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{{Short description|2006 book by Jimmy Carter}}
{{current}}{{NPOV}}{{Cleanup|December 2006}}
{{pp-30-500|small=yes}}
{{Infobox Book
{{Infobox book
|name = Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid
|image = ] | name = Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid
| image = Palestine Peace Not Apartheid.jpg
|image_caption = Cover showing the author, left, and protesters at the ], right
| caption = Cover showing the author, left, and protesters at the ], right
|author = ]
| author = ]
|illustrator =
|cover_artist = Michael Accordino | cover_artist = Michael Accordino
|country = United States of America | country = United States
|language = English | language = English
|subject = Political Science | subject = ]
|publisher = ] | published = 2006 (Simon & Schuster)
| media_type = Print (]), Audiobook (])
|release_date = ] ]
|media_type = Hardback | pages = 264 pp
|pages = 264 | isbn = 978-0-7432-8502-5
|isbn = ISBN 978-0-7432-8502-5 | dewey = 956.04 22
| congress = DS119.7 .C3583 2006
|preceded_by = Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis
}}
|followed_by =
}}'''''Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid''''' is a ]<ref>," '']'' ], ], accessed ], ].</ref> written by ], former ] and winner of the 2002 ], and published by ] in ] ]. While President, Carter hosted ] between ] and ] in 1978 that led to a ] between ] and ], and he has occasionally commented on the ] 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."<ref name="abcnewsx">, ]; rpt. from excerpt featured on official website of ] (Chapter 17: "Summary").</ref>


'''''Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid'''''<ref>{{cite web|title=Annotated Bibliography of books by Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter|url=https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/library/carterbi.phtml|website=www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov|access-date=16 April 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601225124/https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/library/carterbi.phtml|archive-date=1 June 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> is a book written by 39th ] ]. It was published by ] in November 2006.<ref>According to https://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/bestseller/index.html "Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction", ''New York Times'', accessed 27 January 2007: ''Palestine Peace Not Apartheid'' was number 6 on the list as of date accessed. It was listed as number 11 in on 18 March 2007, on the list for 15 weeks for the week ending 3 March 2007. As of 6 May 2007 it no longer appears on the expanded list featured at that site</ref>
==The table of contents of '''''Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid'''''==
<div class="small"><table><tr><td>''List of Maps''</td><td> </td><td>13. The Geneva Initiative</td></tr>
<tr><td>''Historical Chronology''</td><td> </td><td>14. The Palestinian Election, 2005</td></tr>
<tr><td>1. Prospects for Peace</td><td> </td><td>15. The Palestinian and Israeli Elections, 2006</td></tr>
<tr><td>2. My First Visit to Israel, 1973</td><td> </td><td>16. The Wall as a Prison</td></tr>
<tr><td>3. My Presidency, 1977-81</td><td> </td><td>17. Summary</td></tr>
<tr><td>4. The Key Players</td><td> </td><td>''Appendix 1: U.N. Resolution 242, 1967''</td></tr>
<tr><td>5. Other Neighbors</td><td> </td><td>''Appendix 2: U.N. Resolution 338, 1973''</td></tr>
<tr><td>6. The Reagan Years, 1981-89</td><td> </td><td>''Appendix 3: Camp David Accords, 1978''</td></tr>
<tr><td>7. My Visits with Palestinians</td><td> </td><td>''Appendix 4: Framework for Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, 1978''</td></tr>
<tr><td>8. The George H. W. Bush Years</td><td> </td><td>''Appendix 5: U.N. Resolution 465, 1980''</td></tr>


The book is primarily based on ], hosted by Carter during his presidency, between ] of ] and ] of ] that led to the ].
<tr><td>9. The Oslo Agreement</td><td> </td><td>''Appendix 6: Arab Peace Proposal, 2002''</td></tr>
<tr><td>10. The Palestinian Election, 1996</td><td> </td><td>''Appendix 7: Israel's Response to the Roadmap, May 25, 2003''</td></tr>
<tr><td>11. Bill Clinton's Peace Efforts</td><td> </td><td>''Acknowledgments''</td></tr>
<tr><td>12. The George W. Bush Years</td><td> </td><td>''Index''</td></tr>
</table>
</div>


In this book Carter argues that Israel's continued control and ] have been the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement in the ].<ref name="chap17">{{Cite web |title=SimonSays's On Demand Pages on Vimeo |url=https://vimeo.com/simonandschuster/vod_pages |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=vimeo.com}}</ref> That perspective, coupled with the use of the word '']'' in the title, and what critics said were errors and misstatements in the book, sparked controversy. Carter has defended his book and countered that response to it "in the real world…has been overwhelmingly positive."<ref name=latimes>{{cite web|last1=Carter|first1=Jimmy|title=Speaking frankly about Israel and Palestine|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/la-oe-carter8dec08-story.html|work=]|access-date=16 April 2017|date=8 December 2006}}</ref>
==Purpose, main argument, and some major points of the book==
==="The ultimate purpose"===
{{cquote|<blockquote>''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.)<ref name="latimes">Jimmy Carter, '']'' ], ], accessed ], ]. Rpt. in the London '']''.</ref></blockquote>}}


The documentary '']'' (2007) depicts the book tour Carter undertook to promote his book.
===Thesis: How to achieve "permanent peace in the Middle East"===
Carter identifies "two interrelated obstacles to permanent peace in the Middle East":<blockquote>
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<br>
Some Palestinians react by honoring suicide bombers as martyrs to be rewarded in heaven and consider the killing of Israelis as victories.<ref name="abcnewsx" /></blockquote>


==Purpose, main argument, and major points==
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":


==="The ultimate purpose"===
<blockquote>
<blockquote>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 ] 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.<ref name=latimes/></blockquote>
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.<br>
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 <nowiki></nowiki> 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.<ref name="abcnewsx" /></blockquote>


===Thesis: How to achieve "permanent peace in the Middle East"===
==="Some 'Major points'"===
Carter identifies "two interrelated obstacles to permanent peace in the Middle East":
In a recent op-ed published by the ''Boston Globe'', Carter summarized some of the book's "major points" as follows:
<blockquote> <blockquote>
Some ] believe they have the right to ] and ] Palestinian land and try to justify the sustained subjugation and persecution of increasingly hopeless and aggravated Palestinians; and<br>
*Multiple deaths of innocent civilians have occurred on both sides, and this violence and all terrorism must cease.
Some ] react by honoring ]s as ]s to be rewarded in heaven and consider the killing of Israelis as victories.<ref name=chap17/></blockquote>
*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.)<ref name="reiterating">Jimmy Carter, '']'' ], ]</ref></blockquote>


To bring an end to what he calls "this continuing tragedy", in Chapter 17 ("Summary"), Carter calls for a revitalization of the peace process based on the following three "key requirements":
==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 ] on ], ], 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."<ref>{{cite news|author=Lena Khalaf Tuffaha|url=http://imeu.net/news/article003566.shtml|title=Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, by Jimmy Carter|publisher=Institute for Middle East Understanding|date=], ]}}</ref>


<blockquote>
In an article published in '']'' on ], ], 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."<ref name=brown>{{cite news|author=Michael F. Brown|url=http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061204/brown|title=Dems Rebut Carter on Israeli 'Apartheid'|publisher=The Nation|date=], ]}}</ref>
'''a. The security of Israel must be guaranteed''' ...


'''b. The internal debate within Israel must be resolved in order to define Israel's permanent legal boundary''' ...
Sherri Muzher, founder of Michigan Media Watch, writes in the '']'' on ], ]: "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."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.arabamericannews.com/newsarticle.php?articleid=6941
|author = Sherri Muzher|title=Title is Reality for Palestinians
|publisher=Jordan Times, et al.
|date=2006-12-05
|accessdate=2006-12-23}}</ref>


'''c. The sovereignty of all Middle East nations and sanctity of international borders must be honored''' ...<ref name="chap17" /></blockquote>
As posted on ], ], Rabbi ] 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."<ref>{{cite news|author=Michael Lerner
|authorlink=Michael Lerner
|url=http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/12/06/thank_you_jimmy_carter.php
|title=Thank You, Jimmy Carter
|publisher=TomPaine.com (blog)
|date=], ]
|accessdate=2006-12-15}}</ref>


===The Apartheid analogy===
In his column published in the '']'' on ], ], ] writes: <blockquote>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.<ref>Sid Ryan, '']'' ], ].</ref></blockquote>
Regarding the use of the word "Apartheid" in the title of his book, Carter has said:


<blockquote>It's not Israel. The book has nothing to do with what's going on inside Israel which is a wonderful democracy, you know, where everyone has guaranteed equal rights and where, under the law, Arabs and Jews who are Israelis have the same privileges about Israel. That's been most of the controversy because people assume it's about Israel. It's not.<ref name="LifeAndTimesTranscript">{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref></blockquote>
] declares the book to be "a good, strong read by the only American president approaching sainthood."<ref>], '']'' ], ].</ref> 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."


