Peace in Our Time? Try Again, Jimmy

The best term to describe Jimmy Carter's one-man foreign policy is self importance. In the case of Hamas, Carter believes that he himself will be able to kick start the peace process by just talking to Hamas. And Carter seems to believe that his visit with Hamas actually accomplished something. Story from the AP.

Former President Carter said Monday that Hamas — the Islamic militant group that has called for the destruction of Israel — is prepared to accept the right of the Jewish state to "live as a neighbor next door in peace."

[...]

The Democratic former president spoke in Jerusalem after meeting last week with top Hamas leader, Khaled Mashaal, and his deputy in Syria. It capped a nine-day visit to the Mideast aimed at breaking the deadlock between Israel and Hamas militants who rule the Gaza Strip.

"They (Hamas) said that they would accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, if approved by Palestinians and that they would accept the right of Israel to live as a neighbor next door in peace," Carter said.

So, Jimmy Carter comes back with great news. He's brokered an unprecedented peace deal with Hamas in which they agreed to renounce violence and accept Israel as a state. Where's the ticker tape parade? Oh I forgot, there is no unprecedented peace deal.

"We agree to a (Palestinian) state on pre-67 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital with genuine sovereignty without settlements but without recognizing Israel," Mashaal told reporters.

[...]

Carter said Hamas promised it wouldn't undermine Abbas' efforts to reach a peace deal with Israel, as long as the Palestinian people approved it in a referendum. In such a scenario, he said Hamas would not oppose a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

Carter said Hamas officials, including Mashaal, agreed to this in a written statement.

But Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri in Gaza said Hamas' readiness to put a peace deal to a referendum "does not mean that Hamas is going to accept the result of the referendum."

Was Ashton Kutcher nearby? Because, it looks like Hamas punked Jimmy Carter. First of all, Mashaal explicitly stated that any agreement would not include recognition of Israel. If they were actually serious about a peace deal, official recognition would have been included. Secondly, Hamas agrees to put up a peace deal to a popular referendum of Palestinians. However, they don't guarantee that they will actually recognize the results of that referendum if they don't like the results.

So, what are we left with? Jimmy Carter getting played for the propaganda purposes of dictators and terrorists, again. Hamas gets to look like they're serious about a peace deal, when that couldn't be further from the truth. Hamas is not serious about peace deals, they only want a respite to build up their military forces against Israel. They want the destruction of Israel, by whatever means necessary. Great job, Jimmy. Great job.

(Hat tip: Hot Air)