Jimmy Carter appeared on The Charlie Rose Show on April 29 and had the following colloquy about the “moral equivalency” of Hamas rockets into
CHARLIE ROSE: You believe there’s a moral equivalency in terms of what Hamas does, vis-a-vis Israel, in comparison of what
JIMMY CARTER: Well, the thing that concerns me about Palestinians in general relating to Israel is that there’s no evidence at all that Israel is willing to have peace with the Palestinians if it means relinquishing the Palestinian land that they have confiscated and colonized.
CHARLIE ROSE: Well, clearly they’re willing to agree to some of it, aren’t they?
JIMMY CARTER: No, I haven’t seen that yet. Let me tell you why. . . . [Carter discusses Israeli settlements and roadblocks].
CHARLIE ROSE: But is that, in your judgment, equivalent to whatever terrorist activities and whatever —
JIMMY CARTER: I wouldn’t say —
CHARLIE ROSE: — shelling that Hamas is doing onto
JIMMY CARTER: I have condemned the shelling of the little town of Sderot, which I visited, and Ashkelon which I also visited, as an act of unforgivable terrorism, because the people who suffered — they have been shelling for seven years. Thirteen people have been killed. And the people of Sderot are living in terror. It’s a town of about 20,000 people. We spent a couple hours, two or three hours with the mayor. And you ride through this town and there’s nobody on the street. Nobody on the playgrounds.
CHARLIE ROSE: Right.
JIMMY CARTER: They`re afraid of these rockets. Well, if you look at the statistics from last year, 2007, every time one Israeli was killed, 40 Palestinians were killed by attacks by
CHARLIE ROSE: But more one than the other?
JIMMY CARTER: I’m sorry?
CHARLIE ROSE: More one or the other?
JIMMY CARTER: I don’t even say that. You know, I think any time any powerhouse takes military action when it’s a high danger or almost an inevitability that women and children are going to be killed, I think that can be considered an act of terrorism, yes.
CHARLIE ROSE: So
JIMMY CARTER: I think both are equally guilty, yes.
CHARLIE ROSE: OK. That’s a moral equivalency.
JIMMY CARTER: I think so.
Bret Stephens demonstrates in today’s Wall Street Journal how statistics can be used by people such as Carter and Walt & Mearsheimer (with footnotes!) to support a pre-conceived antagonism to Israel, in the guise of a moral vision.