(JNS.org) The United States and the European Union should recognize that the Hamas terrorist organization “is not just a military but also a political force,” former U.S. president Jimmy Carter wrote for Foreign Policy magazine last week. “Hamas cannot be wished away, nor will it cooperate in its own demise. Only by recognizing its legitimacy as a political actor – one that represents a substantial portion of the Palestinian people – can the West begin to provide the right incentives for Hamas to lay down its weapons,” Carter stated in an opinion piece co-written with former Irish president Mary Robinson. Carter’s controversial 2006 book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, heavily criticizes Israel’s presence in the West Bank. The former president has also met with Hamas officials and called for an end to the blockade of Gaza.