<blockquote>I've never alleged that the framework of apartheid existed within Israel at all, and that what does exist in the West Bank is based on trying to take Palestinian land and not on racism. So it was a very clear distinction.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/21/le.01.html | work=CNN | access-date=2010-05-05 | title=CNN.com}}</ref></blockquote>
Brad Hooper, reviewing the book in '']'', a publication of the ], 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." <ref>Brad Hooper, , '']'' (]), posted online in ''ThePerfectSystem.net'' and excerpted on ] and elsewhere.<!--Checked but not verified; not clear what original source is.--></ref>


In remarks broadcast over radio, Carter claimed that Israel's policies amounted to an apartheid worse than South Africa's:<ref name="HAIP">{{cite web|url=https://www.haaretz.com/2006-12-11/ty-article/jimmy-carter-israels-apartheid-policies-worse-than-south-africas/0000017f-db7c-d3a5-af7f-fbfea0530000|title=Jimmy Carter: Israel's 'Apartheid' Policies Worse Than South Africa's|work=Haaretz|accessdate=19 February 2023|date=12 November 2006}}</ref><blockquote>When Israel does occupy this territory deep within the West Bank, and connects the 200-or-so settlements with each other, with a road, and then prohibits the Palestinians from using that road, or in many cases even crossing the road, this perpetrates even worse instances of apartness, or apartheid, than we witnessed even in South Africa.<ref name="HAIP" /></blockquote>
], in the ], writes:
<blockquote>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.<ref>], , ], December 28, 2006, ()</ref></blockquote>


====Praise from Academics==== ==="Some major points"===
In his ] "Reiterating the Keys to Peace", published in '']'' on 20 December 2006, Carter summarizes "ome major points in the book":
=====John Dugard=====
<blockquote>
South African professor of international law ], writing for the '']'' on ], ], 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."<ref>{{cite news|author=John Dugard
* Multiple deaths of innocent civilians have occurred on both sides, and this ] and all terrorism must cease
|url=http://www.ajc.com/search/content/opinion/stories/2006/11/29/1129edcarter.html
* For 39 years, Israel has ], and has ] and ] hundreds of choice sites
|title=Israelis adopt what South Africa dropped
* Often excluded from their former homes, land, and places of worship, protesting Palestinians have been severely dominated and oppressed. There is forced ] between ]s and Palestine's citizens, with a complex ] required for Arabs to traverse Israel's multiple ]
|date=], ]
* An enormous wall snakes through populated areas of what is left of the ], constructed on wide swaths of bulldozed trees and property of Arab families, obviously designed to acquire more territory and to protect the ] already built. (] declared a unilateral ] 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.)
|publisher=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
* Combined with this wall, Israeli control of the ] 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
|accessdate=2006-12-15}}</ref>
* 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 ], with half the families surviving on one meal a day
* ], first as prime minister and now as president of the ] and leader of the ], 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 ]
* ], the ] of 1978, the ] of 1993, official US Policy, and the ] are all based on the premise that Israel withdraw from ]. 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<ref name=reiterating>Jimmy Carter, http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/20/reiterating_the_keys_to_peace/ "Reiterating the Keys to Peace," ''Boston Globe'' 20 December 2006, accessed 3 January 2007. (Bullets added)</ref></blockquote>


==Critical reaction and commentary==
=====Zbigniew Brzezinski=====
{{Main article|Commentary on Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid}}
In the London '']'', ], former ] advisor to President Carter and currently a professor of American foreign policy at the ]'s ] and a scholar at the ], condemns the "abusive reactions directed at , including some newspaper ads" for being "objectionable and designed to intimidate an open public discussion."<ref name=Brzezinski>, ], London '']'', ], ].</ref>
Critical response to ''Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid'' at the time of release was mixed. According to Julie Bosman, criticism of the book "has escalated to a full-scale furor," much of which has focused on Carter's use of the word "]" in the subtitle.<ref name="Bosman">{{Cite news |last=Bosman |first=Julie |date=2006-12-14 |title=Carter Book Stirs Furor With Its View of Israelis' 'Apartheid' |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/books/14cart.html |access-date=2022-07-21 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Some critics, including several leaders of the ] and of ]ish organizations, have interpreted the subtitle as an ], which they believe to be inflammatory and unsubstantiated.<ref name=BrandeisNews>http://my.brandeis.edu/news/item?news_item_id=7816 "Brandeis News: Full coverage of the Historic Jan. 23rd Visit by Former President Jimmy Carter," ], 24 January 2007, accessed 27 January 2007</ref><ref name=Zeller>Tom Zeller, Jr., http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/carter-and-his-critics-the-skirmishes-continue/ "Carter and His Critics: The Skirmishes Continue," ''New York Times'', The Lede (blog), 12 January 2007, assessed 12 January 2007; includes {{cite web |url=http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/thelede/posts/CarterCenter.pdf |title=Letter of resignation dated 11 January 2007}}&nbsp;{{small|(79.4&nbsp;])}}</ref><ref name=Pfeiffer>Eric Pfeiffer, http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070125-112710-7481r.htm "Carter Apologizes for 'stupid' Book Passage,"] '']'' 26 January 2007, accessed 26 January 2007</ref> ], Senior Editor at ] and a former anti-Apartheid activist for the ], said: "Jimmy Carter had to write this book precisely because Palestinian life and history is not accorded equal value in American discourse, far from it. And his use of the word apartheid is not only morally valid; it is essential, because it shakes the moral stupor that allows many liberals to rationalize away the daily, grinding horror being inflicted on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Israel and Apartheid: In Defense of Jimmy Carter {{!}} Rootless Cosmopolitan – By Tony Karon |url=http://tonykaron.com/2006/12/22/israel-and-apartheid-in-defense-of-jimmy-carter/ |access-date=2022-07-21 |language=en-US}}</ref> Former President ] wrote a brief letter to the chairman of the ], thanking him for articles criticizing the book and citing his agreement with ]'s attempts to "straighten ... out" Carter's claims and conclusions about Clinton's own summer 2000 Camp David peace proposal.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808035212/http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=1531911&ct=3698445 |date=2007-08-08 }}, press release, ], n.d., accessed 3 May 2007</ref><ref name=Siegel>Cf. ], Clinton: 'I Don’t Know Where His Information Came From'", '']'', 30 March 2007, accessed 3 May 2007</ref>


Critics claim that Carter crossed the line into anti-Semitism. ], the national director of the ], initially accused Carter of "engaging in anti-Semitism" in the book; Foxman told ] later that he would not call the former president himself an "anti-Semite" or a "bigot".<ref name=Besser>James D. Besser, {{cite web |url=http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=13420 |title=Jewish and Israel News from New York - the Jewish Week |access-date=2006-12-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613195955/http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=13420 |archive-date=2007-06-13 }} "Jewish Criticism of Carter Intensifies: Charge of Anti-Semitism from One Leader as Ex-president Deepens His Critique of Israeli Policy in West Bank", '']'', 15 December 2005, accessed 8 January 2007</ref><ref name="Traub">{{Cite news |last=Traub |first=James |date=2007-01-14 |title=Does Abe Foxman Have an Anti-Anti-Semite Problem? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/magazine/14foxman.t.html |access-date=2022-07-21 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Ethan Bronner also asserted that Carter's "overstatement" in the book "hardly adds up to anti-Semitism."<ref name="Bronner">{{Cite news |last=Bronner |first=Ethan |date=2007-01-07 |title=Jews, Arabs and Jimmy Carter |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/books/review/Bronner.t.html |access-date=2022-07-21 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Brzezinski agrees with the main thesis of the book:
<blockquote>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: i.e., 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. <ref name=Brzezinski/></blockquote>


Some journalists and academics have praised Carter for what they believe to be speaking honestly about the ] in a media environment described as hostile to opponents of Israel's policies.<ref name=Bisharat>George Bisharat, , '']'', January 2, 2007, editorial, accessed January 11, 2007.</ref><ref>], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070115040408/http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2097774.ece |date=2007-01-15 }} '']'' December 23, 2006, accessed January 3, 2007.</ref> Some left-leaning Israeli politicians such as ] and ] argued that Carter's critique of Israeli policy in the Palestinian territories reflects that of many Israelis themselves.<ref name="Beilin">{{Cite web |date=2007-01-20 |title=Carter Is No More Critical of Israel Than Israelis Themselves |url=https://forward.com/opinion/9895/carter-is-no-more-critical-of-israel-than-israelis/ |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref>
=====Saree Makdisi=====
UCLA professor and Middle East commentator ], in ], writes that "Carter's apartheid charge rings true" and continues:
<blockquote>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.<ref>], , ], December 20, 2006</ref></blockquote>


