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Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid is a New York Times Best Seller written by Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States and winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, and published by Simon and Schuster in November 2006. While President, Carter hosted talks between Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin in 1978 that led to a comprehensive peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, and he has occasionally commented on the Arab-Israeli conflict since leaving the Presidency. In this book Carter argues that "Israel's continued control and colonization of Palestinian land have been the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land."

The table of contents of Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid

Purpose, main argument, and some major points of the book

"The ultimate purpose"

The ultimate purpose of my book is to present facts about the Middle East that are largely unknown in America, to precipitate discussion and to help restart peace talks (now absent for six years) that can lead to permanent peace for Israel and its neighbors. Another hope is that Jews and other Americans who share this same goal might be motivated to express their views, even publicly, and perhaps in concert. I would be glad to help with that effort. (Italics added.)

Thesis: How to achieve "permanent peace in the Middle East"

Carter identifies "two interrelated obstacles to permanent peace in the Middle East":

Some Israelis believe they have the right to confiscate and colonize Palestinian land and try to justify the sustained subjugation and persecution of increasingly hopeless and aggravated Palestinians; and

Some Palestinians react by honoring suicide bombers as martyrs to be rewarded in heaven and consider the killing of Israelis as victories.

To bring an end to what he calls "this continuing tragedy," in Chapter 17 ("Summary"), Carter calls for a revitalization of the peace process following these two "key requirements":

a. The security of Israel must be guaranteed. The Arabs must acknowledge openly and specifically that Israel is a reality and has a right to exist in peace, behind secure and recognized borders, and with a firm Arab pledge to terminate any further acts of violence against the legally constituted nation of Israel.

b. The internal debate within Israel must be resolved in order to define Israel's permanent legal boundary. The unwavering official policy of the United States since Israel became a state has been that its borders must coincide with those prevailing from 1949 until 1967 (unless modified by mutually agreeable land swaps), specified in the unanimously adopted U.N. Resolution 242, which mandates Israel's withdrawal from occupied territories. This obligation was reconfirmed by Israel's leaders in agreements negotiated in 1978 at Camp David and in 1993 at Oslo, for which they received the Nobel Peace Prize, and both of these commitments were officially ratified by the Israeli government. Also, as a member of the International Quartet that includes Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union, America supports the Roadmap for Peace, which espouses exactly the same requirements. Palestinian leaders unequivocally accepted this proposal, but Israel has officially rejected its key provisions with unacceptable caveats and prerequisites.

"Some 'Major points'"

In a recent op-ed published by the Boston Globe, Carter summarized some of the book's "major points" as follows:

• Multiple deaths of innocent civilians have occurred on both sides, and this violence and all terrorism must cease.
• For 39 years, Israel has occupied Palestinian land, and has confiscated and colonized hundreds of choice sites.
• Often excluded from their former homes, land, and places of worship, protesting Palestinians have been severely dominated and oppressed. There is forced segregation between Israeli settlers and Palestine's citizens, with a complex pass system required for Arabs to traverse Israel's multiple checkpoints.
• An enormous wall snakes through populated areas of what is left of the West Bank, constructed on wide swaths of bulldozed trees and property of Arab families, obviously designed to acquire more territory and to protect the Israeli colonies already built. (Hamas declared a unilateral cease-fire in August 2004 as its candidates sought local and then national offices, which they claim is the reason for reductions in casualties to Israeli citizens.)
• Combined with this wall, Israeli control of the Jordan River Valley will completely enclose Palestinians in their shrunken and divided territory. Gaza is surrounded by a similar barrier with only two openings, still controlled by Israel. The crowded citizens have no free access to the outside world by air, sea, or land.
• The Palestinian people are now being deprived of the necessities of life by economic restrictions imposed on them by Israel and the United States because 42 percent voted for Hamas candidates in this year's election. Teachers, nurses, policemen, firemen, and other employees cannot be paid, and the UN has reported food supplies in Gaza equivalent to those among the poorest families in sub-Sahara Africa, with half the families surviving on one meal a day.
• Mahmoud Abbas, first as prime minister and now as president of the Palestinian National Authority and leader of the PLO, has sought to negotiate with Israel for almost six years, without success. Hamas leaders support such negotiations, promising to accept the results if approved by a Palestinian referendum.
• UN Resolutions, the Camp David Accords of 1978, the Oslo Agreement of 1993, official US Policy, and the International Roadmap for Peace are all based on the premise that Israel withdraw from occupied territories. Also, Palestinians must accept the same commitment made by the 23 Arab nations in 2002: to recognize Israel's right to live in peace within its legal borders. These are the two keys to peace. (Bullets added.)

Reviews and Commentaries

Positive reaction: Praise for the book and recognition of its author

Journalists and media commentators

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, in a piece published by the Institute for Middle East Understanding on November 15, 2006, finds that Carter's book "eloquently describes the situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip . . . his book challenges Americans to see the conflict with eyes wide open."

