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Carter: I had to hold back tears on destruction in Gaza

Jimmy Carter, Former US President, said today that he had to hold back tears when he saw destruction in Gaza Strip. On a visit to Gaza, Carter said that Palestinians in the Strip are being "treated more like animals than human beings".

Carter condemned Israel's January bombardment of Gaza and its continuing trade blockade, which he said forbids even children's toys and food.

"I understand that even paper and crayons are treated as a security hazard," he told Gazans at a local United Nations office. "I sought an explanation of this when I met with Israeli officials and I received none, because there is no explanation."

"This is holy land for us all and my hope is that we can have peace ... all of us are children of Abraham," the former US president said during a joint news conference with Ismail Haniya, the deposed Hamas Palestinian prime minister, in Gaza City.

Following a tour of the area to see the effects of Israel's offensive, Carter said: "My primary feeling today is one of grief and despair and an element of anger when I see the destruction perpetrated against innocent people in January.

The former president said two states were the only viable solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that he would be reporting his findings from his trip to Gaza and the Middle East back to Barack Obama, the US president.

He said he supported the proposition made by Obama in his speech in Cairo earlier this month, with regard to how to achieve peace in the Middle East.

Carter said: "He [Obama] mentioned several things about the prospective road to peace. First of all, all settlement expansion should be stopped immediately. Secondly, that Jerusalem should be shared. Third, that there should be a two-state solution ... each occupying their own territory. Fourth that these two nations should live in peace."

Carter met with Hamas' exiled leadership in Syria on Thursday and said they wanted "peace and they want to have reconciliation, not only with Fatah brothers but also eventually with the Israelis".

Carter, 84, has spent far more years as a human rights activist than he did in the White House from 1977 to 1981. He is easily the most outspoken former U.S. president on the Middle East conflict, and seen by many Israelis as a harsh critic.

He ignored a U.S. government ban on dealings with Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas and had talks with its leaders.

Israel tightened a blockade on Gaza in 2007 when Hamas took control after routing rival Fatah forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, who favours a peace deal with Israel. In late December, Israeli forces bombed then invaded Gaza, devastating its already battered infrastructure.

Since then, Israel has blocked imports of steel, cement and other goods to the population of 1.5 million Palestinians, saying Hamas could use many items for military purposes.

Carter, a Democrat, said he had seen for himself there had been almost no reconstruction in Gaza over the past five months.

"Never before in history has a large community like this been savaged by bombs and missiles and then been deprived of the means to repair itself," he said.

Israel launched its 22-day offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers and the Gazan people on 27 December.

The operation killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, including more than 900 civilians, amongst them scores of children, according to Palestinian officials and human rights groups.

It also destroyed thousands of homes and heavily damaged Gaza's infrastructure.

Thirteen Israelis were also killed during the fighting.

Rebuilding Gaza is being hampered by Israel's blockade of Gaza.

Since 2007, Israel and Egypt, which control Gaza's only border crossing that bypasses Israel, have kept the territory of 1.5 million aid-dependent people sealed to all but essential humanitarian supplies. (Reuters, AFP, CNN)

Global Arab Network

Part 1 - Riz Khan - Jimmy Carter - 28 Jan 09 - Aljazeera TV

Part 2 - Riz Khan - Jimmy Carter - 28 Jan 09 - Aljazeera TV

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