==Carter's response to criticism of the book==
=====Norman Finkelstein=====
{{Further|Commentary on Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid#Carter's response to criticism of the book}}
According to ], an ] of ] at ], Carter's analysis is mainstream and uncontroversial outside of the U.S.:
<blockquote>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.<ref name=FinkelsteinCP>], , CounterPunch, December 28 2006</ref></blockquote>


Carter has responded to negative reviews in the mainstream ] in an op-ed published in the '']'' (which was excerpted in '']'' and elsewhere):
===Negative reaction: Denigration of the book and distancing from its author===
The ] (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 ], the ], and the ].<ref> online posting on the website of the ], accessed ], ].</ref>


{{poem quote|Book reviews in the mainstream media have been written mostly by representatives of Jewish organizations who would be unlikely to visit the occupied territories, and their primary criticism is that the book is ]. Two members of ] have been publicly critical. Incoming Speaker ] for instance, issued a statement (before the book was published) saying that "he does not speak for the ] on Israel." Some reviews posted on ] call me "anti-Semitic", and others accuse the book of "lies" and "distortions". A former Carter Center fellow has taken issue with it, and Alan Dershowitz called the book's title "indecent."
], 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.<ref>As qtd. by James D. Besser, Charge of Anti-Semitism from One Leader as Ex-president Deepens His Critique of Israeli Policy in West Bank," '']'' ], ], accessed ], ].</ref>


Out in the real world, however, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I've signed books in five stores, with more than 1,000 buyers at each site. I've had one negative remark—that I should be tried for ]—and one caller on ] said that I was an anti-Semite. My most troubling experience has been the rejection of my offers to speak, for free, about the book on ] campuses with high Jewish enrollment and to answer questions from students and professors. I have been most encouraged by prominent Jewish citizens and members of Congress who have thanked me privately for presenting the facts and some new ideas.<ref name="latimes"/><ref name="Carter">Jimmy Carter, , ''The Guardian'' (London), 12 December 2006</ref>}}
The ], 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.<ref>See its " posted on ], ], accessed ], ].</ref>


He also wrote a "Letter to Jewish Citizens of America" explaining "his use of the term 'apartheid' and sympathizing with Israelis who fear terrorism."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-12-16 |title=Carter explains his book’s ‘apartheid’ reference |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna16233069 |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jimmy Carter Issues Letter to Jewish Community on Palestine Peace Not Apartheid |url=https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/carter_letter_121506.html |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=The Carter Center |language=en-US}}</ref>
Lee Green, director of letter writing for CAMERA, in an article dated ], ], 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.<ref>Lee Green, ], ], posted online in ], ], ], accessed ], ]. Cf. related comments by Lee Green, as qtd. in John Kelly's article "The Middle East: Are Critics of Israel Stifled?" '']'' ], ], accessed ], ].</ref>


In a report updated by the ] after the publication of Carter's "Letter to Jewish Citizens of America", ] observes that Carter replied generally to complaints of the book's errors and inaccuracies by ], ], ], the ], and others by pointing out that the ] staff as well as an "unnamed 'distinguished' reporter" fact-checked it.<ref name="APLetter">], , '']'', 15 December 2006, accessed 12 March 2007</ref><ref name="CarterJV">{{cite web |url=http://jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/120806/D8LSR7J03.shtml |title=Carter defends his book's criticism of Israeli policy |work=] |date=8 December 2006 |access-date=15 February 2014}}</ref> ] points out that, as cited in various news accounts, "Carter has consistently defended his book's accuracy against Stein and other critics"; in a prepared statement, Carter's press secretary ] responds "that Carter had his book reviewed for accuracy throughout the writing process" and that "s with all of President Carter's previous books, any detected errors will be corrected in later editions ..."<ref>Rachel Zelkowitz, http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=16915 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611220932/http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=16915 |date=2008-06-11 }} "Professor Describes Carter 'Inaccuracies{{'"}}, '']'', 12 December 2006, accessed 12 January 2007. Carter reiterated a desire to correct any such errors in his subsequent speaking engagement at ] and elsewhere (see section below).</ref> In response to the Associated Press's request for a comment on the resignations of Stein and 14 other members of the Center's Board of Councilors, speaking on behalf of both Carter and the Carter Center, Congileo provided a statement from its executive director, John Hardman, who, according to Zelkowitz, "also fact checked ''Palestine'', saying that the members of that board 'are not engaged in implementing the work of the Center.{{'"}}<ref name=AccessNoGa>], {{cite web|url=http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID%3D85859 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-01-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927202429/http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=85859 |archive-date=2007-09-27 }} "Atlanta: 14 Carter Center Advisers Resign in Protest Over Book", AccessNorthGA.com, 11 January 2007, accessed 11 January 2007</ref>
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 ] envoy ]. 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."<ref>Gilead Ini, ], ], posted online in ], ], ], accessed ], ]. (Gilead Ini is described in another online publication as a "Senior Research Analyst," for CAMERA .)</ref>


==Public and other programs pertaining to the book==
====Politicians and legislators====
Carter has said that debate on Israel-related issues is muffled in the ] by lobbying efforts of the ]: "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 ] and the absence of any significant contrary voices."<ref name=latimes/><ref name=Carter/> He has stressed that through the debate he hopes this book will stimulate and through his own related public-speaking and media appearances, he hopes to tear down the "impenetrable wall" that stops the people of the US from seeing the plight of Palestinians.<ref name=latimes/><ref name=Carter/>
Prior to the ] and before the book was published, Democrats criticized the former ] president's book.


===Brandeis University visit===
On ], ], the '']'' reported that ] Chairman ] 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 ]. 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."<ref name="Siegel">{{cite news|author=Jennifer Siegel|url=http://www.forward.com/articles/dems-repudiate-carter-book/|title=Dems Repudiate Carter Book|publisher=]|date=], ]}}</ref>
In early December 2006 ] invited Carter to visit the university to debate his book with ]. 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." Carter said that the Brandeis debate request "is proof that many in the United States are unwilling to hear an alternative view on the nation's most taboo foreign policy issue, Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory," adding: "There is no debate in America about anything that would be critical of Israel."<ref name="Stockman">{{Cite news |last1=Stockman |first1=Farah |last2=Bombardieri |first2=Marcella |date=2006-12-15 |title=Carter book won't stir Brandeis debate |work=Boston.com |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/12/15/carter_book_wont_stir_brandeis_debate/ |access-date=2022-07-21}}</ref>


Dershowitz criticized Carter's refusal to debate him, asserting: "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."<ref name="DershowitzGlobe">{{Cite news |last=Dershowitz |first=Alan |title=Why won't Carter debate his book? |work=Boston.com |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/21/why_wont_carter_debate_his_book/ |access-date=2022-07-21}}</ref> He later wrote in ''The Case Against Israel's Enemies'' that Carter's accusation of his ignorance was untrue "since we had discussed my several visits to the Palestinian Authority during our conversation only months earlier in Herzliya."<ref>''The Case Against Israel's Enemies'', 20</ref> {{Further|Alan Dershowitz#Jimmy Carter's book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid|Alan Dershowitz#Alan Dershowitz and Jimmy Carter}}
Similarly, as cited by Siegel, Democratic House ] ] points out that the book does not represent the Democratic Party's views on Israel: "It is wrong to suggest that the ] 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."<ref name="Siegel" />


In a Boston Globe article of 22 December 2006, Patricia Johnston said she and many colleagues had offered to chip in perhaps $100 each to pay for whatever travel and security costs a Carter visit would entail. "Who is Alan Dershowitz?" Johnston said. Carter "is the former president of the United States, who has done so much to further the cause of peace in the Middle East and elsewhere. It's an insult to suggest that he should have to defend himself that way." She said she envisioned Carter giving a traditional speech and taking audience questions.<ref name="BrandeisGroup">{{Cite news |last=Bombardieri |first=Marcella |date=2006-12-22 |title=Brandeis group pursues Carter visit |work=Boston.com |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/12/22/brandeis_group_pursues_carter_visit/ |access-date=2022-07-21}}</ref>
According to Siegel, "everal Democratic members of New York’s House delegation — Reps. ], ] and ] — also have issued statements criticizing Carter’s book, as did Rep. ], a Michigan Democrat who is often criticized by members of the Jewish community for his failure to support Israel in a certain instance."<ref name="Siegel" />


