In a press release sent yesterday evening, here’s what the ZOA had to say:
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has called upon the Democratic National Convention Committee and Obama for America to rescind its invitation to former President Jimmy Carter to address the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Convention is due to be held during September 3-6. The ZOA has pointed to President Carter's decades-long hostility towards, and defaming of, Israel and advocacy of negotiations with Hamas, a terrorist organization that calls in its Charter for the destruction of Israel and the global murder of Jews, as evidence of the inappropriateness of the invitation.
The invitation to President Carter has been criticized by both the Republican Jewish Coalition and the National Jewish Democratic Council. Yet, the Democratic National Convention has called Carter "one of the greatest humanitarian leaders of our time and a champion of democracy around the globe."
ZOA National Chairman of the Board Dr. Michael Goldblatt said, "The invitation to President Carter to address the Democratic National Convention is an insult to American Jews, Christian Zionists and all Americans who care - as polls show them to do in large numbers - for Israel.
Carter’s scheduled address, which he will be delivering via video, has already been criticized by the Anti-Defamation League’s Abraham Foxman, who said that the ex-president’s positions on Israel made him undeserving of the speaking slot, though he acknowledged that “it’s hard to refuse a platform to a former living president.”
Contrary to the ZOA’s release, the NJDC actually doesn’t seem to have publicly criticized the party’s decision to let Carter speak. Instead, the NJDC criticized Carter’s views on Israel and expressed confidence that “he won’t be speaking to the Party about Middle East policy.” (According to the Democratic National Committee, Carter will be offering “unique insights about President Obama as a global leader.")
The ZOA, which leans decidedly right on Israel policy, may not have too much pull with the Democratic convention organizers given its often confrontational posture toward the Obama administration. Last year, the ZOA urged the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to cancel President Obama’s speech at the lobbying group’s annual policy conference, calling him “the most hostile president to Israel ever.”
