The passing of U.S President 39, Jimmy Carter, at the age of 100, makes me think of one particular memory: when Jimmy Carter headed an international observer mission in the Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006.

These elections were free and fair, Carter concluded when he led a press conference at the Ambassador Hotel in Jerusalem. To the surprise of pundits, forecasts and the Palestinian Islamists themselves, Hamas won the elections (which can also be blamed on the corruption and stubbornness of Fatah whose candidates ran against each other). Jimmy Carter, for one, tried his best to lead Hamas, the unprepared winners, into a more pragmatic direction.

But President George W Bush who had first demanded that they stand in the elections (otherwise they had not been legitimate) then, together with the EU, refused to deal with them. This pushed Hamas closer to Iran and ultimately strengthened Yahya Sinwar’s most extreme faction.

Carter’s efforts never really got a chance to be checked. May he rest in peace.