In an article published in The Nation on November 20, 2006, Michael F. Brown characterizes the book's title as "extraordinarily bold--and apt" and suggests that "Perhaps President Carter should send copies of his book to members of Congress. . . . they might learn a thing or two about the long-festering conflict at the heart of so many of our current troubles in the region."

Sherri Muzher, founder of Michigan Media Watch, writes in the Arab American News on December 5, 2006: "Nobody expects instant miracles to come from Carter’s book, but hopefully, it will spark the sort of robust discussions that even Israeli society and media already engage in."

As posted on December 6, 2006, Rabbi Michael Lerner calls Carter "the only president to have actually delivered for the Jewish people an agreement (the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt) that has stood the test of time". He continues: "We know that critique is often an essential part of love and caring. That is precisely what Jimmy Carter is trying to do for Israel and the Jewish people in his new book". He further stresses that "Carter does not claim that Israel is an apartheid state. What he does claim is that the West Bank will be a de facto apartheid situation if the current dynamics . . . continue."

In his column published in the Toronto Sun on December 15, 2006, Sid Ryan writes:

Former U.S. president Carter is just the latest world figure to openly challenge the policies of Israel in Gaza and the West Bank. He joins Rev. Desmond Tutu, another Nobel Prize winner. Each time a trade union or church group or world leader steps forward to break the cone of silence around this issue, the more difficult it becomes for the lobby groups to spew their propaganda.

Robert Fisk declares the book to be "a good, strong read by the only American president approaching sainthood." Fisk continues "Needless to say, the American press and television largely ignored the appearance of this eminently sensible book - until the usual Israeli lobbyists began to scream abuse at poor old Jimmy Carter, albeit that he was the architect of the longest lasting peace treaty between Israel and an Arab neighbour - Egypt - secured with the famous 1978 Camp David accords."

Brad Hooper, reviewing the book in Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association, says that Carter "posits that the stumbling blocks to a lasting cessation of armed conflict are to be found within two contexts: Israel's unwillingness to comply with international law and honor its previous peace commitments, and Arab nations' refusal to openly acknowledge Israel's right to live undisturbed" and describes Carter's approach as representing "a personal point of view, but one that is certainly grounded in both knowledge and wisdom."

Ali Abunimah, in the Wall Street Journal, writes:

President Carter has done what few American politicians have dared to do: speak frankly about the Israel-Palestine conflict. ... As other divided societies, like South Africa, Northern Ireland and indeed our own are painfully learning, only equal rights and esteem for all the people, in the diversity of their identities, can bring lasting peace. This is an even harder discussion than the one President Carter has courageously launched, but ultimately it is one we must confront if peace is to come to Israel-Palestine.

Praise from Academics

John Dugard

South African professor of international law John Dugard, writing for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on November 29, 2006, says that Carter's book "is igniting controversy for its allegation that Israel practices a form of apartheid"; he supports Carter's analysis, arguing that "Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories has many features of colonization. At the same time it has many of the worst characteristics of apartheid."

Zbigniew Brzezinski

In the London Financial Times, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Agency (NSA) advisor to President Carter and currently a professor of American foreign policy at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, condemns the "abusive reactions directed at , including some newspaper ads" for being "objectionable and designed to intimidate an open public discussion."

Brzezinski agrees with the main thesis of the book:

President Carter, in my judgement, is correct in fearing that the absence of a fair and mutually acceptable resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is likely to produce a situation which de facto will resemble apartheid: ie, two communities living side by side but repressively separated, with one enjoying prosperity and seizing the lands of the other, and the other living in poverty and deprivation. That is an outcome which must be avoided and I interpret his book as a strong plea for accommodation, which needs to be actively promoted by morally responsible engagement especially by America.

Saree Makdisi

UCLA professor and Middle East commentator Saree Makdisi, in San Francisco Chronicle, writes that "Carter's apartheid charge rings true" and continues:

Israel maintains two sets of rules and regulations in the West Bank: one for Jews, one for non-Jews. The only thing wrong with using the word "apartheid" to describe such a repugnant system is that the South African version of institutionalized discrimination was never as elaborate as its Israeli counterpart -- nor did it have such a vocal chorus of defenders among otherwise liberal Americans.

Norman Finkelstein

Norman Finkelstein, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at DePaul University, agrees with Carter's analysis and writes:

After four decades of Israeli occupation, the infrastructure and superstructure of apartheid have been put in place. Outside the never-never land of mainstream American Jewry and U.S. media this reality is barely disputed.

Negative reaction: Denigration of the book and distancing from its author

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) mounted a campaign against the book early in November of 2006, taking out a series of full-page advertisements in newspapers nationwide headlined with the claim that "There's only one honest thing about President Carter's new book. The Criticism." The advertisements appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post.

