's In Denial

The State, MSNBC----

(Political experts discuss Former Pres. Jimmy Carter's recent statements regarding the Obama backlash. Mr. Carter firmly believes the current hostility being directed towards Barack Obama's presidency is due to Racism and Racial Fear. In other words just plain Ignorance.

Rep. Joe Wilson's son claims his dad is not a blatant racist who probably believes that African-Americans are not intelligent enough to be the President of our great nation. Poor boy, he's obviously in denial.)

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(Former Pres. Jimmy Carter derides Racist tone against Pres. Obama.)

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(Rep. Steve King defends Joe Wilson’s support for the Confederate flag.)





Wilson's son says Congressman is not racist

U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson's oldest son defended his father against a claim by former President Jimmy Carter that the congressman's outburst during a speech by President Barack Obama was "based on racism."

Responding to an audience question at a town hall at his presidential center in Atlanta, Carter said Tuesday that Wilson's outburst was also rooted in fears of a black president.

"I think it's based on racism," Carter said. "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president."

But Wilson's son disputed that.

"There is not a racist bone in my dad's body," said Alan Wilson, an Iraq veteran who is running for state attorney general in South Carolina. "He doesn't even laugh at distasteful jokes. I won't comment on former President Carter, because I don't know President Carter. But I know my dad, and it's just not in him."

"It's unfortunate people make that jump. People can disagree - and appropriately disagree - on issues of substance, but when they make the jump to race it's absolutely ludicrous. My brothers and I were raised by our parents to respect everyone regardless of background or race."

Carter, a Democrat, said Joe Wilson's outburst was a part of a disturbing trend directed at the president that has included demonstrators equating Obama to Nazi leaders.

"Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care," he said. "It's deeper than that."

Wilson's spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, was formally rebuked Tuesday in a House vote for shouting "You lie!" during Obama's speech to Congress last Wednesday.

The shout came after the president commented that illegal aliens would be ineligible for federal subsidies to buy health insurance. Republicans expressed their disbelief with sounds of disapproval, punctuated by Wilson's outburst.

Tuesday's rebuke was a rare resolution of disapproval pushed through by Democrats who insisted that Wilson had violated basic rules of decorum and civility. Republicans characterized the measure as a witch hunt and Wilson, who had already apologized to Obama, insisted he owed the House no apology.

South Carolina's former Democratic Party chairman also said he doesn't believe Wilson was motivated by racism, but said the outburst encouraged racist views.

"I think Joe's conduct was asinine, but I think it would be asinine no matter what the color of the president," said Dick Harpootlian, who has known Wilson for decades. "I don't think Joe's outburst was caused by President Obama being African-American. I think it was caused by no filter being between his brain and his mouth."

Harpootlian said he received scores of racial e-mails from outside South Carolina after he talked about the vote on Fox News.

"You have a bunch of folks out there looking for some comfort in their racial issues. They have a problem with an African-American president," he said. "But was he motivated by that? I don't think so. I respectfully disagree with President Carter, though it gives validity to racism."

Carter called Wilson's comment "dastardly" and an aftershock of racist views that have permeated American politics for decades.

"The president is not only the head of government, he is the head of state," he said. "And no matter who he is or how much we disagree with his policies, the president should be treated with respect."



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Sources: MSNBC, The State, Think Progress, Huffington Post, NBC News, Creeypgif.com, Google Maps

Jimmy Carter Says Intense Racism Is Reason For Obama Backlash & "Tea Party" Protesters

MSNBC----

(Political experts discuss Former Pres. Jimmy Carter's recent statements regarding the Obama backlash. Mr. Carter firmly believes the current hostility being directed towards Barack Obama's presidency is due to Racism and Racial Fear. In other words just plain Ignorance.)

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(Former Pres. Jimmy Carter derides Racist tone against Pres. Obama.)

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(Rep. Steve King defends Joe Wilson’s support for the Confederate flag.)



(Is Right Wing "Tea Party" rage being fueled by Race?)

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(SC Rep. Joe Wilson defends his stupid, disrespectful, embarrassing heckling scene during Pres. Obama's recent Congressional Health Care Reform speech.)

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Carter: Race plays role in Obama dislike


In an interview with NBC's Brian Williams, former Democratic President Jimmy Carter attributed much of the conservative opposition that President Obama is receiving to the issue of race.

"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man," Carter said. "I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that share the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans."

Carter continued, "And that racism inclination still exists. And I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply."



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Sources: MSNBC, First Read, Real Clear Politics, Whitehouse.gov, Count Down with Keith Olbermann, Think Progress, NBC News, Huffington Post, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps