So, How Badly Does Carter Miss Arafat?

This much:

Former President Jimmy Carter is reportedly preparing an unprecedented meeting with the leader of Hamas, an organization that the U.S. government considers one of the leading terrorist threats in the world.

The Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Tuesday that Carter was planning a trip to Syria for mid-April, during which he would meet with Khaled Meshal, the exiled head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, on April 18.

Deanna Congileo, Carter’s press secretary, confirmed in an e-mail to FOXNews.com that Carter will be in the Mideast in April. Pressed for comment, Congileo did not deny that the former president is considering visiting Meshal.

“President Carter is planning a trip to the Mideast next week; however, we are still confirming details of the trip and will issue a press release by the end of this week,” wrote Congileo. “I cannot confirm any specific meetings at this point in time.”

The reactions to news of Carter's apparent meeting are about what you would expect--no surprises from Stever Emerson, John Bolton and CAIR's Hooper:

“I think this [visit] undermines the U.S. policy of isolating Hamas,” said Emerson. “I think this encourages Europeans to further dilute their sanctions against the Hamas government.”

"When you put the prestige of a former president of the United States in a meeting with one of its terrorist leaders, you’re giving it a legitimacy and currency it never had,” said Bolton.

But Ibrahim Hooper, communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a non-profit advocacy group, said Carter's efforts demonstrate he's a true partner in peace.

“I think if true, this report would indicate that President Carter is willing to travel any road in search of peace,” he said. “I think President Carter would only undertake such a mission if he believed that something could be achieved in terms of peace and reconciliation in the region.”

Hooper added that because of Carter's reputation among Palestinians he might be able to bring some pressure to bear.

That last comment is actually interesting. Surely Hooper doesn't mean that Carter's rep with Palestinians means that he can bring added pressure on Israel. Is Hooper actually advocating that Carter should get the Palestinian Arabs to actually make some kind of meaningful gesture to demonstrate a real desire for peace?

That would fall well withing the realm of wishful thinking especially when you have CAIR executive director Nihad Awad writing in a January 2008 article about "President Jimmy Carter, arguably a staunch supporter of Israel."

Uh-huh.

Technorati Tag: Jimmy Carter and Khaled Meshal.