Abraham Foxman, the national director of the ADL, has said: "I believe that he is engaging in anti-Semitism. For a man of his stature and supposed savvy to hold forth that the issues of Israel and the Middle East have not been discussed and debated because Jews and Zionists have closed off means of discussion is just anti-Semitism.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), a media watchdog group focusing primarily on correcting coverage that it considers inaccurate or unfairly skewed against Israel, provides a webpage of reviews and commentaries about the book.

Lee Green, director of letter writing for CAMERA, in an article dated December 1, 2006, posted on its website, criticizes the book, saying "Almost every page of Carter's book contains errors, distortions or glaring omissions." For example, Green asserts that Carter's current statements about Israel being required to withdraw to the 1949 boundaries contradict what is written in the 1978 Camp David agreements, which were signed by Carter himself.

CAMERA also posts another commentary, by one of its Senior Research Analysts, Gilead Ini, criticizing the former president for ignoring The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace, a memoir by former Clinton administration Middle East envoy Dennis Ross. According to Ini, Ross's book was "described by Bill Clinton as 'the definitive' account of those complicated negotiations" and "has garnered praise from four past US secretaries of state"; "n other words," Ini opines, "Ross' book is required reading for anyone who wants to understand—let alone write a credible book about—the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations of late 2000." In choosing "to ignore this authoritative account of what transpired," Ini complains, Carter "instead offered an description of the peace negotiations completely at odds with the historical record by claiming Israel did not accept Clinton's proposals for a final settlement of the conflict." Ini concludes: "Not only did Carter ignore the authoritative source on what transpired at the Camp David negotiations, he apparently also didn't bother to consult news reports from the era. On Dec. 28, 2000, the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Chicago Tribune and others all reported on the Israeli cabinet's acceptance Clinton's parameters as a basis for discussion."

Politicians and legislators

Prior to the 2006 mid-term election and before the book was published, Democrats criticized the former Democratic president's book.

On October 27, 2006, the The Forward reported that Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued a statement responding to the book, speaking both for himself and his party: "While I have tremendous respect for former President Carter, I fundamentally disagree and do not support his analysis of Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On this issue President Carter speaks for himself, the opinions in his book are his own, they are not the views or position of the Democratic Party. I and other Democrats will continue to stand with Israel in its battle against terrorism and for a lasting peace with its neighbors."

Similarly, as cited by Siegel, Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi points out that the book does not represent the Democratic Party's views on Israel: "It is wrong to suggest that the Jewish people would support a government in Israel or anywhere else that institutionalizes ethnically based oppression, and Democrats reject that allegation vigorously. With all due respect to former President Carter, he does not speak for the Democratic Party on Israel."

According to Siegel, "everal Democratic members of New York’s House delegation — Reps. Steve Israel, Charlie Rangel and Jerrold Nadler — also have issued statements criticizing Carter’s book, as did Rep. John Conyers, Jr., a Michigan Democrat who is often criticized by members of the Jewish community for his failure to support Israel in a certain instance."

In his own statement, as reported by Siegel on October 17, 2006, U.S. Representative Steve Israel expresses his own point of view: "The reason for the Palestinian plight is the Palestinians. Their leadership has no regard for the quality of life for their people and no capability of providing security or enforcing peace, and they have no one to blame but themselves.” Representative Israel adds that the "book clearly does not reflect the direction of the party; it reflects the opinion of one man."

To his fellow Democrats' voices, in his statement reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on October 25, 2006, U.S. Representative John Conyers, Jr. adds: "I cannot agree with the book's title and its implications about apartheid. . . . I recently called the former president to express my concerns about the title of the book, and to request that the title be changed." For him the title "does not serve the cause of peace and the use of it... is offensive and wrong."

Academic critics

Dennis Ross

Ambassador Dennis Ross, author of The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace, who was the United States' chief Middle East envoy during the Clinton administration, is Director and Ziegler distinguished fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the first chairman of a new Jerusalem-based think tank, the Institute for Jewish People Policy Planning, funded and founded by the Jewish Agency. In the fall of 2005, Ross taught a class in Mid-East Peace at Brandeis University, and taught it again at Georgetown University in the fall of 2006. Ross claims that maps used in Carter's book are similar to maps published previously in The Missing Peace: "I looked at the maps and the maps he uses are maps that are drawn basically from my book. There's no other way they could -- even if he says they come from another place. They came originally from my book."

Ross insists that Carter's interpretation of the maps in Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid is "just simply wrong." Whereas in his book Carter presents the maps as an "Israeli interpretation of the Clinton idea," according to Ross, who played a key role in shaping the Clinton administration's efforts to bring peace to the region, the maps in fact represented Clinton's proposals exactly. Responding to a question posed by CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, Ross stated that Carter was also "wrong" to suggest that Israel had rejected the American proposals at Camp David: "his is a matter of record. This is not a matter of interpretation."

