Former President Jimmy Carter has issued a blanket apology to all Jewish people the world over for any words or deeds that may have upset them. He said he was offering an Al Het, a prayer said on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement to signifiy his sincere plea for forgiveness.
"We must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel," Carter said in the letter, which was first sent to JTA, a wire service for Jewish newspapers, and provided Wednesday to The Associated Press. "As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so."
President Carter brokered the first Israeli-Arab peace treaty during his presidency. This was hailed as a major accomplishment in Middle East relations. He outraged many Jews with his 2006 book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." Many supporters of Israel are against the idea of a Palastinian state and some critics claim he unfairly compared Israeli treatment of Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza to the legalized racial oppression that once existed in South Africa.
No comments:
Post a Comment