On 26 December 2006, ] (an ] affiliate), reported that "bout 100 students, faculty and alumni of ] 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."<ref name="Bostonstudents">http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/10609718/detail.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930155316/http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/10609718/detail.html |date=2007-09-30 }} "Brandeis Students Support Carter Visit: Students, Faculty Sign Online Petition", (updated) online posting, ''TheBostonChannel.com'', WCVB-TV, Channel 5, Boston, 26 December 2006, accessed 26 December 2006</ref>
In his own statement, as reported by Siegel on ], ], ] ] 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."<ref name="Siegel2">{{cite news|url=http://www.forward.com/articles/carter-book-slaps-israel-with-%E2%80%98apartheid%E2%80%99-tag/|title=Carter Book Slaps Israel With 'Apartheid' Tag, Provides Ammo to GOP|author=Jennifer Siegel|publisher=]|date=], ]}}</ref>


''The Boston Globe'' reported that since it initially revealed "that Carter felt unwelcome on the Waltham campus, people have argued over whether he is unwilling to answer for his views, or whether Brandeis, which was founded by the American Jewish community, can't tolerate criticism of Israel. The latter is a view that some professors hope they can dispel by reviving the Carter visit."<ref name="BrandeisGroup"/>
To his fellow Democrats' voices, in his statement reported by the ] on ], ], ] ] 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."<ref name="Siegel" /> For him the title "does not serve the cause of peace and the use of it... is offensive and wrong."<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.jta.org/page_view_breaking_story.asp?intid=5272
|title=U.S. Lawmaker Chides Carter on 'Apartheid'
|publisher=JTA: Global News Service of the Jewish People ]
|date=], ]
|accessdate=2006-12-15}}</ref>


On 10 January 2007, it was reported that Carter would discuss ''Palestine Peace Not Apartheid'' at Brandeis University but that he would "not, however, debate the book with" Dershowitz.<ref name=AccessNoGa/> Brandeis officials reported that Carter would "be the first former president to visit Brandeis since Harry Truman delivered the commencement address in 1957.... It will be Carter's first visit to a university to discuss the book, Congileo said", confirming also "the president has set no conditions and would answer as many questions as possible"; Carter plans to "speak for about 15 minutes and then answer questions for 45 minutes during the visit."
====Academic critics====
=====Dennis Ross=====
Ambassador ], 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 ], the ], funded and founded by the ]. In the fall of 2005, Ross taught a class in Mid-East Peace at ], and taught it again at ] 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."<ref name="ross">], '']'' with ], ] ], ].</ref>


The speech, which occurred on 23 January 2007, was "closed to the public and limited to 'members of the university community only{{'"}}; nevertheless, Dershowitz said that he still planned to "attend and question Carter": {{"'}}I will be the first person to have my hand up to ask him a question,' he said. 'I guarantee that they won't stop me from attending.{{'"}}<ref name="Daily">{{Cite web |title=USA TODAY: Latest World and US News - USATODAY.com |url=https://www.usatoday.com/ |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>
Ross insists that Carter's interpretation of the maps in '''''Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid''''' is "just simply wrong."<ref name = ross/> 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.<ref name="ross">Dennis Ross, '']'' with ], ], ], ].</ref> Responding to a question posed by ''CNN'' anchor ], Ross stated that Carter was also "wrong" to suggest that Israel had rejected the American proposals at ]: "his is a matter of record. This is not a matter of interpretation."<ref name="ross">], '']'' with ]. ], ], ].</ref>


On 18 January 2007 news outlets reported Brandeis's announcement that while Dershowitz could not attend Carter's speech, after it ended he would have the stage for a "rebuttal."<ref name="Drosjack">{{Cite web |date=2022-07-21 |title=Israel |url=https://www.foxnews.com/category/world/world-regions/israel |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}</ref>{{Further|Alan Dershowitz#Jimmy Carter's book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid}}
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."<ref name=ross><ref name="ross">], '']'' with ] ] ], ].</ref>


The day after the speech (24 January 2007), ''The New York Times'' reported on the program: "Questions were preselected by the committee that invited Mr. Carter, and the questioners included an Israeli student and a Palestinian student. After Mr. Carter left, Mr. Dershowitz spoke in the same gymnasium, saying that the former president oversimplified the situation and that his conciliatory and sensible-sounding speech at Brandeis belied his words in some other interviews."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Belluck |first=Pam |date=2007-01-24 |title=At Brandeis, Carter Responds to Critics |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/us/24carter.html |access-date=2022-07-21 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> According to David Weber of ], Carter said "that he stood by the book and its title, that he apologized for what he called an 'improper and stupid' sentence in the book and that he had been disturbed by accusations that he was anti-Semitic.... ...acknowledged...that 'Palestine Peace Not Apartheid' has 'caused great concern in the Jewish community,' but noted that it has nonetheless prompted discussion."<ref name=Pfeiffer/><ref>David Weber, ''ABC News'' 23 January 2007, accessed 24 January 2007.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Abel |first1=David |last2=Vaznis |first2=James |date=2007-01-24 |title=Carter wins applause at Brandeis |work=Boston.com |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/01/24/carter_wins_applause_at_brandeis/ |access-date=2022-07-21}}</ref> An editorial published in the ] newspaper, the '']'', concludes: "Carter succeeded in bringing to Brandeis a productive, civil debate."<ref name="Daily"/> Videotaped excerpts from Carter's visit to Brandeis were featured on several national news programs in the United States, such as ]'s morning program '']'', along with follow-up interviews with Carter.<ref name="CarterToday">{{Cite web |title=Sharks spotted at New York City and Long Island beaches |url=http://www.msn.com/en-us/video |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=MSN |language=en-US}}</ref>
In a videotaped clip broadcast as part of the same segment on ]'s '']'', "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."<ref name="ross"> '']'' with ], ] ], ].</ref> According to ]'s correspondent Brian Todd, who comments on the video clip presented on '']'' on ], ], President Carter has identified the specific atlas as ''A Geopolitical Atlas of Palestine'', published by the Applied Research Institute of ]. Brian Todd explains:<blockquote>We tried to contact the firm that Carter says he got those maps from, it's called the in ] to see if they got those maps from ]. We were unable to reach that company. A spokeswoman for President Carter's publisher, ], says they are tracking all of these accusations, but they stand by the president's book. . . .<ref name="ross">], '']'' with ], ] ], ].</ref></blockquote>


As a result of the visit, major donors told Brandeis University that they would no longer give it money in "retaliation", according to ], chief domestic policy adviser and executive director of the White House Domestic Policy Staff during Carter's presidency and a current trustee of Brandeis, as quoted in '']'' in mid-February 2007.<ref name=Cohler-Esses>Larry Cohler-Esses, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218231851/http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=13674 |date=2007-02-18 }} Major Givers Reportedly Withholding Funds from School, Sparking Fierce Free-Speech Debate on Massachusetts Campus", ''The Jewish Week'', 16 February 2006, accessed 23 March 2007</ref>
=====Alan Dershowitz=====
{{see|Alan Dershowitz#Jimmy Carter's book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid|Alan Dershowitz#Alan Dershowitz and Jimmy Carter}}


===''Man from Plains'': Documentary feature film by Jonathan Demme===
], a professor of law at ], and author of several books on the ] &mdash; including '']'' and '']''&mdash; 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."<ref name=DershowitzGlobe>], '']'' ], ].</ref> 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." <ref name=DershowitzGlobe/>
In 2007 ] made the film ''],'' which "follows the former President as he takes part in a book tour across America to publicise his new tome, ''Palestine Peace Not Apartheid''."<ref name=Tilly>Chris Tilly, {{cite web |url=https://www.timeout.com/film/news/1578.html |title=Demme 'Comes in Peace' - the TOMB movie news - Time Out Film |access-date=2007-01-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070526125052/http://www.timeout.com/film/news/1578.html |archive-date=2007-05-26 }} "Demme 'Comes in Peace'," ''The Time Out Movie Blog: This Week's Top Stories from the Movie World'' (TOMB), ''Time Out London'', 5 December 2006, accessed 23 January 2007</ref><ref name=HR>Borys Kitt and Nicole Sperling, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i01ddb1dac0f7f4bd485b9e1f3984dd7a "Demme Helms Docu on Carter for Participant", '']'', 6 December 2006, accessed 3 May 2007. Cf. Nick Paumgarten, http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/12/11/061211ta_talk_paumgarten "Jimmy Carter Aloft", '']'', 11 December 2006, accessed 3 May 2007</ref> According to the ''Boston Globe'' Demme filmed Carter for three months "to compile footage for a documentary about the former president's book and Carter's efforts to increase debate on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict."<ref name="Stockman2">{{Cite news |last=Stockman |first=Farah |date=2007-01-20 |title=Carter film maker faults Brandeis |work=Boston.com |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/01/20/carter_film_maker_faults_brandeis/ |access-date=2022-07-21}}</ref> While it granted camera access to members of the news media for their broadcasts, ] refused Demme's request to film Carter's January 2007 speech for the end of the film, citing logistical and legal considerations.<ref name=Stockman2/> The film debuted at the ] on 10 September 2007.<ref name=TIFF>{{cite web |url=http://www.tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/filmdetails.aspx?id=706281229381386 |title=TIFF '07 - Films & Schedules Man from Plains |access-date=2007-09-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012224458/http://tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/filmdetails.aspx?id=706281229381386 |archive-date=2007-10-12 }} "''Man from Plains'' Jonathan Demme", ] official website "film schedules", accessed 10 September 2007.</ref>