Ross concludes: "President Carter made a major contribution to peace in the Middle East. That's the reality. . . . I would like him to meet the same standard that he applied then to what he's doing now."Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

In a videotaped clip broadcast as part of the same segment on CNN's The Situation Room, "responding to the controversy flaring over his new best seller on the Middle East," Carter responds to Ross's criticism by stating that he has "never seen" Ross's book and that the maps "came from an atlas that's publicly available." According to CNN's correspondent Brian Todd, who comments on the video clip presented on The Situation Room on December 8, 2006, President Carter has identified the specific atlas as A Geopolitical Atlas of Palestine, published by the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem. Brian Todd explains:

We tried to contact the firm that Carter says he got those maps from, it's called the Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem to see if they got those maps from Dennis Ross. We were unable to reach that company. A spokeswoman for President Carter's publisher, Simon and Schuster, says they are tracking all of these accusations, but they stand by the president's book. . . .

Alan Dershowitz

Alan Dershowitz, a professor of law at Harvard Law School, and author of several books on the Arab-Israeli conflict — including The Case For Israel and The Case for Peace— points out that Carter's book has been condemned in reviews as "moronic" by Slate, "anti-historical" by The Washington Post, and "laughable" by the San Francisco Chronicle, and that it is "riddled with errors and bias." Dershowitz writes that "any of the reviews have been written by non-Jewish as well as Jewish critics, and not by 'representatives of Jewish organizations' as Carter has claimed."

Dershowitz argues that there are factual inaccuracies in Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, including its statement that "Israel launche preemptive attacks on Egypt, Syria, Iraq and then Jordan" (5), observing that, in the 1967 Six-Day War, "Jordan attacked Israel first, Israel tried desperately to persuade Jordan to remain out of the war, and Israel counterattacked after the Jordanian army surrounded Jerusalem, firing missiles into the center of the city."

In an op-ed published in the New York Sun on November 22, 2006, Dershowitz asserts that Carter was not sufficiently forthcoming about qualifying a parallel to South African apartheid:

use of the loaded word "apartheid," suggesting an analogy to the hated policies of South Africa, is especially outrageous, considering his acknowledgment buried near the end of his shallow and superficial book that what is going on in Israel today "is unlike that in South Africa — not racism, but the acquisition of land."

In early December 2006 Brandeis University invited Carter to visit the university to debate his book with Alan Dershowitz, but Carter declined that invitation, explaining:

I don't want to have a conversation even indirectly with Dershowitz. There is no need to for me to debate somebody who, in my opinion, knows nothing about the situation in Palestine.

In his op-ed published in the Boston Globe published on December 21, 2006, Dershowitz says:

As Carter knows, I've been to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, many times — certainly more times than Carter has been there — and I've written three books dealing with the subject of Middle Eastern history, politics, and the peace process. The real reason Carter won't debate me is that I would correct his factual errors. It's not that I know too little; it's that I know too much.

He asserts that Carter is not an impartial observer of the Middle East as he claims. Dershowitz criticizes Carter for his ties with Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, a man "whose $2.5 million gift to the Harvard Divinity School was returned in 2004 due to Zayed's rampant Jew-hatred."

has accepted money and an award from Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, saying in 2001: "This award has special significance for me because it is named for my personal friend, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan." ... Zayed's personal foundation, the Zayed Center, claims that it was Zionists, rather than Nazis, who "were the people who killed the Jews in Europe" during the Holocaust. It has held lectures on the blood libel and conspiracy theories about Jews and America perpetrating Sept. 11. Carter's acceptance of money from this biased group casts real doubt on his objectivity and creates an obvious conflict of interest.

He adds: "Carter’s refusal to debate wouldn't be so strange if it weren't for the fact that he claims that he wrote the book precisely so as to start debate over the issue of the Israel-Palestine peace process. If that were really true, Carter would be thrilled to have the opportunity to debate."

On December 26, 2006, WCVB-TV (an ABC-TV affiliate) reports that

About 100 students, faculty and alumni of Brandeis University have signed an online petition to push the administration to bring former President Carter to campus to discuss his new book on Palestine, without being required to debate it. Carter said earlier this month that he turned down an invitation from a university trustee to speak at Brandeis because it came with the condition that he debate Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, a harsh critic of Carter's book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."

But Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz said Carter is welcome on campus at any time and a debate was never a condition of a visit. Rather, Reinharz said Carter's request that the university send a plane to pick him up in Georgia was unreasonable.

Montgomery, a senior politics major, told The Boston Globe he has received about $1,000 in pledges from faculty to help sponsor the visit. They plan to invite Carter by the end of the week. "I think there's a basic lack of debate here about Israel and Palestine," Montgomery said. (Italics added.)

Kenneth Stein

In an open letter published in The New York Sun, on December 8, 2006, as reported by the Associated Press, Kenneth W. Stein, a professor of Middle Eastern history and Israeli studies at Emory University, who was the founder of the Middle East program at the Carter Center and the Carter Center's first executive director until 1993, observes:

President Carter's book on the Middle East, a title too inflammatory to even print, is not based on unvarnished analysis; it is replete with factual errors, copied materials not cited, superficialities, glaring omissions, and simply invented segments.

