Jimmy Carter and His Magical Mystery Tour

Carter is sponsoring a college trip to the Palestinian territories:

Almost eight months after former President Jimmy Carter encouraged Brandeis students to visit the Palestinian territories in his address to the campus last January, a group of students is making that idea a reality.

A weeklong trip initiated by campus club Students Crossing Boundaries will send a delegation of eight to 10 students to the Palestinian territories during February break. Carter, the 39th United States president, offered $25,000 of the his 2002 Nobel Peace Prize money to help defray the costs of the trip, Carter Center spokeswoman Deanna Congileo wrote in an e-mail to the Justice Monday.

It hasn't been determined yet whether the students will also visit Israel, said Justin Kang '09, who is organizing the trip. SCB, which is made up of 13 students, wants to document Palestinian life through this trip, Kang said. He explained that the initiative is an academic endeavor without a political goal.

..."We want to see and understand the living conditions in socioeconomic Palestine," Deborah Laufer '08, another SCB member, said.

It's great that students have an interest and have the opportunity to take a trip like this--hopefully under safe and secure conditions. There is no mention of which areas they are supposed to be visiting.

Unfortunately, just going on a tour of the Palestinian territories and noting the conditions will do no more to further their understanding of the situation than reading Carter's book--which isn't very much.

[Hit tip: Hot Air Headlines]

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