President Carter spoke at the University of California, Irvine, today

[ProgressiveFool]

I wasn't able to take any notes, but I can share some impressions, at least.

The topic of his visit was Middle East Peace, Israel and Palestine. He spoke for 20 to 30 minutes, giving a background of how the situation came to be where it is. The main point he had to make was that his big realization, when it was his turn to address the situation, was that he, and by extension the United States, needed to be perceived by both the Israelis and the Palestinians as an honest broker. A couple of times he stressed that the six preceding presidents, Democratic or Republican, that had dealt with the issue since the formation of Israel, had all taken a balanced approach to the situation, never siding exclusively with one side over the other, but rather listening to the merits of every argument. He didn't come right out and say it, but he implied that the balance existed even up into the elder Bush's term, with GHW Bush willing to take a stand by saying that US aid to Israel would be cut off if certain Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories were not abandoned.

He seemed to despair a bit, though, at the current US political climate in regards to Middle East Peace, which is generally completely apathetic, and that when we do get involved at all, it is exclusively on the side of Israel. He commented that there is no debate in this country whatsoever about the Israel/Palestine situation, even though this debate exists elsewhere in the world like Europe, the Middle East, and even in Israel/Palestine itself. He challenged the students to in turn challenge the current crop of White House hopefuls to address the issue, up to and including taking a vow that they would devote their energies towards making America be again the honest broker of Middle East Peace that is needed.

I have to say it was inspiring to see President Carter, and he looked well and healthy. But there seemed to be an attitude of helplessness about what he had to say oftentimes, as if he were almost just going through the motions and not expecting anyone to do anything with it. He seems to feel that deep down, our system is very broken, and commented that he was himself able to speak the truth and acknowledge inconvenient facts because he was in no danger of running for office again. He did say, though, that the students likewise had nothing to lose by speaking out, and he made a strong plea to them to take action, to organize groups made up of Jewish and Arab students to go over to the Middle East, to talk to their peers and community leaders from both sides over there, and to try to get a dialogue going.

[Annces]

1. Good is never wasted

He is trying to do good.