In his letter sent to President Carter and others, Stein also says that

Aside from the one-sided nature of the book, meant to provoke, there are recollections cited from meetings where I was the third person in the room, and my notes of those meetings show little similarity to points claimed in the book.

....

Being a former President does not give one a unique privilege to invent information or to unpack it with cuts, deftly slanted to provide a particular outlook. Having little access to Arabic and Hebrew sources, I believe, clearly handicapped his understanding and analyses of how history has unfolded over the last decade.

Stein has not yet provided a full outline of what he regards as factual errors.

Gil Troy

Gil Troy, author and professor of history at McGill University, wrote in an article published by the History News Network that December 18, 2006, "If Carter is so innocent as to be unaware of the resonance that term has, he is not the expert on the Middle East or world affairs he purports to be." He writes:

Sadly, Israelis and Palestinians do not enjoy the kind of harmony the Israeli Declaration of Independence envisioned. Carter and his comrades use “Apartheid” as shorthand to condemn some of the security measures improvised recently, especially since Carter’s late friend Yasir Arafat unleashed the latest wave of terrorism in September 2000. Israel built a security fence to protect its citizens and separate Palestinian enclaves from Israeli cities. Ironically, that barrier marks Israel’s most dramatic recognition of Palestinian aspirations to independence since Israel signed the Oslo Accords in 1993.

...

Applying the Apartheid label tries to ostracize Israel by misrepresenting some of the difficult decisions Israel has felt forced to make in fighting Palestinian terror.

Melvin Konner

Melvin Konner, a professor of anthropology at Emory University, described a passage in the book where he believes Carter condones terrorism. Konner said that sentence condones "the murder of Jews until such time as Israel unilaterally follows President Carter's prescription for peace."

Other media commentators

Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University Chris Hedges, in The Nation, writes:

Jimmy Carter, by publishing his book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, walked straight into the buzz saw that is the Israel lobby. Among the vitriolic attacks on the former President was the claim by Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, that Carter is "outrageous" and "bigoted" and that his book raises "the old canard and conspiracy theory of Jewish control of the media, Congress, and the U.S. government." Many Democratic Party leaders, anxious to keep the Israel lobby's money and support, have hotfooted it out the door, with incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing that Carter "does not speak for the Democratic Party on Israel."

He continues:

The assault against Carter, rather, says more about the failings of the American media - which have largely let Israel hawks heap calumny on Carter's book. It exposes the indifference of the Bush Administration and the Democratic leadership to the rule of law and basic human rights, the timidity of our intellectual class and the moral bankruptcy of institutions that claim to speak for American Jews and the Jewish state.

In his book review "What Would Jimmy Do?" (subtitled: "A Former President Puts the Onus for Resolving the Mideast Conflict on the Israelis") in the Washington Post, journalist Jeffrey Goldberg writes:

Carter makes it clear in this polemical book that, in excoriating Israel for its sins -- and he blames Israel almost entirely for perpetuating the hundred-year war between Arab and Jew -- he is on a mission from God. ...

Carter, not unlike God, has long been disproportionately interested in the sins of the Chosen People. He is famously a partisan of the Palestinians, and in recent months he has offered a notably benign view of Hamas, the Islamist terrorist organization that took power in the Palestinian territories after winning a January round of parliamentary elections.

There are differences, however, between Carter's understanding of Jewish sin and God's. God, according to the Jewish Bible, tends to forgive the Jews their sins. And God, unlike Carter, does not manufacture sins to hang around the necks of Jews when no sins have actually been committed.

Israeli historian and author Tom Segev, in the Israeli daily Haaretz, writes:

The book is causing an uproar among those in America who consider themselves as "friends of Israel," for one thing because of its title: "Palestine - Peace Not Apartheid." Predictably, some are accusing Carter of anti-Semitism. Carter is closely following the responses, including on the Internet, and responding to his critics. He is prepared to lecture for free about his views - but Jews don't want to hear, he complains. An Israeli reader won't find anything more in the book than is written in the newspapers here every day.

One reason the book is outraging "friends of Israel" in America is that it requires them to reformulate their friendship: If they truly want what's good for Israel, they must call on it to rid itself of the territories. People don't like to admit that they've erred; therefore, they're angry at Carter.

David A. Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, in the Israeli daily the Jerusalem Post, writes:

It ... is startling that a former president who prides himself on his ongoing contribution to world peace would write a crude polemic that compromises any pretense to objectivity and fairness. ...

Carter leaves out what any reasonable observer, even those that share his basic views of the conflict, would consider obvious facts, but does include stunning distortions.

