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Jewish World Review
Dec. 29, 2009
/ 12 Teves 5770
Come clean, Carter
By
Ed Koch
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Former President Jimmy Carter recently sent a letter to the JTA, which is
a wire service for Jewish newspapers. The letter was made public by the
JTA on December 21st, along with the following statement:
"Jimmy Carter asked the Jewish community for forgiveness for any stigma he
may have caused Israel. In a letter released exclusively to JTA, the
former U.S. president sent a seasonal message wishing for peace between
Israel and its neighbors, and concluded: '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.' 'Al Het' refers to the
Yom Kippur prayer asking G-d forgiveness for sins committed against Him.
In modern Hebrew it refers to any plea for forgiveness. Carter has
angered some U.S. Jews in recent years with writings and statements that
place the burden of peacemaking on Israel, that have likened Israel's
settlement policies to apartheid, and that have blamed the pro-Israel
lobby for inhibiting an evenhanded U.S. foreign policy."
Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, a leading advocate for the
Jewish community, responded as follows: "We welcome any statement from a
significant individual such as a former president who asks for Al Het. To
what extent it is an epiphany, time will tell. There certainly is hurt
which needs to be repaired."
Having known Jimmy Carter when I was a Congressman and Mayor, I have a
minimum of high regard for him. I believe that he has often used his
position most recently as a writer of books - to damage the State of
Israel, and in doing so, he has injured the Jewish community worldwide.
Catholics in every land have a special reverence for the Vatican as they
should, it being the heart of the Catholic religion, the abode of the
Pope. Jews likewise hold a special tie with Israel. That bond comes
from, among other things, the knowledge that wherever there is a Jewish
community somewhere in the world in peril, there is a country - only one
country - that will immediately take Jews in and provide them with
assistance, protection and full citizenship. That of course is Israel.
That is why Jews feel so protective about that small land, which now for
the first time has a Jewish population, according to Wikipedia, 5,435,800,
that is the largest of any country in the world. Formerly, that
distinction was held by the United States with 5,128,000 Jews making up
its population.
When Jimmy Carter asks the Jewish community for forgiveness, I believe it
is incumbent upon him to list what he believes he has done that requires
forgiveness. I also think we should know, if after leaving the presidency
he received any gifts, lecture fees or loans from Arab nations. He should
make available any correspondence he has had during that period with Arab
governments and list all the compensation he has received from them. I
also would suggest that he hold a press conference at which journalists
could ask him questions on the entire subject. Then and only then would
the Jewish community be in a position to decide whether or not to grant
him forgiveness. He should also know there is no one person who can grant
him forgiveness in the Jewish community.
The thought surely has occurred to many as it has to me, why is he
suddenly so concerned and in need of forgiveness? I believe he, like most
of us at his age, 85, have thoughts concerning our mortality. I know that
I do. He is a religious man, and occasionally, a Sunday school teacher.
His Baptist faith tells him that he will be held accountable by God for
his statements and actions here on earth. I suspect he is mindful of the
Biblical admonition in Psalms 129, "They will be humiliated and will fall
backwards, all enemies of Zion." Skeptics say his sudden interest in
bettering relations with the Jewish community comes as a result of his
grandson's running for public office in a community with a large Jewish
population.
My advice to Jimmy Carter is to come clean. I believe that we Jews are a
forgiving people, but we are also a people who, having been brutalized
through the centuries, are suspicious of those who at the end of their
lives wish to make amends but have not demonstrated any repentance. What
does President Carter intend to do with the balance of his life to remedy
the harm and injury to the Jewish people that he has inflicted over the
years?
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Edward I. Koch, the former mayor of New York, can be heard on Bloomberg Radio (WBBR 1130 AM) every Sunday from 9-10 am . Comment by clicking here.
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