Jimmy Carter’s grandson said Monday that his grandfather “is a good man who has done remarkable things with his life and has taken the opportunities that he was given and used them to do good.” There are reasons to think otherwise. In discussing Jimmy Carter and Israel, one must not neglect his attack on UN Resolution 242. This is the legal justification for Israel to hold onto much, or even all, of the West Bank. immy Carter has had a lot to say about UN Resolution 242, all of it wrong, and most of it appalling. He tries to make it mean what the Arabs wanted it to mean, not what its author, Lord Caradon, intended it to mean.
In his 2016 article “America Must Recognize Palestine,” Jimmy Carter treats a sentence from the non-binding preamble to Resolution 242 as if it were a binding part of the Resolution itself. He thinks that the phrase about the “inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war” applies to Israel, when examination of the Mandate for Palestine reveals that it is Jordan, not Israel, that is claiming territory in the “West Bank” based on its acquisition by war (in 1949). Carter then asserts that the other key words of Resolution 242 are these: “the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.” He wants you to think that this means that Israel is required to withdraw from “all the territories” that it won in the 1967 war. And indeed, the Arab diplomats at the U.N. sought, repeatedly, to have the words “the” or “all the” inserted before “territories.” But they failed.
The chief drafter of Resolution 242 was Lord Caradon (Hugh M. Foot), the permanent representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations from 1964-1970. At the time of the Resolution’s discussion and subsequent unanimous passage, and on many occasions since, Lord Caradon always insisted that the phrase “from the territories” quite deliberately did not mean “all the territories,” but merely some of the territories:
Much play has been made of the fact that we didn’t say “the” territories or “all the” territories. But that was deliberate. I myself knew very well the 1967 boundaries and if we had put in the “the” or “all the” that could only have meant that we wished to see the 1967 boundaries perpetuated in the form of a permanent frontier. This I was certainly not prepared to recommend.
On another occasion, to an interviewer from the Journal of Palestine Studies (Spring-Summer 1976), Lord Caradon again insisted on the deliberateness of the wording. He was asked:
The basis for any settlement will be United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, of which you were the architect. Would you say there is a contradiction between the part of the resolution that stresses the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and that which calls for Israeli withdrawal from “occupied territories,” but not from “the occupied territories”?
Nota bene: “from territories occupied” is not the same thing as “from occupied territories” – the first is neutral, the second a loaded description. Lord Caradon answered:
I defend the resolution as it stands. What it states, as you know, is first the general principle of inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war. That means that you can’t justify holding onto territory merely because you conquered it. We could have said: well, you go back to the 1967 line. But I know the 1967 line, and it’s a rotten line. You couldn’t have a worse line for a permanent international boundary. It’s where the troops happened to be on a certain night in 1948. It’s got no relation to the needs of the situation.
Had we said that you must go back to the 1967 line, which would have resulted if we had specified a retreat from all the occupied territories, we would have been wrong.
Note how Lord Caradon says that “you can’t justify holding onto territory merely because you conquered it,” with that “merely” applying to Jordan, but not to Israel, because of the Mandate’s explicit provisions allocating the territory known now as the “West Bank” to the Jewish state. Note, too, the firmness of his dismissal of the 1967 lines as nothing more than “where the troops happened to be on a certain night in 1948,” that is, nothing more than armistice lines and not internationally recognized borders.
Jimmy Carter thus misreads and misleads, in every important particular, Resolution 242. He misidentifies a statement of principle in the non-binding preamble as among the “key words” of the Resolution itself. He twists the meaning of the phrase “from territories” intended by its chief author, Lord Caradon, to ensure that there would be no retreat to the pre-1967 armistice lines, to “all the territories.” He fails to mention the record of Israeli withdrawals from 95% of the territories won in the Six-Day War and the great sacrifice Israel made in giving back to Egypt the entire Sinai peninsula, together with billions of dollars put into oilfields, three air bases, and the resort at Sharm el-Sheik. He fails to mention that that very Sinai had been the launching pad for Egyptian attacks in 1948, 1967, and 1973, and for thousands of attacks by Egyptian Fedayeen from 1949 until 1956, when the Sinai campaign put an end to them.
One wonders what, of all this, Jimmy Carter actually understood? And did he ever take the time to read Lord Caradon’s discussion of the meaning of Resolution 242, the very resolution that Caradon himself wrote? Carter has always been a self-satisfied and self-righteous preacher man, but not a student of history, nor of the law of nations. When it comes to Israel and the Arabs, he’s in way over his head, not waving but drowning.