Carter's response to criticism

Citing the specific criticism of the title by Alan Dershowitz as "outrageous" in its suggestion of "an analogy to the hated policies of South Africa," on Larry King Live in late November, Larry King asked President Carter why he uses "the loaded word 'apartheid'" with reference to Israel. Carter replied:

Well, he has to go to the first word in the title, which is "Palestine," not Israel. He should go to the second word in the title, which is "peace." And then the last two words "not apartheid." I never have alleged in the book or otherwise that Israel, as a nation, was guilty of apartheid. But there is a clear distinction between the policies within the nation of Israel and within the occupied territories that Israel controls and the oppression of the Palestinians by Israeli forces in the occupied territories is horrendous. And it's not something that has been acknowledged or even discussed in this country. . . .

Carter has also said that debate on issues concerning Israel is silenced in the U.S. media because of lobbying efforts by the pro-Israel lobby:

any controversial issues concerning Palestine and the path to peace for Israel are intensely debated among Israelis and throughout other nations — but not in the United States. . . . This reluctance to criticize any policies of the Israeli government is because of the extraordinary lobbying efforts of the American-Israel Political Action Committee and the absence of any significant contrary voices.

He stresses that he hopes to tear down the "impenetrable wall" that stops the American people from seeing the plight of Palestinians. Carter has responded more generally to negative reviews in the mainstream media in an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times and excerpted in the London Guardian and elsewhere:

Book reviews in the mainstream media have been written mostly by representatives of Jewish organisations who would be unlikely to visit the occupied territories, and their primary criticism is that the book is anti-Israel. Two members of Congress have been publicly critical. Some reviews posted on Amazon.com call me "anti-Semitic," and others accuse the book of "lies" and "distortions". A former Carter Centre fellow has taken issue with it, and Alan Dershowitz called the book's title "indecent". Out in the real world, however, the response has been overwhelmingly positive."

According to a December 8 report by Greg Bluestein of the Associated Press, Carter replied to charges by Dershowitz and Stein that his book contains errors and inaccuracies by pointing out that the Carter Center staff as well as an "unnamed 'distinguished' reporter" fact-checked it.

Carter has also pointed out more specifically "that Stein hadn't played a role in the Carter Center in 13 years and that his post as a fellow was an honorary title. 'When I decided to write this book, I didn't even think about involving Ken, from ancient times, to come in and help.'"

According to Carter biographer Douglas Brinkley, Stein and Carter have a "passionate, up-and-down relationship," and Stein has previously criticized statements that Carter has made about Israel.

In response to Professor Stein's criticisms overall, representatives of the publisher, Simon & Schuster, state:

We haven't seen these allegations, we haven't seen any specifics, and I have no way of assessing anything he has said. . . . This is all about nothing. We stand behind the book fully, and the fact that there has been a divided reaction to it is not surprising.

"A Letter to Jewish Citizens of America"

According to the Associated Press, updating the earlier report by Greg Bluestein, "Facing continuing controversy over his new book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," on Friday, December 15, 2006, through the Carter Center, former President Jimmy Carter "issued a letter . . . to American Jews explaining his use of the term 'apartheid' and sympathizing with Israelis who fear terrorism." Further commentaries based on former President Carter's letter are quoted by Kelly in his article "The Middle East: Are Critics of Israel Stifled?" in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of December 17, 2006.

"Reiterating the Keys to Peace" in the Middle East

In an op-ed published about a week later, in the Boston Globe on December 20, 2006, Carter rejects critics of his book as not actually having addressed the major points contained in it:

Not surprisingly, an examination of the book reviews and published comments reveals that these points have rarely if ever been mentioned by detractors of the book, much less denied or refuted. Instead, there has been a pattern of ad hominem statements, alleging that I am a liar, plagiarist, anti-Semite, racist, bigot, ignorant, etc. There are frequent denunciations of fabricated "straw man" accusations: that I have claimed that apartheid exists within Israel; that the system of apartheid in Palestine is based on racism; and that Jews control and manipulate the news media of America.

Carter concludes:

As recommended by the Hamilton-Baker report , renewed negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are a prime factor in promoting peace in the region. Although my book concentrates on the Palestinian territories, I noted that the report also recommended peace talks with Syria concerning the Golan Heights. Both recommendations have been rejected by Israel's prime minister .

It is practically impossible for bitter antagonists to arrange a time, place, agenda, and procedures that are mutually acceptable, so an outside instigator/promoter is necessary. Successful peace talks were orchestrated by the United States in 1978-79 and by Norway in 1993. If the American government is reluctant to assume such a unilateral responsibility, then an alternative is the International Quartet (United States, Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union) -- still with American leadership.

An overwhelming majority of citizens of Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Palestine want peace, with justice for all who live in the Holy Land. It will be a shame if the world community fails to help them reach this goal.

Scheduled public programs pertaining to the book

On February 22, 2007, former President Jimmy Carter will participate in a "conversation" about this book with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the Carter Center, moderated by Conflict Resolution Program Director Matthew Hodes.