===Carter Center conversation===
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 ], "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."<ref name=Dershowitz>], , '']'' ], ].</ref>
On 22 February 2007 Carter participated in a "conversation" about ''Palestine Peace Not Apartheid'' with former ] ] at the ], moderated by Conflict Resolution Program Director Matthew Hodes. The event sold out in early January 2007.<ref>http://www.cartercenter.org/involved/conversations/index.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061222112224/http://cartercenter.org/involved/conversations/index.html |date=2006-12-22 }} Conversations at the Carter Center 2006–2007, accessed 24 December 2006</ref> It was simultaneously webcast in the Carter Center's online "multi-media" section, and the Center's website now includes a direct link to the "archived webcast."<ref>http://www.cartercenter.org/multimedia/conversations2.07.ram {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715143721/http://www.cartercenter.org/multimedia/conversations2.07.ram |date=2007-07-15 }} Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, ''Carter Center'', ] media file (Updated), accessed 25 February 2007</ref>


===George Washington University visit===
In an op-ed published in the '']'' on ], ], Dershowitz asserts that Carter was not sufficiently forthcoming about qualifying a parallel to South African apartheid:<blockquote> 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."<ref name=Dershowitz/></blockquote>
{{undue weight|date=March 2022}}
On 8 March 2007 ] hosted a visit by Carter during which he discussed his book. According to reporter ] in '']'', a group of Jewish students led by Robert Fishman, executive director of the campus ], dominated the microphones, preventing other students from asking questions, while asking questions critical of Carter prepared, forwarded, and distributed to them in advance by faculty and students at ] as if they were their own questions:
<blockquote>The sheet distributed to students listed five questions. Among the issues raised were Carter's refusal to debate Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz and former U.S. Middle East negotiator ]; continuing Palestinian violence in Gaza; Carter's assertion that Israel did not accept Clinton's peace proposal; whether donations from the ] explains {{sic}} the failure of the Carter Center to criticize ], and Carter's decision to use the word "apartheid" in his book's title.


One of the students involved in distributing the handout, Aviva Berman, said that four of the five questions came directly from a list prepared by ] and other professors at Emory University, prior to Carter's appearance at the school's Atlanta campus. "When Carter came to speak at Emory, they had those questions made up, so they just forwarded them to me", she said.<ref name=Schwartzapfel>Beth Schwartzapfel, http://www.forward.com/articles/hillel-director-students-defend-tactics-at-carter/ "Hillel Director, Students Defend Tactics at Carter Speech", ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', 22 March 2007, accessed 22 March 2007</ref></blockquote>
In early December 2006 ] invited ] to visit the university to debate his book with ], but Carter declined that invitation, explaining:
<blockquote>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 ].<ref>As qtd. by Farah Stockman and Marcella Bombardieri, '']'' ], ]; "Brandeis president ] 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 ]."</ref></blockquote>


Schwartzapfel also cites " video of the event, posted to the G.W. Web site, shows that Carter received several standing ovations and long stretches of applause."<ref>For the video of the event posted on server of George Washington University, see http://www.gwu.edu/%7Enewsctr/audiovideo/JimmyCarter.ram Jimmy Carter speech and Q&A, RealPlayer video clip, 8 March 2007, accessed 22 March 2007</ref> "But", Schwartzapfel continues, "an Associated Press story that ran immediately after the event characterized the audience as 'polite but mostly critical,{{'"}} adding: "Jack Stokes, an A.P. spokesman, told the Forward that the article's description of the audience 'was based on reporter ]'s observation of the speech, as well as the subsequent Q&A Carter engaged in with the students. The A.P. story stands as written.{{'"}}<ref name=Schwartzapfel/>
In his op-ed published in the '']'' published on ], ], Dershowitz says: <blockquote>As Carter knows, I've been to ], the ], and ], many times &mdash; certainly more times than Carter has been there &mdash; 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.<ref name=DershowitzGlobe/></blockquote>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."<ref name=DershowitzGlobe/>
{{see|#Scheduled public programs pertaining to the book}}


Schweid observes:
On ], ], ] (an ] affiliate) reports that
<blockquote>Despite the storm it ignited, former President Carter held fast on Thursday to his accusation that Israel oppresses the Palestinians on the West Bank and Gaza and seeks to colonize the land. Speaking at The George Washington University to a polite but mostly critical student audience, Carter offered no second thoughts on his book "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid". ... He said he was not accusing Israel of racism nor referring to its treatment of Arabs within the country. "I defined apartheid very carefully" as "the forced segregation by one people of another" on their own land, he said.<ref name="Schweid">{{Cite news |last=SCHWEID |first=BARRY |date=2007-03-08 |title=Carter Defends Gaza Theory at GWU Speech |newspaper=] |language=en-US |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/08/AR2007030801256.html |access-date=2022-07-21 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>About 100 students, faculty and alumni of ] have signed an online petition to push the administration to bring former President ] to campus to discuss his new book on ], ''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."<br>
But Brandeis President ] 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''.<br>
Montgomery, a senior politics major, told ] 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 ] and ]," Montgomery said. (Italics added.)<ref> Students, Faculty Sign Online Petition," online posting, ''TheBostonChannel.com'', WCVB-TV, Channel 5, Boston, ], ], accessed ], ].</ref></blockquote>


Schwartzapfel reports, however:
=====Kenneth Stein=====
<blockquote>Brian Hennessey, vice president of the ], which is making a documentary on Carter, alleged to the Forward that he witnessed G.W. Hillel director Robert Fishman and several Jewish students conspiring to control the Q&A session. According to Hennessey, a handout was distributed with negative questions and then the students strategically grabbed the seats closest to the microphones. Hennessey said that he overheard people in the group saying that the point of their strategy was to make sure that Carter, whose book, ''Palestine Peace Not Apartheid'', faced only tough questions.
In an open letter published in '']'', on ], ], as reported by the ], Kenneth W. Stein, a professor of Middle Eastern history and Israeli studies at ], who was the founder of the Middle East program at the ] and the Carter Center's first executive director until 1993, observes:<blockquote>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.<ref>{{cite news|author=]|title=President Carter's New Book Spurs Aide To Resign|url=http://www.nysun.com/article/44869|publisher=]|date=], ]|accessdate=2006-12-24}}</ref></blockquote>
In his letter sent to President Carter and others, Stein also says that <blockquote>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.<br>
....<br>
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.<ref name = steinletter>{{cite news|author=Kenneth Stein|date= ], ]|accessdate=2006-12-09|publisher = ]|title = FOX Facts: Dr. Kenneth W. Stein's Letter (reprint)|url = http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,235283,00.html}}</ref></blockquote>
Stein has not yet provided a full outline of what he regards as factual errors.<ref>{{cite news|author=Karen DeYoung
|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120602171.html?nav=hcmodule
|title=Carter Book on Israel 'Apartheid' Sparks Bitter Debate
|publisher=]
|date=], ]
|accessdate=2006-12-15}}</ref>


In the end, most of the eight questions fielded by Carter at the March 8 event took a pro-Israel tack in challenging the former president. Four of the students read their questions off of the sheet distributed beforehand.<ref name=Schwartzapfel/></blockquote>
=====Gil Troy=====
], author and professor of history at ], 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 says the book gives a green light to Palestinian terrorists and dictators, which he claims Carter had done previously for ], ], ], and the Chinese ]s. He writes:
<blockquote>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.<br>
...<br>
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.</blockquote><ref></ref>


