Foreword Jimmy Carter and the Price of Political Courage
In mid-April 2008, former President Jimmy Carter met in Syria with Khaled Meshaal, recognized head of Hamas, the Palestinian organization widely viewed as one of the most lethal terrorist organizations operating in the Middle East. It is also, inconveniently for many, the governing party in Gaza, having been victorious in a stunning electoral victory in that poor and volatile land in January 2006.
Israeli officials and the American administration of George W. Bush expressed shock and outrage at the Carter–Meshaal meeting, and various commentators denounced Carter in the harshest possible terms.