Carter Wants To Shake Hands That Have The Blood Of Americans On Them

There have been a number of angles taken in response to Jimmy Carter's decision to meet the terrorist leader of Hamas Khaled Meshal. John McCain's point goes beyond the terrorism embraced by Hamas, and extends to their victims:

"It is a grave and dangerous mistake for an American leader to meet with a terrorist organization like Hamas. Engaged in a campaign that deliberately targets innocent Israeli civilians, Hamas is dedicated to the destruction of Israel. President Carter is wrong to meet with Hamas, a terrorist group that has also killed innocent Americans."

Unfortunately, the record of American condemnation of the murder of Americans by Palestinian terrorists is uneven. Michael Freund wrote back in 2003 in a piece entitled: Bush forgot about American victims of Palestinian terror:

Two years ago, John Branchizio, 37, of Texas; John Linde Jr., 30, of Missouri; and Mark Parsons, 31, of New Jersey, all died in Gaza as a direct result of Palestinian terror. They are among the more than 50 American citizens murdered by Palestinian terrorists since the signing of the Oslo accords, and none of their killers have yet to pay for their actions.

That incident has practically been forgotten and those responsible for that terrorist attack have never been caught--and neither have the Hamas terrorists who have killed Americans--

In August 2005, the Boston Globe carried the story about the attempt to freeze the US-based assets of the PA. The case was a first, but the terrorists it targeted were not Fatah:

The case is the first to result in a financial judgment under a 1991 antiterrorism law that allows US citizens to sue foreign organizations in civil court for terrorism. It stems from the 1996 murders of Brooklyn-born Yaron Ungar, a US citizen, and his pregnant Israeli wife, Efrat, whose car was sprayed with bullets by Hamas militants.

But the Ungars were not the only Americans murdered by Hamas. In 2002, The Jerusalem Post reported on the reaction to the murder of 5 Americans by Hamas in a bombing at Hebrew University:

US politicians call to extradite HU terrorists
Several New York politicians are calling on the Bush administration to demand the extradition of the perpetrators of last week's terror attack at the Hebrew University to the US to stand trial for the murder of five American citizens.

Twenty-four Americans have been killed in Palestinian terror attacks, and 43 wounded, since September 2000.

At a Thursday evening press conference in New York, Sen. Charles Schumer (D) demanded the extradition of Hamas leaders to the US, among them spiritual head Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, after the terror group claimed responsibility for the July 31 blast inside a university cafeteria, which claimed the lives of seven students and staff members.

"If Hamas killed five Americans on US soil, the United States would demand justice for the families of the victims, and we would go after Hamas," Schumer said.

"We should do no less now. This was an attack on America, not simply an attack on Israel. And we need to take action. We cannot simply sit on the side and let these horrific attacks go unanswered."

At the time Schumer made the point that the murder of Americans by Hamas cannot be excused as accidental collateral damage:

Schumer dismissed a statement issued by Hamas after the bombing claiming that Americans had not been targeted in the attack. By planting the bomb at the Hebrew University, "they knew that they wouldn't just be killing Israelis, that they'd be killing Americans as well," said Schumer.

In the House, Rep. Anthony Weiner sent a letter to Attorney-General John Ashcroft on Thursday asking him to extradite those responsible for the attack. "US law makes it a crime to kill or injure, or to conspire to kill or injure, an American national outside the US in furtherance of a terrorist cause even if Americans were not the intended targets," Weiner wrote.

Is that a point of law of which Carter is merely ignorant, or is he ignoring it out of hand? In any case, the list of Americans murdered by Hamas is more extensive, and there is a website with a list of American victims of Palestinian terrorism running from 1968 to 2003, including the following American victims of Hamas terrorist attacks:

December 1, 1993: Yitzhak Weinstock, age 19, an American-Israeli student whose family came from Los Angeles, was murdered by Hamas terrorists in a drive-by shooting attack near El Bireh, north of Jerusalem.

October 9, 1994: Nachshon Wachsman, an American-Israeli, was kidnapped and then murdered by Hamas terrorists.

August 21, 1995, Jerusalem, Israel. A bus bombing in Jerusalem by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) killed four, including American Joan Davenny, and wounded more than 100.

February 25, 1996, Jerusalem, Israel. A suicide bomber blew up a commuter bus in Jerusalem, killing 26, including three U.S. citizens, and injuring 80 others, among them another three U.S. citizens. Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing.

March 4, 1996, Tel Aviv, Israel. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device outside the Dizengoff Center,David Boim Tel Aviv's largest shopping mall, killing 20 March 4, 1996 Tel Aviv Bombing persons and injuring 75 others, including two U.S. citizens. Both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing.

July 30, 1997, Jerusalem, Israel. Two bombs detonated in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market, killing 15 persons, including a U.S. citizen and wounding 168 others, among them two U.S. citizens. The Izz-el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, claimed responsibility for the attack.

September 4, 1997: Yael Botwin, age 14, an American-Israeli from the Los Angeles suburb of Claremont killed in a Hamas suicide bombing attack in downtown Jerusalem.

August 9, 2001, Jerusalem, Israel. A suicide bombing at Sbarro's, a pizzeria situated in one of the busiest areas of downtown Jerusalem, killed 15 people, including a 31-year-old tourist from New Jersey, Shoshana Greenbaum and wounded more than 90. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

July 31, 2002, Jerusalem, Israel. Seven people including four Americans, Marla Bennett (24) of Marla Bennett David Gritz Benjamin Blutstein Janis Ruth CoulterSan Diego, California, David Gritz (24) of Peru, Massachusetts, Benjamin Blutstein (25) of Susquehanna Township, Pennsylvania and Janis Ruth Coulter (36) from New York were murdered when a remote-controlled bomb detonated in the Frank Sinatra Cafeteria on Jerusalem's Hebrew University Mt. Scopus campus. Eighty-six others were injured. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Schumer would have the Hamas leaders brought to justice.
Carter would prefer to offer them tea and sympathy--and recognition.

[Hat tip: David Freddoso]

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