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i applaud jimmy carter

Posted on April 22, 2008 | Filed Under peace, politics 

I applaud Jimmy Carter for his courage, for engaging the leadership of Hamas in dialogue, for searching out any avenues for moving the peace process forward.

He has been criticized for meeting at all with Khalid Meshaal, by both the Bush administration and the Democratic presidential candidates. Dialogue should be absolutely contingent, they argue, on Hamas’ recognition of Israel and renunciation of violence. But it seems to me if the goal of a peace process is made a precondition to dialogue, then the process will surely go where it has always gone … nowhere.

Start talking! Explore options! Get the people who have a stake in the process — all the people who have a stake in the process — to start talking … and listening. The alternative is to draw lines in the sand (on both sides) and stake out intransigent positions (on both sides) and continue to be mired in the cycle of violence and misery that has plagued the peoples who live on this land for generation after generation after generation.

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Comments

2 Responses to “i applaud jimmy carter”

  1. Tim on May 8th, 2008 8:58 pm

    James Wall expresses similar sentiments in an editorial piece in The Christian Century: Carter’s Middle East mission. Here’s an excerpt …

    Carter maintains that Hamas is worthy to be included in peace talks not because its leaders are paragons of virtue, but for the obvious reason that there can be no peace between Israel and the Palestinians that does not include all of the involved political parties.

  2. Alfonso VanBurean on May 19th, 2008 11:09 pm

    The only way well have peace in this world is through the lord Jesus… Jesus is the way war leads to peace.

    “The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.” (Exodus 15:3)
    (a holy war for peace)

    John McCain is the only cannidate that will fufill our presidents war on terrirism and islamisists . What we need in these endtimes is a good strong anti-libaral, non-hippie who holds true to the word of our lord. I really hope WHEN McCain becomes president he lives up to the republican platform and ends abortion, criminalizes gay sex and marrage and stops de-regulashion. We need to invade andor nuke iran and all these terriorists before its too late. This is exacly what the bible pridected would happen if the world fell away from his word. Armogeddon is close at hand we must stop them as a global force and unite christians and live as the word would tell us. and wage war against the non-beilevers and democarats and libarals.

    jesus is the only way to peace
    “The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.” (Psalms 58:10)

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