Fishman told the Forward, Schwartzapfel reports further: {{"'}}You know how we did it, honestly? ... We said, "Let's sit near the microphones." They each had a copy of the questions, and then they stood on line.{{'"}}<ref name=Schwartzapfel/> Yet, she adds: "Hennessey asserted that the maneuver ended up influencing media coverage of the event. 'This small group successfully outgunned the microphones and managed to give some journalists this totally erroneous impression that that was how the student body felt about Carter,' he said."<ref name=Schwartzapfel/> Whereas "Hennessey, who described Carter's book as 'very courageous,' contended that the G.W. students 'very successfully stood up and blocked anyone else from asking a question,{{'"}} Schwartzapfel continues:
=====Melvin Konner=====
<blockquote>Berman insisted that she and her fellow pro-Israel students did nothing wrong. It wasn’t his group's responsibility "to let other people ask questions", he said. "If they wanted to get to the microphone quicker, they could have."<br>
], a professor of anthropology at ], 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."<ref>, Journal Constitution</ref>
Fishman also rejected the assertion that the students' tactics were improper.<br>
"There was nothing done in there to stop anyone from asking questions", Fishman said. "It's important that, when you have that many people in the room who may not be familiar with the ], those people have the opportunity also to hear those areas that are questionable in the book."<br>
In that sense, Fishman said, his group's approach "is what ] is about."<ref name=Schwartzapfel/></blockquote>


===Other media commentators=== ===University of Iowa visit===
Pointing out that "The former president rarely speaks about his book at universities. He says he’s been invited to more than 100 campuses, but he's only visited five," Claire Keller reported that, during his public appearance at the ], in Iowa City, on 18 April 2007,<ref name=UIowa>http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2007/april/041107carter-tickets.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127202129/http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2007/april/041107carter-tickets.html |date=2008-01-27 }} "University of Iowa News Release", press release, University of Iowa, 11 April 2007, accessed 12 June 2007 (provides related links)</ref> Carter said, "I wrote this book to describe the plight of the Palestinians and because I'm convinced we desperately need debate about where we are and where we ought to be going, and how to rejuvenate the non-existent peace process in the Middle East" ... Carter says the book's objective is permanent peace for Israel and its neighbors; it’s something the former president says he’s dedicated his entire adult life to.<ref name=Kellett>Claire Kellett, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927091750/http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/7092956.html |date=2007-09-27 }}, ], 18 April 2007, updated 19 April 2007, accessed 11 June 2007</ref>
Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University ], in ], writes:
<blockquote>Jimmy Carter, by publishing his book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, walked straight into the buzz saw that is the ]. Among the vitriolic attacks on the former President was the claim by ], national director of the ], 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."<ref name=Hedges>], '']'', ], ], accessed ], ].</ref></blockquote>
He continues:
<blockquote>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.<ref name=Hedges/></blockquote>


Keller wrote that "Many in attendance applaud his efforts" but that "others criticize the author, claiming his book contains factual errors and misstatements. Members of the local Jewish community say it's simply one-sided."<ref name=Kellett/> She quotes Tali Ariav of the Hillel Jewish Student Center on the Iowa campus, who said, {{"'}}I am an Israeli so of course I served in the military, so I feel emotionally involved, but I feel every person, every American, every thinker needs to think twice about Carter's opinion, because it's not right' ..."<ref name=Kellett/> Nevertheless, Keller added, "Carter adamantly defends the accuracy of his book, saying he wrote every word himself."<ref name=Kellett/>
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 ], journalist ] writes:
<blockquote>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. ...<br><br>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.<br><br>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.<ref name=goldberg>], '']'', ], ].</ref></blockquote>


===University of California, Irvine visit===
Israeli historian and author ], in the Israeli daily ], writes:
On 3 May 2007, Carter presented a lecture and participated in a discussion relating to the book in conjunction with the Center for the Study of Democracy and Model United Nations, in association with the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, Department of Political Science, at the ]. According to Carter's lecture transcript, in answering a question on whether conflict between pro- and anti-Israel student groups obstructs chances of peace, he said, "I think an altercation or debate or sometimes even an uncomfortable confrontation on a college campus in America is a good move in the right direction. But I would like to see the leaders of those two groups form a combined group that would take advantage of my invitation to go to Palestine and see what’s going on."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jimmy Carter Lecture - Submit a Question |url=https://www.socsci.uci.edu/files/announcements/carter/transcript.htm |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=www.socsci.uci.edu}}</ref>
<blockquote>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.<ref name=Segev>], '']'', ], ].</ref></blockquote>


==See also==
<blockquote>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.<ref name=Segev/></blockquote>
* ]

* ]
], executive director of the ], in the Israeli daily the ], writes:
<blockquote>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. ...<br><br>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.<ref name=harris>], '']'', December 4, 2006.</ref></blockquote>

==Carter's response to criticism==
Citing the specific criticism of the title by ] as "outrageous" in its suggestion of "an analogy to the hated policies of South Africa," on '']'' in late November, ] asked President Carter why he uses "the loaded word 'apartheid'" with reference to Israel. Carter replied:
<blockquote>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. . . .<ref name="king"> '']'', ] ], ].</ref></blockquote>

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: <blockquote>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 ] and the absence of any significant contrary voices.<ref name="latimes" /><ref name="Carter"/></blockquote> He stresses that he hopes to tear down the "impenetrable wall" that stops the American people from seeing the plight of Palestinians.<ref name="latimes" /><ref name="Carter"/>

Carter has responded more generally to negative reviews in the ] in an op-ed published in the '']'' and excerpted in the London '']'' and elsewhere: <blockquote>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."<ref name="latimes">], , '']'' ], ], accessed ], ].</ref><ref name="Carter">Jimmy Carter, London '']'' ], ].</ref></blockquote>

According to a December 8 report by Greg Bluestein of the ], 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.<ref name=Bluestein>Greg Bluestein, for the ], online posting, ''Examiner.com'' ], ], accessed ], ]; updated in ], ], ], accessed ], ].</ref>

Carter has also pointed out more specifically "that Stein hadn't played a role in the ] 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.'"<ref name=Bluestein/>

According to Carter biographer ], Stein and Carter have a "passionate, up-and-down relationship," and Stein has previously criticized statements that Carter has made about Israel.<ref>{{cite news|author=Christian Boone
|url=http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2006/12/06/1206natcarter.html
|title=Adviser Breaks with Carter on Mideast Book
|publisher=]
|date=], ]
|accessdate=2006-12-09}}</ref>

In response to Professor Stein's criticisms overall, representatives of the publisher, ], state:<blockquote>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.<ref>{{cite news|author=Josh Getlin
|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-carter8dec08,1,1188050.story
|title=Maps in Carter's book are questioned
|publisher=]
|date=], ]
|accessdate=2006-12-15}}</ref></blockquote>

==="A Letter to Jewish Citizens of America"<ref> on '''Palestine Peace Not Apartheid''': A Letter to Jewish Citizens of America," press release, '']'' ], ], accessed ], ].</ref>===
According to the ], updating the earlier report by Greg Bluestein, "Facing continuing controversy over his new book on the ]," on Friday, ], ], through the ], former President Jimmy Carter "issued a letter . . . to American Jews explaining his use of the term ']' and sympathizing with Israelis who fear ]."<ref>], online posting, ''Examiner.com'' ], ], accessed ], ]. (Updates Bluestein.)</ref></blockquote>

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 '']'' of ], ]. {{See|#News accounts by others}}

==="Reiterating the Keys to Peace" in the Middle East===
In an op-ed published about a week later, in the '']'' on ], ], Carter rejects critics of his book as not actually having addressed the major points contained in it:
<blockquote>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 "]" 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.<ref name="reiterating">Jimmy Carter, '']'' ], ]</ref></blockquote>

Carter concludes:{{cquote|As recommended by the ] , renewed negotiations between ] and the ] are a prime factor in promoting peace in the region. Although my book concentrates on the ], I noted that the report also recommended peace talks with ] concerning the ]. Both recommendations have been rejected by Israel's prime minister ] ].<br><br>
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 (], ], the ], and the ]) -- still with American leadership.<br><br>
An overwhelming majority of citizens of ], ], ], ], and ] want peace, with justice for all who live in the ]. It will be a shame if the world community fails to help them reach this goal.<ref name="reiterating" />}}

==Scheduled public programs pertaining to the book==
On ], ], former President ] will participate in a "conversation" about this book with former ] ] at the ], moderated by Conflict Resolution Program Director Matthew Hodes.<ref>'''', accessed ], ]. (Free admission, RSVP required.)</ref>


==Notes== ==Notes==
{{Reflist|33em}}
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
<references/>
</div>


