Carter meets Hamas leaders over Israeli, U.S. objections

Saturday 19th April, 05:47 AM JST

DAMASCUS, Syria —

Former U.S. President Carter met Friday with the exiled leader of Hamas and the militant group’s deputy chief, men the U.S. government has labeled as global terrorists and Israel accuses of masterminding suicide bombings and kidnappings.

Carter’s meeting with Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal followed two other meetings between the former American president and the Palestinian militant group in the Middle East this week. Hamas officials say the meetings have lent their group legitimacy.

Mashaal’s deputy Moussa Abu Marzouk attended the meeting with Carter at Mashaal’s Damascus office, a Hamas official at the site told The Associated Press. Abu Marzouk was designated a terrorist by the U.S. Treasury Department in 1995, allowing the government to seize his assets. He was detained at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York that same year and spent two years in a New York jail before he was deported in 1997.

Carter’s convoy arrived at Mashaal’s office for the meeting under tight security and reporters were prevented from getting near the site. The meeting was closed to all media.

The U.S. State Department twice advised Carter against meeting Hamas leaders before he left on his Mideast trip earlier this week. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized Carter’s plans to meet Mashaal, saying last week that Hamas is an impediment to Middle East peace.

Several members of Congress also urged Carter not to meet Mashaal, saying it would confer legitimacy on the group behind some 250 suicide bombings that have killed numerous Israeli.

But Carter, who brokered the 1978 Israeli-Egyptian peace and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, has defended what he calls his personal peace mission, saying Hamas must be engaged in order to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Though Israel’s government refuses to deal with Hamas, Carter said Thursday he knows some Israeli government officials are “quite willing” to meet the militant group and he speculated that might happen in the near future.

Israeli cabinet minister Eli Yishai said Friday he asked Carter earlier this week to arrange a meeting with Hamas to discuss a prisoner exchange. Yishai, the Israeli deputy prime minister, said he wanted to try to win the release of Cpl Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas in Gaza for two years.

Hamas said from Gaza Friday that Shalit will “not see the light” until Palestinian prisoners are also released in an exchange.

Yishai was the only Israeli minister to meet Carter when he visited Israel and the Palestinians territories earlier this week. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he did not meet Carter during his visit to avoid creating the impression that he was negotiating with Hamas.

The Carter-Mashaal meeting was the first public contact between a prominent American and Hamas officials since the Rev. Jesse Jackson met with Mashaal in Syria in 2006

The U.S. State Department did not comment further on the meeting Friday.

“I don’t think I have anything more to add to what I as well as others have said previously on it,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. “We have made our views clear.”

The United States designated Hamas a terrorist organization in January 1995, which made it a violation to conduct any financial or business transaction with the group.

Shortly after Hamas claimed responsibility for an Aug 19, 2003 suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed 20 people including four U.S. citizens, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control named a number of Hamas leaders as “specially designated global terrorists.” They included Mashaal and Abu Marzouk and the designation made it illegal to conduct any transactions with them.

Israel also brands Hamas a terrorist organization and has accused Mashaal of masterminding the kidnapping of Shalit near Gaza two years ago. Israel has blamed Mashaal and the group’s Damascus-based leadership for directing suicide bombings such as the September 2004 attacks that killed 16 Israelis in the southern city of Beersheba.

Israel tried to kill Mashaal in 1997, when agents sprayed him with poison on a street in Amman. Jordan’s late King Hussein, who had signed peace with Israel in 1994, forced Israel to send the antidote that saved his life.

Afterward, Jordan expelled Mashaal to Qatar as the kingdom’s ties with Hamas deteriorated, and he moved to Damascus in 1999.

Before Friday’s meeting began, Abu Marzouk told The Associated Press that calming the situation between Hamas and Israel as well as the fate of Shalit would be on the agenda.

“Hamas will not be a hurdle in any future prisoner exchange,” Abu Marzouk said.

Asked if Hamas is ready to sit and talk directly to the Israelis, Abu Marzouk said: “There are no (direct) meetings with the Israelis. Most of the meetings that took place between the two sides were not direct.”

Hamas won 2006 Palestinian parliament elections and has since been locked in a power struggle with the Fatah faction headed by President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas forcibly seized control of Gaza from Fatah in June and set up a regime that rivals Abbas’ West Bank government.

