Former President Jimmy Carter was a guest on the Daily Show recently and when the subject turned to Paris and Islamic violence in general, Mr. Carter said this about root causes:
“Well, one of the origins for it is the Palestinian problem. And this aggravates people who are affiliated in any way with the Arab people who live in the West Bank and Gaza, what they are doing now — what’s being done to them. So I think that’s part of it.”
Maybe it is “one of the origins for it.” But I wonder (because Jon Stewart didn’t ask) how much the “Palestinian problem” and “what’s being done to them” contributed to any of these acts of violence – every single one committed by Muslims:
The Shoe Bomber who tried to take down a civilian jetliner en route from Paris to Miami
The Beltway Snipers
The Fort Hood Shooter
The underwear Bomber who tried to blow up a jet over Detroit
The attack on the U-S.S. Cole
The Madrid Train Bombing
The Bali Nightclub Bombing
The London Subway Bombing
The Moscow Theater Terrorists
The Boston Marathon Bombing
The Pan-Am flight 103 Bombing
The Iranian Embassy Takeover
The Beirut U.S. Embassy Bombing
The Benghazi Attack
The Buenos Aires Suicide Bombing
The Israeli Olympic Team Murders
The U.S. Embassy in Kenya Bombing
The Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia Bombing
The Beirut Marine Barracks Bombing
The first World Trade Center Attack
The Bombay and Mumbai India Attack
The Achille Lauro Cruise Ship Hijacking and Murder
The September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks
The Beheadings of innocent civilians
Does Jimmy Carter think that if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict went away tomorrow – or for that matter, if Israel magically ceased to exist — Islamic terrorism would stop? I doubt he believes that, despite his constant harping on the Israelis.
I wish Jon Stewart had said to Jimmy Carter, “Mr. President, do you think there’s something in the literature of Islam that seduces a certain kind of Muslim to go out and slaughter innocent people in the name of his God?” I would have liked to hear the former president’s answer. I also wish somebody would ask the current president the same question.