== Further reading ==
==References==
* ]. ''One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli–Palestinian Impasse''. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2006. {{ISBN|0-8050-8034-1}} (10). {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8034-6}} (13)
<div class="references-small">
* ] ''Never Again? The Threat of the ]''. New York: HarperSanFrancisco (an imprint of ]), 2003. {{ISBN|0-06-054246-2}} (10). {{ISBN|978-0-06-054246-7}}
* ]. ''Unsettled: An Anthropology of the Jews''. Rpt. New York: ], 2003. {{ISBN|0-670-03244-1}} (10). {{ISBN|978-0-670-03244-0}} (13)
* ]. ''The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace''. Rpt. paperback ed. 2004; New York: ], 2005. {{ISBN|0-374-52980-9}} (10). {{ISBN|978-0-374-52980-2}} (13)
* ]. ''Why I Am a Zionist: Israel, Jewish Identity and the Challenges of Today''. 3rd ed. 2001; Montreal: ], 2006. {{ISBN|1-55234-648-X}} (10). {{ISBN|978-1-55234-648-8}} (13)


===Book excerpts=== ==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Palestine Peace Not Apartheid}}
*, featured by publisher ]. Also featured as by ].
* hosted by ] faculty and students about the book pursuant to the ] visit by Jimmy Carter. Answers by Carter. Also presents links to transcript of Carter's opening remarks, books, and media coverage. (Registration required for participation)
*''''''''''. ] book description. (Links to Podcast.)
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q3334501|id=tt0913958|title=Jimmy Carter Man from Plains}}. Documentary film by ] focusing on Jimmy Carter's book tour for ''Palestine Peace Not Apartheid''. 2007
**'''' featured book. ]. ], ]. (No longer accessible at that URL.)


{{Jimmy Carter}}
===Book reviews===
<!--needs additions; listing only one review suggests POV-->
* posted on ]. Accessed ], ].
*{{cite news|title = What Would Jimmy Do?|publisher = ]|last = Goldberg|first = Jeffrey|date= ]|accessdate=2006-12-15|url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701835.html}}
* Online posting. ]. ], ]. Accessed ], ].
*, at ''California Literary Review''.

===Related opinion-editorials and interviews by Jimmy Carter===
*. Rush transcript. '']''. ] ], ]. Accessed ], ].
* Americans Need to Know the Facts about the Abominable Oppression of the Palestinians." London '']'' ], ]. Accessed ], ]. Rpt. from '']'' of ], ].
* on '''''Palestine Peace Not Apartheid''''', 15 December 2006: A Letter to Jewish Citizens of America." Press release. '']'' ], ]. Accessed ], ].
* Revisiting 'Apartheid'." Interview with Jimmy Carter regarding '''''Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid''''' published in '']'' and featured by ].
* '']'' ], ], Op-Ed. Accessed ], ]. Rpt. in the London '']'' on ], ].
* Interview conducted by ]. '']'' ], ]. Accessed ], ]. Incl. audio link to interview and "rush transcript."
* '']'' ], ], Op-Ed. Accessed ], ].

===News accounts by others===
*]. Online posting. ''Examiner.com'' ], ]. Accessed ], ]. (Updates Bluestein.)
*Bluestein, Greg, for the ]. Online posting. ''Examiner.com'' ], ]. Accessed ], ]. (Updated by ].)
*Bosman, Julie. '']'' ], ]. Accessed ], ]. (TimesSelect subscription required.)
*Goodman, Brenda, and Julie Bosman. '']'' ], ], Arts. Accessed ], ]. (TimesSelect subscription required.)
*Kelly, John. '']'' ], ]. Accessed ], ].
</div>

==See also==
*]
*]


] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
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Latest revision as of 16:00, 2 January 2025

2006 book by Jimmy Carter

Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid
Cover showing the author, left, and protesters at the Israeli West Bank barrier, right
AuthorJimmy Carter
Cover artistMichael Accordino
LanguageEnglish
SubjectPolitical science
Published2006 (Simon & Schuster)
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover), Audiobook (Audio CD)
Pages264 pp
ISBN978-0-7432-8502-5
Dewey Decimal956.04 22
LC ClassDS119.7 .C3583 2006

Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid is a book written by 39th President of the United States Jimmy Carter. It was published by Simon & Schuster in November 2006.

The book is primarily based on talks, hosted by Carter during his presidency, between Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar Sadat of Egypt that led to the Egypt–Israel peace treaty.

In this book Carter argues that Israel's continued control and construction of settlements have been the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement in the Middle East. That perspective, coupled with the use of the word Apartheid in the title, and what critics said were errors and misstatements in the book, sparked controversy. Carter has defended his book and countered that response to it "in the real world…has been overwhelmingly positive."

The documentary Man from Plains (2007) depicts the book tour Carter undertook to promote his book.

Purpose, main argument, and major points

"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.

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 based on the following three "key requirements":

a. The security of Israel must be guaranteed ...

b. The internal debate within Israel must be resolved in order to define Israel's permanent legal boundary ...

c. The sovereignty of all Middle East nations and sanctity of international borders must be honored ...

The Apartheid analogy

Regarding the use of the word "Apartheid" in the title of his book, Carter has said:

It's not Israel. The book has nothing to do with what's going on inside Israel which is a wonderful democracy, you know, where everyone has guaranteed equal rights and where, under the law, Arabs and Jews who are Israelis have the same privileges about Israel. That's been most of the controversy because people assume it's about Israel. It's not.

I've never alleged that the framework of apartheid existed within Israel at all, and that what does exist in the West Bank is based on trying to take Palestinian land and not on racism. So it was a very clear distinction.

In remarks broadcast over radio, Carter claimed that Israel's policies amounted to an apartheid worse than South Africa's:

When Israel does occupy this territory deep within the West Bank, and connects the 200-or-so settlements with each other, with a road, and then prohibits the Palestinians from using that road, or in many cases even crossing the road, this perpetrates even worse instances of apartness, or apartheid, than we witnessed even in South Africa.

"Some major points"

In his op-ed "Reiterating the Keys to Peace", published in The Boston Globe on 20 December 2006, Carter summarizes "ome major points in the book":

  • 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

Critical reaction and commentary

Main article: Commentary on Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid

Critical response to Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid at the time of release was mixed. According to Julie Bosman, criticism of the book "has escalated to a full-scale furor," much of which has focused on Carter's use of the word "apartheid" in the subtitle. Some critics, including several leaders of the Democratic Party and of American Jewish organizations, have interpreted the subtitle as an allegation of Israeli apartheid, which they believe to be inflammatory and unsubstantiated. Tony Karon, Senior Editor at TIME.com and a former anti-Apartheid activist for the ANC, said: "Jimmy Carter had to write this book precisely because Palestinian life and history is not accorded equal value in American discourse, far from it. And his use of the word apartheid is not only morally valid; it is essential, because it shakes the moral stupor that allows many liberals to rationalize away the daily, grinding horror being inflicted on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza". Former President Bill Clinton wrote a brief letter to the chairman of the American Jewish Committee, thanking him for articles criticizing the book and citing his agreement with Dennis Ross's attempts to "straighten ... out" Carter's claims and conclusions about Clinton's own summer 2000 Camp David peace proposal.

Critics claim that Carter crossed the line into anti-Semitism. Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, initially accused Carter of "engaging in anti-Semitism" in the book; Foxman told James Traub later that he would not call the former president himself an "anti-Semite" or a "bigot". Ethan Bronner also asserted that Carter's "overstatement" in the book "hardly adds up to anti-Semitism."

Some journalists and academics have praised Carter for what they believe to be speaking honestly about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in a media environment described as hostile to opponents of Israel's policies. Some left-leaning Israeli politicians such as Yossi Beilin and Shulamit Aloni argued that Carter's critique of Israeli policy in the Palestinian territories reflects that of many Israelis themselves.

Carter's response to criticism of the book

Further information: Commentary on Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid § Carter's response to criticism of the book

Carter has responded to negative reviews in the mainstream news media in an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times (which was excerpted in The Guardian and elsewhere):

Book reviews in the mainstream media have been written mostly by representatives of Jewish organizations 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. Incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi for instance, issued a statement (before the book was published) saying that "he does not speak for the Democratic Party on Israel." Some reviews posted on Amazon.com call me "anti-Semitic", and others accuse the book of "lies" and "distortions". A former Carter Center 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. I've signed books in five stores, with more than 1,000 buyers at each site. I've had one negative remark—that I should be tried for treason—and one caller on C-SPAN said that I was an anti-Semite. My most troubling experience has been the rejection of my offers to speak, for free, about the book on university campuses with high Jewish enrollment and to answer questions from students and professors. I have been most encouraged by prominent Jewish citizens and members of Congress who have thanked me privately for presenting the facts and some new ideas.

