By J
ustine Hemmestad
Late October 2024, 388 days after Hamas attacked Israel, Congressman Zach Nunn reiterated the strength of the American-Israeli partnership when Yinam Cohen, Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, visited Des Moines to build support for Israel. Nunn expressed Iowa’s unwavering support at the Iowans Support Israel dinner, saying that Israel has a right to defend herself against acts of terrorism and that he’s led the charge to stand up and fight for Israel by: 1) Holding Iran accountable by leading a bipartisan bill to freeze Iranian assets that would be used by Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Houthis to finance acts of terrorism 2) Supporting the people of Israel by backing full funding for defense mechanisms, like the Iron Dome and David’s Sling Standing in solidarity with Israel by showing full support following the unprovoked and horrific attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023 3) Keeping Iowans safe by ensuring the safe turn of those trapped in Israel even when the State Department wouldn’t do what was needed to bring home our fellow Americans 4) Strengthening the U.S.-Israel strategic partnership by passing legislation to coordinate defense technology production and implementation.
The bottom line, he said: “The U.S. must continue to be unwavering in our commitment to Israel and stand righteously against the Iranian regime of terror. We cannot abandon our strongest ally in the Middle East.”
Governor Kim Reynolds additionally says on facebook, “Iowa continues to pledge our support of Israel’s and our local Jewish community.”
In Israel, my friend the Nameless Ones tells the Leader of the present situation, “I actually think there are more difficult times ahead of us…there are probably the most dangerous times in both Israel and on other fronts. Everyone in the region is trying to play their cards in the best possible way and many errors in calculation can happen.”
After President Jimmy Carter died on Sunday, the Nameless One shared what Jonathan Feldstein, president of the Genesis 123 Foundation, wrote regarding Carter’s legacy in Israel (teaching that every action has repercussions in history): “...despite some achievements including helping to broker the Camp David peace agreement with Israel and Egypt,” Feldstein said, “Carter’s abysmal policies vis a vis Iran left the US ally Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi overthrown by Islamists, himself dying in exile, paving the way for the Islamic Republic regime to take over Iran which it has hijacked for the past 46 years. The Iranian hostage crisis was an example of Carter’s weakness and underscored by the fact that the hostages were released the day Carter was out of office. His ineptitude was on full display then and paved the way for the Iranian Islamic regime to become the world’s largest state sponsor of terror. These are not mere words. Millions of Israelis and Iranians as well as Jews and others are still suffering as a result. Carter’s antisemitism was not only unrepentant but arrogant as if only he knew the truth, but his truth was a cocktail of distortions and fantasy, looking at the Middle East through a prism of how he thought things should be rather than how they were. His book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid deliberately kept his legitimization of terrorism against Israel despite being called out as such, no apology, no correction, no recall: just a playbook about why killing Jews was OK. Carter wrote, ‘It is imperative that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the ‘Roadmap’ for peace are accepted by Israel.’ Basically: as long as Israel doesn’t do what Carter thinks it should do, terrorism against Israel will continue, and is legitimate. Carter doubled down on his anti Israel rhetoric and hate as a leading member of ‘The Elders,’ a group of failed world leaders who colluded in multiple ways to continue his anti Israel diatribe. In 2009 Carter visited my neighborhood, Gush Etzion, where he surprised many by stating that in an eventual two state solution (creating a Palestinian Arab state in Judea and Samaria - the ‘West Bank’ and Gaza), he did not envision that Israel would have to return places like this. Maybe he misspoke or was just making friendly chit chat, but the praise he received then for looking at the reality and not stringent black and white policies in which Israel was always to blame was short lived and not repeated. He must have realized that legitimizing Israeli 'settlements' in any way complicated his notion that it was still OK for Palestinian Arab terrorists to kill us. Carter repeatedly blamed the Jews both for voting for Ted Kennedy in an unprecedented primary campaign against a sitting president, and then losing to Ronald Reagan. To him the Jews were disloyal if not all powerful. Unencumbered by living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Carter simply allowed his antisemitic tendencies to take prime time in his presidency in exile. As a student at Emory where his failed presidency found a home, I had several interactions with Carter. Yes he was charming and his soft spoken demeanor lent one to think he was a good guy.
"One day in the late 1980s he was making public remarks following another trip throughout the Middle East where he had no problem cozying up to the original Assad dictatorship and other terror leaders. His public comments throughout the trip were a dizzying litany of anti Israel comments, throughout the Arab capitals where he was feted, and when he was in Israel. Basically he blamed Israel for everything wrong and the lack of peace in the Middle East. During the question and answer period there was time for one question and my hand shot up. It had been the week of the anniversary of the Camp David accords, and I thanked him for helping to make that possible. Then I asked him if, as a representative of Emory University, was it not academically disingenuous to travel the world and blame Israel for lack of peace while not holding the Arabs at least equally accountable. He began a tirade about how I was wrong and Israel is to blame. I never had a former president get angry at me and ‘rip me a new one.’ It felt good not because I upset him, but because I called him out in public for his dishonesty and he had no good answer other than perpetuating his biased hate which was on full display.
“Carter has been in hospice care for a very long time and his death was inevitable. I ask myself why God gives people like this who have such evil in their hearts so many extra years. My only explanation, or rationalization, is maybe God was giving him a chance to repent and Jimmy Carter needed that many more years to do so. I’m not convinced that he did repent and while it would be appropriate to throw the baby out with the bathwater saying he never did anything good, and that would be dishonest, he was a failed one term president, and he did unambiguously call for and justify, the terrorist murder of my people that disqualifies him from Sainthood or many of the other honors and memories that others will share in the days to come.
“At least in remembering his life, let us remember that he at least indirectly caused tremendous pain and suffering, and death for which building houses for poor people is no redeeming compensation.”
Amazing how one single action can change the entire course of history, and yet these roots aren’t often recognized. How different the Middle East, and the World, would be today if the Islamic Republic regime hadn’t taken over Iran. There would certainly be no Hamas - these are the actual roots of terror, as well as a lack of understanding.
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