infopalMISSIONE PRIVATA CRITICHE DAL DIPARTIMENTO DI STATO USA: «PARLERÀ CON CHI OSTACOLA LA PACE»
Gelo in Israele per la visita di Carter. Niente incontri con Olmert e
la Livni
L’ex presidente difende la scelta di vedere il leader di Hamas a Damasco
Dal Corriere della Sera
Dal nostro corrispondente
NEW YORK – Non avrebbe potuto essere più
glaciale l’accoglienza riservata da Israele all’ex presidente
americano Jimmy Carter, da ieri a Gerusalemme per una missione
privata nella regione che prevede, tra l’altro, un incontro a
Damasco con il leader di Hamas, Khaled Meshaal. Il primo contatto in
oltre due anni tra un politico Usa d’ alto profilo e Hamas. Soltanto
il presidente Shimon Peres ha accettato di incontrare l’ 83enne
Premio Nobel. Ma si sarebbe trattato di un meeting poco cordiale,
durante il quale Peres avrebbe redarguito l’ artefice degli storici
accordi di Camp David tra Israele ed Egitto (nel 1978), ricordandogli
che la sua attività politica degli ultimi anni «ha arrecato danno al
processo di pace». Forse per questo motivo nessun membro del governo
israeliano gli ha dato udienza. Carter è stato snobbato dal premier
di centrodestra Ehud Olmert, dal ministro degli Esteri Tzipi Livni,
da quello della Difesa Ehud Barak e anche dal leader dell’
opposizione di destra Benyamin Netanyahu. A nulla è valsa la sua
tanto reclamizzata visita a Sderot, (la città vittima delle
quotidiane gragnole di razzi da Gaza) e l’ incontro con il padre del
soldato israeliano catturato nel giugno 2006 da Hamas, Gilad Shalit.
In Israele non si è ancora sopito il clamore per Palestine: Peace,
not Apartheid, il controverso saggio del 2006 in cui Carter accusa lo
Stato ebraico di praticare coi palestinesi una politica razzista
simile a quella attuata dal Sudafrica nei confronti dei neri durante
l’ Apartheid. Ma proprio come allora, anche oggi Carter difende a
spada tratta le sue scelte. «È molto importante che ci sia qualcuno
disposto a incontrare i leader di Hamas e ad ascoltare il loro punto
di vista», ha spiegato in una intervista alla Abc, dove ha ribadito
che intende «verificare la flessibilità di Hamas, per tentare di
convincerlo a cessare gli attacchi contro civili innocenti in Israele
e a cooperare con Al Fatah per unire i palestinesi». «Non ho dubbi
sul fatto che se Israele vuole trovare la pace con giustizia nei suoi
rapporti con i palestinesi – ha aggiunto Carter – debba veder incluso
Hamas nel processo di pace». Una tesi che lo vede completamente
isolato in America, dove considerare Hamas un’ organizzazione
terrorista è un precetto bipartisan che unisce Casa Bianca e Partito
Democratico. Il segretario di Stato americano Condoleezza Rice ha
criticato l’ iniziativa di Carter, dopo che il Dipartimento di Stato
statunitense aveva insistito invano perché rinunciasse al viaggio.
«Trovo difficile capire cosa possiamo guadagnare nel parlare di pace
con Hamas – ha detto la Rice -, quando Hamas è, di fatto, l’ ostacolo
stesso alla pace». * * * Ex presidente Usa Negoziatore in Medio
Oriente Le intese e le polemiche Presidente e Nobel Jimmy Carter, 83
anni e ancora esponente di spicco dei democratici statunitensi, è
stato presidente a Washington dal 1977 al 1981. Nel 2002, per il suo
impegno da mediatore ha ricevuto il Nobel per la Pace Camp David In
politica internazionale uno dei maggiori successi attribuiti all’
amministrazione Carter è il negoziato tra israeliani ed egiziani che
ha portato nel 1978 alla firma degli accordi di pace di Camp David
(nella foto il presidente Usa, tra Sadat, a sinistra, e Begin, a
destra) La seconda intifada Carter ha continuato a seguire le vicende
mediorientali, anche dopo la seconda intifada (2000). A dicembre 2005
ha guidato gli osservatori Usa alle presidenziali palestinesi. Nel
2006 il suo libro «Palestine, peace not apartheid» ha suscitato molte
polemiche: Carter critica Israele che «continua a controllare e
colonizzare il territorio palestinese» e rappresenta «il principale
ostacolo a un accordo di pace finale»
Farkas Alessandra
———–
(http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2008/aprile/14/
Gelo_Israele_per_visita_Carter_co_9_080414125.shtml)
***********
Da: peter.myers
Data: 16 aprile 2008 8:38:07 GMT+02:00
Carter lays wreath for Arafat; Israel denies him entry to Gaza
{so much for American dominance as touted by Chomsky}
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:45:02 -0700 (PDT) {From field lost}
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/993AA6E7-9BDD-4489–
AB6B-22D3ABE9A345.htm
Carter lays wreath for Arafat
Jimmy Carter, the former US president, has laid a wreath at the grave
of Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader, further defying
Israeli leaders already critical of his plans to meet Hamas.