But an internationally backed Israeli boycott of Hamas has put a stranglehold on Gaza, deepening the poverty of its 1.4 million residents.

Carter met senior Hamas officials from Gaza in Cairo on Thursday and asked them to halt rocket attacks against Israel. And in the West Bank Wednesday, he embraced a Hamas representative, angering Israelis.

Hamas official Mushir Masri, in a fiery speech Friday to thousands of Hamas supporters in Gaza, said the meetings with Carter were proof that Hamas was not a terrorist group, but a national liberation movement.

“It confirms the failure of the U.S. and European policies of ignoring Hamas,” he told the crowd. “It confirms that all the countries that assume Hamas is a terrorist group should reconsider.”

Carter met Syrian President Bashar Assad earlier Friday after arriving in Syria from Egypt.

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Latest 15 of 58 Total Comments Show All

SuperLib at 12:32 AM JST - 20th April

SuperLib, probably every Iraqi who has had family members killed unjustly by your nation's military. Thankfully there's people like Carter who have the guts to try to negotiate solutions rather than start dropping bombs, but I'm sure you would approve of the latter option.

Wow, you are all over the board on this one. Start with Iraq, which obviously has nothing to do with Palestine/Israel except in your imagination ("Do try to stay on topic"). Then mention Carter's name to stop the post from getting pulled (seeing that a lot recently, eh?). Finally, after listening to me agree with you and Carter you accuse me of not supporting diplomacy?

Uh, Sushi...heh...are you even talking to me? We get really close to agreement then you back away and make up these positions and start attacking them while I just kind of sit here and watch it all happen. It's like you're on some kind of creepy auto-pilot or something. I feel like I could be saying the exact opposite and I'd get the exact same response from you. It really is kind of creepy.
SuperLib at 12:41 AM JST - 20th April

Sorry, since when has a willingness to negotiate been "radical"?

Are you debating with your imaginary George Bush again?

Oh, I get it - when you compare negotiating to Bush's 'bomb first ask questions later' policy, I guess negotiating is radical.

Yep.
GeorgeRouault at 01:26 AM JST - 20th April

Hamas is still launching rockets into Israel and that is the same as dropping bombs, and Jimmy,seems his guts has not done much to stop this. But what the heck he is not Bush and that is all that matters on this thread.

There is a huge difference. Hamas and Palestinians fight for freedom where as Israel fights to maintain oppression and apartheid. USA seems to be supporting the racist oppressors. Supporting oppression and racism is often as bad as practicing oppression and racism. It is amply clearly that Israel is a racist state, not a religious one. . People who sees this as a cycle of violence is not seeing the bigger picture. It is about a people who were ethnically cleansed made into refugees and oppressed ever since.

Americans and Jews, out of ignorance or tribal loyalty or both, insist that opposition to Israel is anti-Semitism. Well, if oppression and racism are consistent with being Jewish, then, yes, the world will be obliged to be anti-Jewish. Indeed, oppression such as occupation can’t persist for a long time without the material and moral support and backing by people and countries who may often look nice and speak softly. Many of the supporters of Apartheid in South Africa and Nazism in Germany also looked very nice and spoke softly, not knowing (or knowing) that they were tacitly backing evil, racist criminals committing ghastly crimes against humanity.

We know and you know and the whole world knows that words like ‘terror,’ ‘terrorists,’ ‘axis of evil’ and ‘enemies of freedom’ are all ideological terms used tendentiously by the powerful and the arrogant, such as Israel and the United States, to justify their own true terror against the weak and the oppressed. Even Satan himself would call his enemies terrorists.

It is wrong to blame each and every Jew on earth for the crimes of Israel . However, Jews can make a difference if they wish to, by speaking up against Israeli criminality and racism.
Adamwest at 02:26 AM JST - 20th April

I certainly support Carter's action by communicating with Hamas and I believe it was long overdue! Israel doesn't want peace because it would have to return the occupied land that it has taken from the Palestinians rightful owners. This is in accordance with both UN Resolution and International law. The west doesn't reflect anything in its media that is negative about Israel or positive about Palestinine. Israel always has the tendency to speak out about their attacks on Gaza and Westbank their only reason was because they were attacked first! The Palestinians are saying we were attacked first but who is going to believe the Palestinians when in fact they don't have funds to donate to US politicians like the AIPAC which is the arm of the Israeli Government. Israel illegally occupies 45% of Palestinian Land.

