Jimmy Carter apologizes to Jewish community

2009-12-24 15:22:57 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - News, US Presidential News)

Former president Jimmy Carter recently released an open letter of apology to the Jewish community.

The former U.S. President released an open letter offering an apology for previous remarks.

Atlanta (WiredPRNews.com) – Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter recently released an open letter to the Jewish community, apologizing for possible offenses to his previous words or actions. As reported by the Associated Press (AP), Carter, who upset many Jews with a South African apartheid comparison to Israeli treatment of Arabs in a book released while he was in office, spoke of his hopes for respect and cooperation between Israel and its neighbors in the letter initially released to JTA.

Carter is quoted by the AP as stating in the letter, “We must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel… 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.”

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League who criticized Carter’s previously stated notions about Israel, is quoted in the report as stating of welcoming Carter’s apology, “When a former president reaches out to the Jewish community and asks for forgiveness, it’s incumbent of us to accept it… To what extent this is an epiphany, only time will tell. There certainly was a lot of hurt, a lot of angry words that need to be repaired. But this is a good start.”

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