Peace Prize Winner Jimmy Carter Rebukes Canada

Well it seems Jimmy Carter, a credible international voice, is critical of Canada's lack of balance in its approach to the Middle East. In particular he spoke out yesterday (using diplomacy as always) against the Harper government's choice to impose sanctions along with other countries on Palestinians.

His issue is that sanctions were imposed because Palestinians chose to elect a political party whose roots began as a militant organization. He thinks this type of decison making by democratic nations is very dangerous.

The former president is in Canada to promote his book "Peace not Apartheid", and he was interviewed on CBC last night. In this morning's print version of La Presse, Mario Girard writes a front-page story (which is not available online) quoting Carter as saying it is a crime that Palestinians are punished via sanctions for voting for their choice of candidates. The subtext when interviewed by the Canadian media is the lack of balance Harper's conservatives are taking to decisions about the Middle East, which closely resemble the approaches taken by George Bush's Republicans.

This is front page news in Montreal, as Quebecers collectively tend to view this issue somewhat differently.

The wisdom of this Nobel Peace Prize winner and father of the Camp David Accord is worth considering. Given that this is a dangerous issue politically, it is positive that Carter has the courage to critisize Harper's unbalanced approach to the Middle East while he visits Canada.

It seems Harper's Conservatives continue to embarass Canada on the world stage on multiple issues. We can't solely blame our deteriorating international reputation of "Canadian belligerence" on Rona Ambrose anymore. Other Conservatives must share in that blame.