Sad situation being it was the Bush Administration that forced President Abbas to hold an election that backfired. Abbas said they weren't ready for an election but encouraged to do so by the Bush administration and Hamas was democratically elected. This was a shock to the Administration. Then, the US purchased weapons from Egypt by falsely telling Egypt it was for to arm the Fatah for defensive purposes, which in fact was not the case but for Fatah to attack Hamas. Unfortunately, Hamas found out that it was going to be attacked by Fatah and was well prepared to destroy Fatah's military assault. This is how Hamas took control of Gaza. Former Middle East advisor Wurmser to VP Chaney resigned his position and stated that this was a "dirty war" and doesn't believe Hamas would have initially taken the action to attack Fatah when it controlled the Gaza Strip.

One has to acknowledge there is a lot of misinformation to the American public by the current administration.

I strongly believe we should discontinue our aid to Israel because they continue to build housing on confiscated land. Additionally, since 1948 the US in grant form has provided to Israel $1400.00 for every man woman and child including the "Arab Israelis". Unfortunately "Arab Israelis" do not get any benefit from these dollars. The grant is still in effect to this day.
redacted at 02:48 AM JST - 20th April

Sushisake123 wonders: "What strategy do you both support?"

What strategy do you support, sushi?

What is your country doing?

If the problem is so serious why is its resolution left solely to American efforts?

Like "Global Warming" this is huge, no?

What is your PM doing ?

Why are you so ashamed of your own country?

Frankly, in the 20 years I have lived and traveled abroad the only guys I can not trust are those like you.
SuperLib at 04:28 AM JST - 20th April

redacted, perhaps you missed Sushi's position:

"Carter's discussions are far better than not engaging. Carter is showing what guts are. Jimmy Carter is busy doing something proactive. I support Carter's moves. My county is not involved in this."

He's taken the time to list out his "ideas, suggestions or plans or strategies" for you and obviously he's explained the position of his own nation as well. He's simply demanding that you do the same.
SuperLib at 04:55 AM JST - 20th April

Hamas and Palestinians fight for freedom where as Israel fights to maintain oppression and apartheid.

Hamas and Palestinians are terrorists who restrict personal freedom while Israel fights to survive the oppression and apartheid of the militant Arabs.

Supporting oppression and racism is often as bad as practicing oppression and racism.

Supporting terrorism and self-genocide is often as bad as practicing terrorism and self-genocide.

It is about a people who were ethnically cleansed made into refugees and oppressed ever since.

It's about terrorism and those who encourage it as a form of conflict resolution to be exclusively used by Muslims.

Many of the supporters of Apartheid in South Africa and Nazism in Germany also looked very nice and spoke softly, not knowing (or knowing) that they were tacitly backing evil, racist criminals committing ghastly crimes against humanity.

Many Americans and Europeans look very nice and speak softly, not knowing (or knowing) that they are tacitly backing evil, racist terrorists committing ghastly crimes against humanity.

We know and you know and the whole world knows that words like ‘terror,’ ‘terrorists,’ ‘axis of evil’ and ‘enemies of freedom’ are all ideological terms used tendentiously by the powerful and the arrogant, such as Israel and the United States, to justify their own true terror against the weak and the oppressed

We know and you know and the whole world knows that words like "genocide" and "ethnic clensing" and "apartheid" are ideological terms used tendentiously by the weak and the arrogant, such as the Palestinians and self-loathing Westerners, to justify their own true terror against anything that has more power than anything else in the world.

Even Satan himself would call his enemies terrorists.

Even Satan himself would call Hamas terrorists. Or maybe I should say that Hamas would call Satan a freedom fighter?

It is wrong to blame each and every Jew on earth for the crimes of Israel . However, Jews can make a difference if they wish to, by speaking up against Israeli criminality and racism.

It would be wrong to blame each and every Arab for the crimes of Hamas. However, Arabs can make a difference if they wish to, by speaking up against Hamas' terrorism.

