"I sat down a whole night in Damascus with Haled Mash'al and other members of the Hamas leadership in order to facilitate their inclusion in the political process and in a Palestinian National Unity Government which could be a partner to negotiations. From here I am going to Gaza on a similar mission" said former US President Jimmy Carter to a group of Israeli peace activists who met him at the American Colony Hotel in East Jerusalem. The meeting was intiated by the Gush Shalom movement and also present were representatives of Peace Now, Combatants for Peace, the Forum of Israeli and Palestinian Bereaved Parents, the Bat Shalom women and the Arava Center. Uri Avnery of Gush Shalom told Carter that in order to conduct negotiations and reach an agreement with the Palestinians, it is vitally necessary to talk to the representatives chosen by the Palestinians themselves.

"Just like nobody disputes that the Government of Israel is authorized to speak for Israel – even if many would have preferred to see another government – so the Palestinian representatives must be those who are regarded as representatives by the Palestinians themselves. Otherwise, any agreement signed will be worthless. There can be no doubt that Hamas represents at the very least a large and significant part of the Palestinian People." Avnery mentioned that following the 2006 Palestinian elections, won by Hamas, Gush Shalom activists had conducted a series of meetings with Sheikh Abu Tir and other conspicuous Hamas leaders in the Jerusalem area. However, these meetings – in which the Hamas member expressed a considerable willingness for dialogue and compromise – were cut off when all of Gush Shalom's Palestinian interlocutors were detained at the order of the Government of Israel, and remain imprisoned up to the present.

For his part, President Carter noted that following the same elections – in which he headed an international team of observers, confirming that they had been fair and honest – he had tried to convince the Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas to accept the formation of a National Unity Government with Hamas. "That could have prevented a lot of suffering and bloodshed. Unfortunately President George W. Bush, who was in charge of American policy at the time, put strong pressures in the opposite direction. "I hope that now the situation has changed and that it would be possible to reach unity among the Palestinians, which would also facilitate effective talks with Israel" he said.

Carter noted that – as already published – he had gotten a letter from the parents of captive Israeli soldier Gil'ad Shalit to their son, and would ask the Hamas leadership to deliver it. "I am spending considerable effort to end this affair and help get Shalit free. I am sorry to say that citizens of Israel hardly pay attention to the fact that 11,700 Palestinians are at present incarcerated in Israeli prisons, among them nearly four hundred minors. Israelis don’t pay attention to the strong Palestinian wish to get at least some of their prisoners freed in exchange for Gil'ad Shalit. "Hamas people told me that Shalit is held in better conditions than are Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. "

Robi Damelin, representative of the Forum of Israeli and Palestinian Bereaved Families, told Carter that she is willing to see the Palestinian who killed her son, soldier David Damelin, released as part of a prisoner exchange in return for Shalit. There are many bereaved parents like me, who want peace and an end to the conflict and killing. We have found a common ground with bereaved Palestinian parents, whose suffering is so like ours".

Contact: Adam Keller 0506-709603 Robi Damelin 054-6969439