Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Is Carter an "anti-Semite" or is he an example?

The claim by the Jewish Lobby that former US President Jimmy Carter is an anti-Semite since he implys in his new book, that the illegal wall put up by Israel on Palestinian land, is an "apartheid wall," is a strange claim. The wall was constructed according to Israel, to separate Israel from Palestine, and also to prevent Palestinians from entering Israel, which is an apartheid wall, since Israel also claims that it wants this separation to preserve the "Jewishness" of Israel.

There seems to be little doubt that the wall is indeed an apartheid wall. It is also an illegal wall, one that the International Court of Justice said is illegal, and demanded that it be torn down. Of course Israel, who has never seen a UN resolution that it didn't rush to ignore, has simply acted as if the International Court said nothing, when what the Court said, should resolve the Carter debate. The Court ruled that the wall is illegal. It is illegal because it illegally confiscates land, and imprisons the Palestinians. It is an apartheid wall. The Jews of South Africa even issued a public statement that was reported by the Associated Press, saying that the wall is an apartheid wall, and that Israel is a racist apartheid state. Desmond Tutu and many other notables have said that Israel is involved in a project in Palestine that is illegal, racist, and that mimics almost exactly the former apartheid regime of South Africa.

The parallel between South Africa and Israel has been mentioned so often, and by so many people that we must ask ourselves why the Jewish Lobby is so angry with Carter. Could it be because they feel that they are loosing their grip on the American people, and that we are no longer afraid to speak out against Israeli injustices, especially those that are being funded with US taxpayer dollars? Could it be that they want to make Carter an example, so other high profile personalities will shy away from ever criticizing Israel?

It's time that this term "Anti-Semite" be retired from the US political lexicon since it is clearly defamatory, and can cause those so charged, whether they are anti-Semites or not, to suffer very real financial, and other types of damages. It is the tool, that once removed, puts the Jewish Lobby and the Israel first crowd back on an even playing field in the political debate in our country with the rest of America.