KoshsShadow says
I wonder if G-d is keeping Jimmy alive just long enough to see the end of what he started.
Two possibilities here:
1) A massive war in the Mideast (and spreading) due to giving Iran to the mullahs and areas in Israel to the PLO.
2) The end of his dream and the ascendance of Israel.
Or maybe both. The war starts and G-d puts an end to it.
Just so Jimmy can see the magnitude of his misdeeds before spending eternity in Hell.
(In general, the Jewish version of the afterlife is different, but in one view, there is Gehinnom (purgatory), in which most souls spend 11 months or less. But especially bad people can be stuck there for eternity.)
Ray Jarman says
Excellent opine Koshsshadow. I have said and continue to say that Carter belongs in the 9th Ring of Dante’s Inferno for treachery where he and Lucifer can talk about old times.
Westman says
Former Pres Carter lives in a reality supported by wealth. He done great service for the under-privileged which cannot be denied. However, his weak response the “revolutionary” regime in 1979, when it would have made a difference, has led to much of today’s problems for Israel, Europe, and the US.
Hizballah, Hamas, Fatah, and a dozen other groups are like the flowing arms of a volcano. They will never stop unless the core of the volcano, Iran, the source of terrorist wealth, is plugged, bankrupted, and defanged.
Iran uses these terrorist “mafia” thugs to weaken Israel and as its buffer and remote security. It’s time to whittle down the Iranian mullahs and the IRGC to a level that will allow the citizens to regain control and shut off the financial blood to terrorist groups. If that requires destruction of Iran’s oil fields and terminals then it should be done. There is a cost to all of us for anything that weakens evil.
The mafia “Don” in the room is Iran’s murderous leadership that lets its capos rape and kill women and fill cemeteries with the hanged. It is remarkable that the great Persian society would allow an Arab militant religion to justify a most vicious evil regime as the persecutor of its own citizens.
Westman says
Somehow a pieces are missing, above.
“He done”, should be, “He’s done”
“his weak response the” should be, “his weak response to the”
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Can’t he have his “Habitat for Humanity” work in California, where you have a record number of people in history living in tents, under bridges and so on? That should keep him busier than weighing in on the Middle East, where his counsel is not wanted!
tgusa says
I look at that picture and I wonder if Carter is throwing his hat in the ring to run for this years democrat presidential nomination.
Hoi Polloi says
Ha. The press will find job security in PR work to spread the delusion that they’re both fit and at the top of their game.
gravenimage says
🙂
somehistory says
It appears as if he is already in a casket, just waiting for a final breath. And the bars are his prison.
What a waste of human life. an arrogant and greedy troublemaker who believed himself to be smarter than the average human, but of less intelligence than a rabbit.
tgusa says
“It appears as if he is already in a casket, just waiting for a final breath.”
That doesn’t disqualify him from trying for the democrat presidential nomination. It is not like they have anyone better.
WPM says
Either way if he lives he votes for Harris if he dies before or after the election he votes for Harris. The democrats’ have always had the dead voting block solidly voting for them going back to the Chicago days of Kennedy Vs Nixon. Carter has lived long enough to see a President in office that makes his dismal years there 1976-1980 ,with crime raising at record rates inflation thru the roof ,unrest in the Middle East social unrest at home ,raising unemployment rates ,record energy prices , Biden has given America an even worse President then Carter ,Biden’s “gift” of vice President Harris to replace him is non -returnable Pox on America if she is selected in the selection “election” of 2024 with no voter ID ,mail in wink wink “votes” possible “new comers” voting their interest in blue cities that get voter ID forms with their drivers license .Yes newcomers can get drivers licenses in many blue cities ..
Hoi Polloi says
More Weekend At Bernie’s PR work for US Pravda.
B me;o; says
It is unfortunate the media give a platform for deranged souls unwilling to accept their days are past, to express vile thoughts that their sick minds Harbor. Sick old pretense of a human being struggling for attention
Michael Skok says
Jimmy Carter is a piece of garbage. He told our ally the Shah of Iran to leave Iran and let the Muslims (the Ayatollahs) take over. Iran has been our enemy ever since.
tgusa says
Many younger people know nothing about the Jimmy Carter (aka General Malaise) years. One thing I remember most is Carters Gas Lines, Energy Crisis. Odd or even last number on your license plate determined what days you could fill up. I hung with many a friend waiting in line to get gas. I’m not talking about a short wait, sometimes hours depending. That never affected me much at all because I drove a motorcycle.
