By IINA,
London : Former US President Jimmy Carter yesterday described Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip as “one of the greatest human rights crimes now existing on Earth.” In a speech at a literary festival in Hay-on-Wye, in Wales, the 83-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said: “There is no reason to treat these people this way,” referring to the blockade, in place since the Hamas took over Gaza in June 2007. While president from 1977 to 1981, Carter was the architect of the landmark 1979 peace deal between Israel and Egypt, the first such treaty between the Jewish state and an Arab country.
According to Carter, the failure of the European Union to support the Palestinian cause was “embarrassing.” He said European countries should be “encouraging the formation of a unity government,” including Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement. “They should be encouraging Hamas to have a cease-fire in Gaza alone, as a first step,” he told the invited guests. “They should be encouraging Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement in prisoner exchange and, as a second step, Israel should agree to a cease-fire in the West Bank, which is Palestinian territory.”