We could go on like this for days...and days...and days....
SuperLib at 05:19 AM JST - 20th April

Israel doesn't want peace because it would have to return the occupied land that it has taken from the Palestinians rightful owners

Hamas doesn't want peace because they think they can kill all of the Jews.

This is in accordance with both UN Resolution and International law.

So fire up the rockets and blow up an Israeli school. Oh, and don't forget the memo about UN Resolutions and International Law.

The west doesn't reflect anything in its media that is negative about Israel or positive about Palestinine.

This is a bit of older propaganda. I'm surprised it still makes rounds these days. Maybe it still works on someone who hasn't picket up a newspaper or read the internet in the last 10 years or so. Here are the pictures the BBC has on their Middle East section right now:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44582000/jpg/44582996israelis_afp203i.jpg

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44583000/jpg/44583646woman_ap66pr.jpg

One shows an Israeli solder in full combat gear, the other shows a Palestinian woman crying out. Yep, the first thing I think is "Israel good, Palestine bad."

and doesn't believe Hamas would have initially taken the action to attack Fatah when it controlled the Gaza Strip.

So Palestinians slaughtered other Palestinians in order to protect Palestinians. Interesting. Don't forget that militants also blew up the American School in Gaza. No doubt there were probably reports that the students were sharpening their #2 pencils and readying for an attack. Either that or they were gasp getting an education instead of throwing rocks at tanks!

One has to acknowledge there is a lot of misinformation to the American public by the current administration.

Well sometimes I have hope...then I read a post like yours...

I strongly believe we should discontinue our aid to Israel because they continue to build housing on confiscated land.

OK, well if building housing on confiscated land gets you mad enough to pull all aid, then intentionally targeting and killing civilians as a matter of policy surely would encourage you to speak out for America to stop giving aid to Palestinians.

Unfortunately "Arab Israelis" do not get any benefit from these dollars.

Well if we could only get the Jews to treat their Arab population with the same respect that the Palestinians show their Jewish population...
Helter_Skelter at 12:57 PM JST - 20th April

Former U.S. President Carter met Friday with the exiled leader of Hamas and the militant group’s deputy chief

The Mullahs are laughing.
Zaphod at 07:10 PM JST - 20th April

Helter Skelter:

The Mullahs are laughing.

Remember, this is the same Carter who helped getting Khomeini back into Iran from exile in France and replace the secular Shah regime with the current mullah theocracy. After all, he just had to trust a "holy man". And he is still at it.
Den Den at 07:10 PM JST - 21st April

Thank you Mr Carter. You have guts. I don't see Obama/Clinton/other guy doing the hard work. Too scared to offend their Zionist masters I guess? Come on all you other American's, give the guy a hand. When the Palestinians have back what is rightfully theirs, you will be amazed how easily your foreign policy struggles will disappear...
Zaphod at 09:31 AM JST - 22nd April

When the Palestinians have back what is rightfully theirs, you will be amazed how easily your foreign policy struggles will disappear...

But yes, of course. The jihadist terrorism in South Thailand, in Mindanao, in Northern Nigeria, in Western China, and for that matter in the suburbs of Paris will all mysteriously go away once Israel is destroyed. Isn`t that simple!
Betzee at 11:11 AM JST - 22nd April

GWB and Condi were reportedly shocked by Hamas' victory at the ballot box. Guess they really believe that stuff about the "transformative of liberty." The Israelis, however, do not. Nor do that have many kind words for the neocon foreign policy. I mean, had it been successful would there really have been any need for Jimmy Carter's services?.....

The Israeli establishment has always been suspicious of all this talk about the "democratization" of the Middle East and chose to pursue a more "realistic" approach: Let them have their stable dictator so we can have our reliable partner.

http://www.slate.com/id/2134920/
alohabunny at 12:50 PM JST - 23rd April

BLESSED ARE THE PEACE MAKERS FOR THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH.....Happy Earth Day......God Bless Jimmy Carter a man of peace and a TRUE Christian.
WhiteHawk at 04:24 AM JST - 24th April

Sarge: Jimmy Carter: "When I go to a dictatorship, I only have to talk to one person, and that's the dictator, because he speaks for all the people." What an idiot.

Maybe that explains why, in every election Carter has monitored, a despot has either come to power or retained power.