groups may
criminalize his "work to promote peace and freedom."
---
this should also worry the jews in the US who support those who are
invading our borders
On Jun 22, 10:16 pm, Travis <baconl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/68167
>
> *Jimmy Carter Worries Court Ruling May Affect His Interaction With Terror
> Groups*
> *Tuesday, June 22, 2010*
> By Patrick Goodenough, International Editor
>
> *(CNSNews.com)* – Former President Jimmy Carter has voiced concern that
> Monday's Supreme Court ruling on "material support" to terrorist groups may
> criminalize his "work to promote peace and freedom."
>
> Carter, whose advocacy has entailed contact with groups designated by the
> U.S. government as "foreign terrorist organizations" (FTOs) – notably Hamas
> and Hezbollah – said he was disappointed by the court decision.
>
> The high court, in a 6-3 decision,
> *upheld*<http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/68126>a federal law that
> forbids providing "material support" to an FTO, ruling
> that it can be applied to U.S. organizations whose engagement with
> terrorists involves promoting non-violent solutions to conflicts.
>
> The law, part of the post-9/11 USA Patriot Act, forbids the provision of any
> aid, defined as including "service," "training" or "expert advice or
> assistance," to a designated FTO.
>
> Although the free speech challenge derived from organizations wanting to
> work with terrorist groups in and around Turkey and in Sri Lanka – the
> Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Tamil Tigers (LTTE) – the ramifications
> may be most evident in 2010 in the Middle East, amid growing calls for
> Western governments to recognize and engage with groups like Hamas and
> Hezbollah.
>
> Arguing that there can be no peace in the region without those groups'
> participation, Carter has reached out to Hamas and Hezbollah, rejecting
> criticism that doing so could be viewed as legitimizing their violent
> activities. Since the 1980s both groups have killed hundreds of people in
> suicide bombings and other terror attacks, most of them Israelis and
> Americans.
>
> The administration's argument, presented by Solicitor General Elena Kagan
> (now a Supreme Court nominee) earlier this year, was in part that the intent
> of Congress was to block all assistance to terrorists, recognizing that any
> form of support – even imparting peaceful skills – might benefit and
> strengthen the organization.
>
> Six of the justices concurred.
>
> "At bottom, plaintiffs simply disagree with the considered judgment of
> Congress and the Executive that providing material support to a designated
> foreign terrorist organization – even seemingly benign support – bolsters
> the terrorist activities of that organization," Chief Justice John Roberts
> wrote for the majority.
>
> In a statement reacting to the decision, Carter said, "We are disappointed
> that the Supreme Court has upheld a law that inhibits the work of human
> rights and conflict resolution groups."
>
> "The 'material support law' – which is aimed at putting an end to terrorism
> – actually threatens our work and the work of many other peacemaking
> organizations that must interact directly with groups that have engaged in
> violence," he said.
>
> "The vague language of the law leaves us wondering if we will be prosecuted
> for our work to promote peace and freedom."
>
> *'Intent is to further peace, not terrorism'*
>
> Carter's statement was released through the American Civil Liberties Union,
> which earlier filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Carter
> Center and other organizations involved in human rights and peace-promotion
> advocacy.
>
> The brief outlined some of the areas where the Carter Center was concerned
> its work could be affected.
>
> "In the course of resolving or preventing conflicts, Carter Center staff
> will meet
> with violent actors – some of whom may be or may in the future be designated
> as FTOs – to persuade them to cease violent activity and discuss specific
> paths to peace," it said.
>
> Meetings with such groups may include discussions about "peace-facilitating
> strategies" or advice on their "obligations under international law."
>
> Some of the groups the center had been engaged with in this capacity
> included FTOs Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as other group not currently
> designated as such – the PLO, Fatah, the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda,
> Maoists in Nepal and Sudanese rebels.
>
> "The intent, of course, is to further peace, not terrorism," the brief said.
>
> During elections in Lebanon and the Palestinian self-ruled territories,
> Carter Center observers occasionally came in contact with "members of
> Hezbollah's or Hamas' political wing."
>
> It said the center's advocacy and advising activity aims to ensure fair
> elections, but it was not clear whether it could be construed as prohibited
> "expert advice."
>
> "Similarly, the Carter Center, in its advocacy efforts to achieve peace
> between
> Palestinians and Israelis, publicly calls for inclusion of Hamas in peace
> talks because Hamas represents a sizeable portion of the population and the
> Carter Center believes that true peace is not achievable without their
> active participation," the brief said.
>
> "The Carter Center's advocacy in this regard is intended to ensure an
> effective peace process and is wholly independent of Hamas. Nonetheless, it
> is unclear whether even this type of advocacy could be viewed as a
> prohibited service because it could be construed as action taken 'for the
> benefit of' Hamas as Hamas would presumably derive some benefit from
> inclusion in the peace process."
>
> *'Not meeting with Hamas makes peace harder to achieve'*
>
> Hamas has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, rocket assaults
> and other attacks since the interim Oslo peace accords were signed in 1993.
> It has also been responsible for the deaths of American citizens, including
> victims in bombings in Jerusalem in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2003.
>
> Carter controversially met with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Damascus in
> April 2008, despite being advised by the State Department beforehand not to
> do so.
>
> "U.S. government policy is that Hamas is a terrorist organization and we
> don't believe it is in the interest of our policy or in the interest of
> peace to have such a meeting," department spokesman Sean McCormack said at
> the time.
>
> Together with its partners in the Mideast Quartet, Washington's policy on
> dealing with Hamas is that it will only do so if the group abandons
> terrorism, recognizes Israel and abides by previous Israeli-Palestinian
> agreements.
>
> "You know, I'm all in favor of dialogue, but dialogue has to have a purpose
> and it has to be within principles that the international community
> accepts," the Bush administration's assistant secretary of state for Near
> Eastern affairs, David Welch, said in an interview after the Carter-Meshaal
> meeting.
>
> "Regrettably, every attempt to kind of stray from that has produced little
> as a result," he added.
>
> In a report on his trip, Carter defended his position: "We knew that some
> of our meetings – particularly with Hamas and the Syrian government – would
> be viewed negatively in some quarters," he wrote. "The problem is not that
> we met them, but that the U.S. and Israeli governments refuse to meet with
> them, making peace harder if not impossible to achieve."
>
> In December of 2008, Carter
> *again*<http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/40809>met with Meshaal in
> the Syrian capital, at a time when Hamas' ceasefire – an
> Egyptian-brokered agreement to stop firing rockets from Gaza into Israel –
> was crumbling. Days later it ended altogether, and Israel launched a major
> offensive against Hamas.
>
> During that December 2008 visit to the region, Carter also went to Lebanon
> to lay the groundwork for a Carter Center mission to observe the country's
> elections scheduled for the following spring. He had hoped to meet with
> Hezbollah leaders but the Shi'ite group declined.
>
> When he returned to Lebanon during the June 2009 election, Carter did meet
> with a senior Shi'ite cleric long associated with Hezbollah, Ayatollah
> Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah.
>
> Hezbollah has been linked to numerous terrorist attacks, some as far afield
> as Europe and Latin America. The U.S. government holds it responsible for a
> series of 1983 suicide bombings in Beirut, including blasts at the U.S.
> Embassy and U.S. Marine barracks that killed more than 300 people, most of
> them Americans.
>
> "Prior to September 11, 2001, [Hezbollah] was responsible for more American
> deaths than any other terrorist group," the State Department says in annual
> report on international terrorism
--
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