Notes

1. "Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction," New York Times December 31, 2006, accessed December 24, 2006.
2. ^ Excerpt: Carter's 'Palestine Peace Not Apartheid', ABC News; rpt. from excerpt featured on official website of Simon and Schuster (Chapter 17: "Summary").
3. ^ Jimmy Carter, "Speaking Frankly about Israel and Palestine," The Los Angeles Times December 8, 2006, accessed December 23, 2006. Rpt. in the London Guardian. Cite error: The named reference "latimes" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
4. ^ Jimmy Carter, "Reiterating the Keys to Peace," Boston Globe December 20, 2006
5. Lena Khalaf Tuffaha (November 15, 2006). "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, by Jimmy Carter". Institute for Middle East Understanding. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. Michael F. Brown (November 20, 2006). "Dems Rebut Carter on Israeli 'Apartheid'". The Nation. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. Sherri Muzher (2006-12-05). "Title is Reality for Palestinians". Jordan Times, et al. Retrieved 2006-12-23.
8. Michael Lerner (December 6, 2006). "Thank You, Jimmy Carter". TomPaine.com (blog). Retrieved 2006-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
9. Sid Ryan, "You'll Get an Earful If You Oppose Israel," The Toronto Sun December 15, 2006.
10. Robert Fisk, "Banality and bare faced lies," The Independent December 23, 2006.
11. Brad Hooper, Book review of Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid, Booklist (American Library Association), posted online in ThePerfectSystem.net and excerpted on Amazon.com and elsewhere.
12. Ali Abunimah, A Palestinian View of Jimmy Carter's Book, Wall Street Journal, December 28, 2006, (no-registration copy)
13. John Dugard (November 29, 2006). "Israelis adopt what South Africa dropped". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2006-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
14. ^ Ask the Expert: US policy in the Middle East, Zbigniew Brzezinski, London Financial Times, December 4, 2006.
15. Saree Makdisi, On the New Book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid”, San Francisco Chronicle, December 20, 2006
16. Norman Finkelstein, The Ludicrous Attacks on Jimmy Carter's Book, CounterPunch, December 28 2006
17. "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid: The Facts," online posting on the website of the Anti-Defamation League, accessed December 26, 2006.
18. As qtd. by James D. Besser, "Jewish Criticism Of Carter Intensifies: Charge of Anti-Semitism from One Leader as Ex-president Deepens His Critique of Israeli Policy in West Bank," The Jewish Week December 15, 2005, accessed December 26, 2006.
19. See its ""Roundup of Commentary on Jimmy Carter's Book," posted on December 6, 2006, accessed December 26, 2006.
20. Lee Green, "Jimmy Carter Distorts Facts, Demonizes Israel in New Book," December 1, 2006, posted online in "Roundup of Commentary on Jimmy Carter’s Book," CAMERA, December 6, 2006, accessed December 26, 2006. Cf. related comments by Lee Green, as qtd. in John Kelly's article "The Middle East: Are Critics of Israel Stifled?" The Atlanta Journal-Constitution December 17, 2006, accessed December 26, 2006.
21. Gilead Ini, "Carter Admits to Ignoring Key Source," December 9, 2006, posted online in "Roundup of Commentary on Jimmy Carter’s Book," CAMERA, December 6, 2006, accessed December 26, 2006. (Gilead Ini is described in another online publication as a "Senior Research Analyst," for CAMERA .)
22. ^ Jennifer Siegel (October 27, 2006). "Dems Repudiate Carter Book". Jewish Daily Forward. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
23. Jennifer Siegel (October 17, 2006). "Carter Book Slaps Israel With 'Apartheid' Tag, Provides Ammo to GOP". Jewish Daily Forward. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
24. "U.S. Lawmaker Chides Carter on 'Apartheid'". JTA: Global News Service of the Jewish People Jewish Telegraphic Agency. October 25, 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
25. ^ Dennis Ross, Interview, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, CNN December 8, 2006. Cite error: The named reference "ross" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
26. ^ Alan Dershowitz, "Why Won't Carter Debate His Book?" Boston Globe December 21, 2006.
27. ^ Alan Dershowitz, "The World According to Carter", New York Sun November 22, 2006.
28. As qtd. by Farah Stockman and Marcella Bombardieri, "Carter Book Won't Stir Brandeis Debate: Ex-president Was to Outline View on Palestinians," Boston Globe December 15, 2006; "Brandeis president Jehuda Reinharz said he agreed with a trustee's suggestion to invite Carter last month, if Carter were willing to debate one of his most outspoken critics, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz."
29. "Brandeis Students Support Carter Visit: Students, Faculty Sign Online Petition," online posting, TheBostonChannel.com, WCVB-TV, Channel 5, Boston, December 26, 2006, accessed December 26, 2006.
30. Associated Press (December 8, 2006). "President Carter's New Book Spurs Aide To Resign". New York Sun. Retrieved 2006-12-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
31. Kenneth Stein (December 7, 2006). "FOX Facts: Dr. Kenneth W. Stein's Letter (reprint)". FOX News. Retrieved 2006-12-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
32. Karen DeYoung (December 7, 2006). "Carter Book on Israel 'Apartheid' Sparks Bitter Debate". Washington Post. Retrieved 2006-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
34. Emory professor: Carter will hurt center, Journal Constitution
35. ^ Chris Hedges, "Get Carter," The Nation, December 20, 2006, accessed December 26, 2006.
36. Jeffrey Goldberg, "What would Jimmy do?," Washington Post, December 10, 2006.
37. ^ Tom Segev,"Memoir of a Great Friend," Haaretz, December 12, 2006.
38. David A. Harris,"Carter's compromised statesmanship," The Jerusalem Post, December 4, 2006.
39. "Interview with Jimmy Carter," Larry King Live, CNN November 27, 2006.
40. ^ Jimmy Carter, "Israel, Palestine, Peace and Apartheid," London Guardian December 12, 2006.
41. ^ Greg Bluestein, for the Associated Press, "Carter Defends His Book's Criticism of Israeli Policy," online posting, Examiner.com December 8, 2006, accessed December 24, 2006; updated in Associated Press, "Carter Explains Apartheid Reference in Letter to US Jews," December 15, 2006, accessed December 24, 2006.
42. Christian Boone (December 6, 2006). "Adviser Breaks with Carter on Mideast Book". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2006-12-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
43. Josh Getlin (December 8, 2006). "Maps in Carter's book are questioned". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2006-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
44. "Jimmy Carter Issues Letter to Jewish Community on Palestine Peace Not Apartheid: A Letter to Jewish Citizens of America," press release, Carter Center December 15, 2006, accessed December 24, 2006.
45. Associated Press, "Carter Explains Apartheid Reference in Letter to US Jews," online posting, Examiner.com December 15, 2006, accessed December 24, 2006. (Updates Bluestein.)
46. Conversations at the Carter Center 2006-2007, accessed December 24, 2006. (Free admission, RSVP required.)