Gosh, I am writing about the carter years but in a way I feel like I’m writing about these years now. Democrats never change.
Hank says
It’s not only Mr. Carter but the Europeans (+ Aussies, Canadians) that were/are toying with Islamists. France actually gave the Islamist Mr. Khomeini refuge. Germany has many Islamists living in refuge there. The “awakened” Islamist Mohmmed.Atta who led the 911 attack was studying there. Non-Islamic countries are still fooling around and acommodating the illegal Islamic invasion. They should be actively repelling it by now
gravenimage says
Jimmy Carter’s Misreading of UN Resolution 242, and Its Implications for Israel
…………………………………
Good piece from Hugh Fitzgerald, Carter was one of the most antisemtic of US presidents. Appalling stuff.
tgusa says
The alphabet news at the time, ABC 123, long before cable TV, the Internet, Cell Phones, etc. The usual suspects, you know who they are, portrayed the Iranian revolution as a peoples revolution for Freedom!
Hank says
I think the people then as now don’t have a clue about the nature of Islam. The political elites keep importing instead of deporting it. And the clueless sheeple keep voting for them. The whole north Africa, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iran and so on (former Christian lands) are a result of Islamist activity since the 7th century. A result of Muslims trickling into their countries with their Quran cult book in hand. Today you have the rise of the woke crowd and Leftists inviting and actively importing the Islamic Trojan Horse.
NoTaqiyya says
The duplicity and mendacity of the Left aka the Democratic party is unbelievable.
Westerner’s ignorance of the true nature of “the religion of peace” is fit to be put on Replay’s Believe it or Not.
The present US administration has given almost a billion to the “Palestinians” since 7/10. (!!!)
brenrod says
They didn’t trickle in then, they took those lands through war and terror. Today they trickle in and take through legal means and internal terror.
Tom Franczak says
Yeah, but (Andy) “Young Praises Islam as ‘Vibrant’ And Calls the Ayatollah ‘a Saint’” — NY Times, Feb. 8, 1979
Carter’s UN Ambassaador
Scotsman48 says
Aug 4th 2024 and Jimmy Caret has just claimed he hopes to stay alive until November so he can vote for Kackling Kamala to be the next President of the Untied States of America.
Enough said about this silly old moron.
His Habitat for Humanity was a great idea but didn’t help Americans but sure helped people around the World but then I forgot when a President says he will put Americans first and the rest of the World can get in line he is called a racist whereas I would think that’s his actual job.
Trump 2024.
Veronica says
Jimmy Carter was a scourge on 5he United States of America. I still remember the danged gas lines and the fall of the shah and the Iranian hostages.
Rooster says
You can’t blame Jimmy Carters’ grandson for taking up for his grandfather; however, once J.. Carter’s grandson educates himself on his grandfather’s record he will be disappointed. At one time, Jimmy Carter held the worst president trophy, but since then, there have been nothing but worse presidents. Not one president since Carter served with integrity or the welfare of We the People. It’s sad when you hear these bigots (presidents) professing Christ but serving Satan. Hell will be full of politicians and churchgoers.
Rooster says
You can’t blame Jimmy Carters’ grandson for taking up for his grandfather; however, once J.. Carter’s grandson educates himself on his grandfather’s record he will be disappointed. At one time, Jimmy Carter held the worst president trophy, but since then, there have been nothing but worse presidents. Not one president since Carter served with integrity or the welfare of We the People. It’s sad when you hear these bigots (presidents) professing Christ but serving Satan. Hell will be full of politicians and churchgoers.
brenrod says
His damage to the world still endures and appears permanent.
Carter was the crooked low life POS who deposed the shah and created the mullah jihad terrorist state of Iran and the decades of war and terror to this day and the policy of appeasing jihad. May the scum rot in hell
Gourdhead says
I have a different bone to pick with this ahole. His first week in office he gave away the Panama Canal and Okinawa. Okinawa was the bloodiest of the Island hopping skirmishes in the Pacific in WWII. I spent over a year on Okinawa less than twenty years after WWII and can say without doubt the people (at least at that time) did not want to return to Japanese rule. They had it made in the shade. They were living their lives without fear or taxation. Business flourished.