Jimmy Carter rebuffed by major Jewish organizations

[Yala]

Carter’s Efforts To Mend Ties With Community Get Cold Shoulder
Foxman: ‘I Didn’t Want To Be Used’
Nathan Guttman | Wed. Oct 31, 2007

Washington - Jimmy Carter’s newest efforts to repair relations with the Jewish community were rebuffed not once but twice last week — and at the very highest levels.

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.”

Carter has encountered similar difficulties in reaching out to Jewish lawmakers on Capitol Hill. A closed-door meeting he held with Jewish members of Congress turned into a passionate rebuke of the former president’s views on Israel and the Middle East.

“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.

Carter has had strained relations with much of the organized Jewish community since the publication of his book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” and his ensuing remarks regarding the Jewish lobby’s influence on American foreign policy. The reception he received last week suggests that the resentment is still strong and that it may pose an obstacle for him as he attempts to offer his help in brokering peace in the Middle East.

His renewed appeal is part of his work with a group known as The Elders. Founded by South Africa’s Nelson Mandela last summer, The Elders consists of 13 senior statesmen who attempt to use their international clout and their experience to deal with the world’s most pressing conflicts. Along with Carter, members include Desmond Tutu, Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan. The group’s first mission was to Darfur, and it is now looking into taking an active role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The invitation to Jewish organizations, sent out by Elders liaison Mickey Bergman, stated that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss ways in which The Elders can help out with the Middle East peace process.

The invitation was not totally unrewarded. The Wednesday lunchtime meeting was attended by five Jewish members, including the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, which was represented by Rabbi David Saperstein. Other groups that sent representatives were Israel Policy Forum, Americans for Peace Now, Brit Tzedek V’Shalom and the New Israel Fund. All are strong advocates of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. Another participant in the meeting was Tom Dine, a former executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who is also known for his dovish views.

“We did not raise the issue of the book in the meeting; it is old news,” one participant told the Forward.

Another attendant, Brit Tzedek V’Shalom’s new president, Steve Masters, said the atmosphere was good and that he sensed no tension between Carter and the Jewish activists in the room. (Of course not, all of these groups fully agree with Carter and his idiotic views-Yala)

“We all recognized that he is one of the only people in the world who were successful in brokering peace between Israelis and Arabs,” Masters said.

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.” (G-d forbid this imbecile would admit that Carter's views on Israel and the "Jewish lobby" are offensive and dangerous - Yala)

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.”

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.

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.”

http://www.forward.com/articles/11935/

[bararallu]

I think TUTU needs to be publicly tared and feathered, he is more than guilty by association at this point. As is Carter. But more important than that, the American Jewish community needs to draw a line in the sand, isolating those who support anti-Semites (via the protocols of anti-Zionism). Any Jewish leader that attended this meeting, should be treated like the NK. Equating Israelis to Nazis/Racists is, in my book, just as bad as denying the Holocaust. At the end of the day they are flip sides of the coin.

[redcake]

I fully agree, short of the tar and feathering, which is probably an unfortunate choice of wording... but I don't see any Jewish organizations with a strong backbone who are taking a firm stance against antisemitic rhetoric. There's something going on in the climate where suddenly people feel validated to say this stuff, and part of the blame falls on the Jewish community for tolerating it. Jews are far more concerned with how they might be perceived then they are with shutting these people down. I still don't see a single Jewish leader besides Dershowitz who is willing to put his rep on the line to speak out against this stuff. That signals a lack of leadership entirely.

Foxman doesn't want to be used? Foxman doesn't want to disrespect him!? Carter should be ruined. Who cares if it would feed our ex-Presidents paranoia. If Foxman really believes that he's fueling antisemitic canards, then why the kid gloves? I'm sorry, but none of these Jewish organizations have done enough.

[bararallu]

Yet another reason why the ADL, with Foxman at the helm, is a useless organization. They need to be at the very forefront of this, but they instead are chasing the has been likes of David Duke, Luis Farrakhan, Mel Gibson and getting their noses into foreign policy (in an area utterly devoid of Jewish concern: Armenian genocide vis a vis Turkey). The threat posed by Tutu, Sabeel, W & M, and more than any: Carter is far more insidious and credible, not to mention their Islamist supporters. They need to be disabused broadly and continuously, starting yesterday.

[Yala]

Let's not forget all these Jewish lemmings who let Bill Clinton slide away without calling Carter out publicly. The Jewish community, on the whole, still looks at Bill Clinton as Moshiach as if he ever did anything good for the Jews or Israel. I think at a small meeting of a few Jews Clinton said Carter lied repeatedly in his book but he never said this to any of the media when the media spotlight was all over Carter and the book for months.

[varian]

Perhaps Jimmy is just posturing for another Nobel. Then in his mind he can be relevant again, one up on Al & two up on Bubba. When Hillary gets in, you just know that Bubba will be put in a position to be nominated and rewarded, so Jimmy is trying to get ahead while he can. I'm sure that he will offer his services to the 'ME Peace Team' in a Dem administration, so he's probably trying to set things up for Nobel #two. Besides, Israel's opponents love him!!!

[bararallu]

Let's not forget all these Jewish lemmings who let Bill Clinton slide away without calling Carter out publicly. The Jewish community, on the whole, still looks at Bill Clinton as Moshiach as if he ever did anything good for the Jews or Israel. I think at a small meeting of a few Jews Clinton said Carter lied repeatedly in his book but he never said this to any of the media when the media spotlight was all over Carter and the book for months.

exactly...

[redcake]

I do recall Clinton publicly challenged Carter's book for a split second there, didn't he?

No Jewish group will press Clinton on defending his record though, because they're all trying to downplay the (at best, passive) stance they took with the Olso debacle.

Foxman's completely impotent at this point. His image is of a man who over reacts, and cries wolf, and I would suspect that's the same reputation anyone heading the ADL would be branded with now. There needs to be young leadership in the ADL that bridges secular and religious concerns with equal respect, and has zero tolerance for hatred against Jews. While we're at it, Jews must be their priority without apology. I suppose this is the same style of crisis we now see in groups like the NAACP as well though.

[Yala]

I do recall Clinton publicly challenged Carter's book for a split second there, didn't he?

As I said, at a small meeting of a few Jews, to pander he said Carter lied. He never said anything to the media. That is b/c he knows the left is increasingly anti-Israel/anti-Jewish. Carter did not portray Clinton in a positive light either in the book and he did not even defend himself!

Foxman's completely impotent at this point. His image is of a man who over reacts, and cries wolf, and I would suspect that's the same reputation anyone heading the ADL would be branded with now.

Right, he's totally useless.