What Do Jimmy Carter and Morgan Wheeldon Have in Common?
They both believe that Israel is on the wrong side of history when it comes to the treatment of Palestinians.
In a recent interview with Truthout (sponsor them here), Jimmy Carter insinuated that Israel has instituted a permanent state of apartheid against the Palestinians. Only, he wouldn’t call it ‘apartheid’.
The reason Carter won’t directly say Israel is using apartheid is that it is
an actionable crime under the Rome Statute, ratified in 2002, that created the International Criminal Court. To the extent that the judges there are affected by public opinion and international norms, the public stance of someone of Jimmy Carter’s stature is potentially important if Palestine brings an action against Tel Aviv on this basis.
The accusation – sorry, insinuation – has hurt Jimmy Carter. Members of his foundation board resigned in a very noisy manner and he’s now being rejected for speaking engagements.
And the point … Morgan Wheeldon, now formally of the NDP, removed himself as a candidate because of the accusation that he said Israel was engaged in ethnic cleansing of the region. Carter said this too, reminding us that a one-state solution (as prescribed by Israel and endorsed by the Stephen Harper Conservatives) would require annexation of Palestine and retention of a “Jewish-majority vision of Israel by keeping the Palestinians stateless and excluded from the vote. So Carter wouldn’t use the word (lest that become the only headline), but he accepted the argument for the use of the word. Surely that amounts to the same thing.”
That is, apartheid.
Based on the NDP removal of Morgan Wheeldon as a candidate, I now look to the Green Party of Canada as the only voice of reason in this discussion:
- Endorse the recognition of a Palestinian right to statehood within the internationally recognized borders as described in United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, and support a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict that adheres to pre-1967 borders and incorporates an international plan for stimulating economic prosperity in both nations;
- Call on both sides to immediately stop the killing of civilians and adhere to international law;
- Protect as inviolable the right of the State of Israel to exist, in the absence of fear and conflict;
- Call on Arab countries to use their influence to broker an agreement between Hamas and the Palestinian National Authority to facilitate the promotion of peace amongst the competing Palestinian interests;
- Call for an end to the collective siege of Gaza so that medical and humanitarian aid can be provided;
- Call on Israel to stop expansion and the building of illegal settlements beyond the 1967 borders;
- Actively support the efforts of civil society groups working for peace, human rights, and justice in the region.
- Encourage the Canadian government to press for a mutually agreed-upon honest broker to engage in bi-literal and multi-lateral peace talks involving Palestinians and Israelis