Carter was refused permission to enter the Hamas-controlled Gaza
Strip on Tuesday, but met a leading Hamas figure in the West Bank.
A member of Carter’s delegation in the West Bank city of Ramallah
said that Israel had rejected Carter’s request to visit the Strip.
"I haven’t been able to get permission to go into Gaza … I asked
for permission, but I was turned down," Carter said.
"But maybe we can find a way to circumvent that. I don’t know yet."
All of the border crossings between Israel and Gaza are controlled by
Israel and Egyptian forces are stationed at Gaza’s southern border,
which is largely closed.
Israel angered
The Israeli government has been critical of Carter’s visit, mainly
over his plans to meet Khaled Meshaal, Hamas’s top leader, in Syria.
Carter said he would use his meeting with Meshaal to "get him to
agree to a peaceful resolution of differences, both with the
Israelis … and also with Fatah".
"Since Syria and Hamas will have to be involved in the final peace
agreement, they ought to be involved in the discussions leading up
to … peace," he said.
Despite heavy Israeli criticism since his arrival on Sunday, Carter
met Naser al-Shaer, who served as deputy prime minister in the Hamas-
led government, formed after it won parliamentary elections in 2006.
Later he placed a wreath at Arafat’s mausoleum.
While many foreign dignitaries have done this in the past, George
Bush, the US president, pointedly did not do so during his recent
visit to Ramallah.
The Bush administration had shunned Arafat, accusing him of fomenting
violence, an allegation he had denied.
Carter, who brokered Israel’s first peace treaty with an Arab
neighbour – Egypt – signed in 1979, has said he hoped to become a
conduit between the armed Palestinian movement, Washington and Israel.
While he met Shimon Peres, Israel’s president, in Israel on Sunday,
he was shunned by Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, and other
policymakers.
Changed:10:35 PM on Thursday, April 10, 2008
°°°°°°°°°°
Carter, defying Israel, meets Hamas former deputy prime minister
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:03:47 -0700 (PDT)
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-330
56920080415
Carter, defying Israel, meets Hamas ex-minister
Tuesday 15 April 2008
By Mohammed Assadi
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter
met an ex-minister in Hamas’ government on Tuesday, defying Israeli
leaders who shunned the Nobel Peace Prize laureate over his contacts
with the Islamist group.
Naser al-Shaer, who served as deputy prime minister in the Hamas-led
government that the United States and other Western powers boycotted,
was greeted by Carter with a hug and kisses to both cheeks, a member
of Carter’s delegation said.
"Mr. Carter wanted to listen to the positions of different
Palestinian figures. The meeting was very good and he promised to
continue such meetings," said Shaer, who was among several
Palestinian political figures to meet with the former president.
Carter has angered the Israeli government over plans to meet Hamas’
top leader, Khaled Meshaal, in Syria, and for describing Israeli
policy in the occupied Palestinian territories as "a system of
apartheid" in a 2006 book.
Carter, who brokered Israel’s first peace treaty with an Arab
neighbour, Egypt, signed in 1979, met Israel’s ceremonial president
Shimon Peres on Sunday but was shunned by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
and other policymakers.
Shaer told Reuters he met one-on-one with Carter and they discussed
efforts to broker an unofficial truce between Israel and Palestinian
militants in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas seized the coastal territory by force in June after routing
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ more secular Fatah faction.
Abbas then sacked a Hamas-led unity government and appointed a
Western-backed administration in the West Bank. Abbas’s authority has
been limited to the occupied West Bank.
Shaer said Carter told him he wanted to play a role in trying to end
the enmity between Hamas and Fatah.
GAZA DENIED
Carter told reporters earlier he had wanted to visit Gaza, but his
request was rejected. Carter did not say who turned down his request,
but a member of his delegation said it was Israel.
"I haven’t been able to get permission to go into Gaza. I would like
to. I asked for permission. But I was turned down. But maybe we can
find a way to circumvent that," Carter said.
All of the border crossings between Israel and Gaza are controlled by
the Jewish state. Egyptian forces are stationed at Gaza’s southern
border, which is largely closed.
Carter said he would use his meeting with Meshaal to "get him to
agree to a peaceful resolution of differences, both with the
Israelis … and also with Fatah".
"Since Syria and Hamas will have to be involved in the final peace
agreement, they ought to be involved in the discussions leading up
to … peace," Carter said.
Carter, who stressed he was not acting as a negotiator or a mediator,
said he hoped "just as a communicator" to relay to "leaders of the
United States" what Hamas and Syria have to say.
Israel and Washington have sought to isolate Hamas and bolster Abbas,
who launched U.S.-backed peace talks with Olmert.
Like Israel, the Bush administration opposes Carter’s meeting with
Meshaal, whose Islamist group won Palestinian parliamentary elections
in 2006 but was boycotted by the West for refusing to renounce
violence and recognise Israel.
During his visit to Ramallah, Carter placed a wreath at the mausoleum
of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
U.S. President George W. Bush pointedly chose not to do so during his
recent visit. The Bush administration shunned Arafat, who died in
2004, accusing him of fomenting violence.