References

Book excerpts

• Excerpt: Chapter 17, featured by publisher Simon and Schuster. Also featured as Excerpt by ABC News.
• Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. Simon and Schuster book description. (Links to Podcast.)
  • SimonSays Weekly Podcast featured book. Simon and Schuster. November 16, 2006. (No longer accessible at that URL.)

Book reviews

• Excerpts from book reviews posted on Amazon.com. Accessed December 24, 2006.
• Goldberg, Jeffrey (2006-12-10). "What Would Jimmy Do?". Washington Post. Retrieved 2006-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• "Roundup of Commentary on Jimmy Carter's Book." Online posting. CAMERA. December 6, 2006. Accessed December 26, 2006.
• Review of Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, at California Literary Review.

Related opinion-editorials and interviews by Jimmy Carter

• Interview with Jimmy Carter. Rush transcript. Larry King Live. CNN November 27, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2006.
• "Israel, Palestine, Peace and Apartheid: Americans Need to Know the Facts about the Abominable Oppression of the Palestinians." London Guardian December 12, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2006. Rpt. from The Los Angeles Times of December 8, 2006.
• "Jimmy Carter Issues Letter to Jewish Community on Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, 15 December 2006: A Letter to Jewish Citizens of America." Press release. Carter Center December 15, 2006. Accessed December 24, 2006.
• "Last Word: Jimmy Carter: Revisiting 'Apartheid'." Interview with Jimmy Carter regarding Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid published in Newsweek and featured by MSNBC.
• "Speaking Frankly about Israel and Palestine." Los Angeles Times December 8, 2006, Op-Ed. Accessed December 23, 2006. Rpt. in the London Guardian on December 12, 2006.
• "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid...Jimmy Carter in His Own Words." Interview conducted by Amy Goodman. Democracy Now! November 30, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2006. Incl. audio link to interview and "rush transcript."
• "Reiterating the Keys to Peace." Boston Globe December 20, 2006, Op-Ed. Accessed December 23, 2006.

News accounts by others

• Associated Press. "Carter Explains Apartheid Reference in Letter to US Jews." Online posting. Examiner.com December 15, 2006. Accessed December 24, 2006. (Updates Bluestein.)
• Bluestein, Greg, for the Associated Press. "Carter Defends His Book's Criticism of Israeli Policy." Online posting. Examiner.com December 8, 2006. Accessed December 24, 2006. (Updated by Associated Press.)
• Bosman, Julie. "Carter View of Israeli 'Apartheid' Stirs Furor." New York Times December 12, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2006. (TimesSelect subscription required.)
• Goodman, Brenda, and Julie Bosman. "Former Aide Parts with Carter over Book." New York Times December 7, 2006, Arts. Accessed December 23, 2006. (TimesSelect subscription required.)
• Kelly, John. "The Middle East: Are Critics of Israel Stifled?" The Atlanta Journal-Constitution December 17, 2006. Accessed December 26, 2006.

See also

• Allegations of Israeli apartheid
• Carter Center

• Current events
• Books by Jimmy Carter
• Jimmy Carter
• 2006 books
• Books about Israel
• Political science books
• Books available as e-books