He also wrote a "Letter to Jewish Citizens of America" explaining "his use of the term 'apartheid' and sympathizing with Israelis who fear terrorism."

In a report updated by the Associated Press after the publication of Carter's "Letter to Jewish Citizens of America", Greg Bluestein observes that Carter replied generally to complaints of the book's errors and inaccuracies by Dennis Ross, Alan Dershowitz, Kenneth Stein, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and others by pointing out that the Carter Center staff as well as an "unnamed 'distinguished' reporter" fact-checked it. Rachel Zelkowitz points out that, as cited in various news accounts, "Carter has consistently defended his book's accuracy against Stein and other critics"; in a prepared statement, Carter's press secretary Deanna Congileo responds "that Carter had his book reviewed for accuracy throughout the writing process" and that "s with all of President Carter's previous books, any detected errors will be corrected in later editions ..." In response to the Associated Press's request for a comment on the resignations of Stein and 14 other members of the Center's Board of Councilors, speaking on behalf of both Carter and the Carter Center, Congileo provided a statement from its executive director, John Hardman, who, according to Zelkowitz, "also fact checked Palestine, saying that the members of that board 'are not engaged in implementing the work of the Center.'"

Public and other programs pertaining to the book

Carter has said that debate on Israel-related issues is muffled in the US media by lobbying efforts of 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 has stressed that through the debate he hopes this book will stimulate and through his own related public-speaking and media appearances, he hopes to tear down the "impenetrable wall" that stops the people of the US from seeing the plight of Palestinians.

Brandeis University visit

In early December 2006 Brandeis University invited Carter to visit the university to debate his book with Alan Dershowitz. 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." Carter said that the Brandeis debate request "is proof that many in the United States are unwilling to hear an alternative view on the nation's most taboo foreign policy issue, Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory," adding: "There is no debate in America about anything that would be critical of Israel."

Dershowitz criticized Carter's refusal to debate him, asserting: "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." He later wrote in The Case Against Israel's Enemies that Carter's accusation of his ignorance was untrue "since we had discussed my several visits to the Palestinian Authority during our conversation only months earlier in Herzliya."

Further information: Alan Dershowitz § Jimmy Carter's book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, and Alan Dershowitz § Alan Dershowitz and Jimmy Carter

In a Boston Globe article of 22 December 2006, Patricia Johnston said she and many colleagues had offered to chip in perhaps $100 each to pay for whatever travel and security costs a Carter visit would entail. "Who is Alan Dershowitz?" Johnston said. Carter "is the former president of the United States, who has done so much to further the cause of peace in the Middle East and elsewhere. It's an insult to suggest that he should have to defend himself that way." She said she envisioned Carter giving a traditional speech and taking audience questions.

On 26 December 2006, WCVB-TV (an ABC-TV affiliate), reported that "bout 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."

The Boston Globe reported that since it initially revealed "that Carter felt unwelcome on the Waltham campus, people have argued over whether he is unwilling to answer for his views, or whether Brandeis, which was founded by the American Jewish community, can't tolerate criticism of Israel. The latter is a view that some professors hope they can dispel by reviving the Carter visit."

On 10 January 2007, it was reported that Carter would discuss Palestine Peace Not Apartheid at Brandeis University but that he would "not, however, debate the book with" Dershowitz. Brandeis officials reported that Carter would "be the first former president to visit Brandeis since Harry Truman delivered the commencement address in 1957.... It will be Carter's first visit to a university to discuss the book, Congileo said", confirming also "the president has set no conditions and would answer as many questions as possible"; Carter plans to "speak for about 15 minutes and then answer questions for 45 minutes during the visit."

The speech, which occurred on 23 January 2007, was "closed to the public and limited to 'members of the university community only'"; nevertheless, Dershowitz said that he still planned to "attend and question Carter": "'I will be the first person to have my hand up to ask him a question,' he said. 'I guarantee that they won't stop me from attending.'"

On 18 January 2007 news outlets reported Brandeis's announcement that while Dershowitz could not attend Carter's speech, after it ended he would have the stage for a "rebuttal."

Further information: Alan Dershowitz § Jimmy Carter's book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid

The day after the speech (24 January 2007), The New York Times reported on the program: "Questions were preselected by the committee that invited Mr. Carter, and the questioners included an Israeli student and a Palestinian student. After Mr. Carter left, Mr. Dershowitz spoke in the same gymnasium, saying that the former president oversimplified the situation and that his conciliatory and sensible-sounding speech at Brandeis belied his words in some other interviews." According to David Weber of ABC News, Carter said "that he stood by the book and its title, that he apologized for what he called an 'improper and stupid' sentence in the book and that he had been disturbed by accusations that he was anti-Semitic.... ...acknowledged...that 'Palestine Peace Not Apartheid' has 'caused great concern in the Jewish community,' but noted that it has nonetheless prompted discussion." An editorial published in the Waltham, Massachusetts newspaper, the Daily News Tribune, concludes: "Carter succeeded in bringing to Brandeis a productive, civil debate." Videotaped excerpts from Carter's visit to Brandeis were featured on several national news programs in the United States, such as NBC's morning program Today, along with follow-up interviews with Carter.

As a result of the visit, major donors told Brandeis University that they would no longer give it money in "retaliation", according to Stuart Eizenstat, chief domestic policy adviser and executive director of the White House Domestic Policy Staff during Carter's presidency and a current trustee of Brandeis, as quoted in The Jewish Week in mid-February 2007.

Man from Plains: Documentary feature film by Jonathan Demme

In 2007 Jonathan Demme made the film Man from Plains, which "follows the former President as he takes part in a book tour across America to publicise his new tome, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid." According to the Boston Globe Demme filmed Carter for three months "to compile footage for a documentary about the former president's book and Carter's efforts to increase debate on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict." While it granted camera access to members of the news media for their broadcasts, Brandeis University refused Demme's request to film Carter's January 2007 speech for the end of the film, citing logistical and legal considerations. The film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2007.

Carter Center conversation

On 22 February 2007 Carter participated in a "conversation" about Palestine Peace Not Apartheid with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the Carter Center, moderated by Conflict Resolution Program Director Matthew Hodes. The event sold out in early January 2007. It was simultaneously webcast in the Carter Center's online "multi-media" section, and the Center's website now includes a direct link to the "archived webcast."

George Washington University visit

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On 8 March 2007 George Washington University hosted a visit by Carter during which he discussed his book. According to reporter Beth Schwartzapfel in The Forward, a group of Jewish students led by Robert Fishman, executive director of the campus Hillel, dominated the microphones, preventing other students from asking questions, while asking questions critical of Carter prepared, forwarded, and distributed to them in advance by faculty and students at Emory University as if they were their own questions:

The sheet distributed to students listed five questions. Among the issues raised were Carter's refusal to debate Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz and former U.S. Middle East negotiator Dennis Ross; continuing Palestinian violence in Gaza; Carter's assertion that Israel did not accept Clinton's peace proposal; whether donations from the Saudi royal family explains [sic] the failure of the Carter Center to criticize human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, and Carter's decision to use the word "apartheid" in his book's title. One of the students involved in distributing the handout, Aviva Berman, said that four of the five questions came directly from a list prepared by Deborah Lipstadt and other professors at Emory University, prior to Carter's appearance at the school's Atlanta campus. "When Carter came to speak at Emory, they had those questions made up, so they just forwarded them to me", she said.

Schwartzapfel also cites " video of the event, posted to the G.W. Web site, shows that Carter received several standing ovations and long stretches of applause." "But", Schwartzapfel continues, "an Associated Press story that ran immediately after the event characterized the audience as 'polite but mostly critical,'" adding: "Jack Stokes, an A.P. spokesman, told the Forward that the article's description of the audience 'was based on reporter Barry Schweid's observation of the speech, as well as the subsequent Q&A Carter engaged in with the students. The A.P. story stands as written.'"

Schweid observes:

Despite the storm it ignited, former President Carter held fast on Thursday to his accusation that Israel oppresses the Palestinians on the West Bank and Gaza and seeks to colonize the land. Speaking at The George Washington University to a polite but mostly critical student audience, Carter offered no second thoughts on his book "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid". ... He said he was not accusing Israel of racism nor referring to its treatment of Arabs within the country. "I defined apartheid very carefully" as "the forced segregation by one people of another" on their own land, he said.

Schwartzapfel reports, however:

Brian Hennessey, vice president of the Vineeta Foundation, which is making a documentary on Carter, alleged to the Forward that he witnessed G.W. Hillel director Robert Fishman and several Jewish students conspiring to control the Q&A session. According to Hennessey, a handout was distributed with negative questions and then the students strategically grabbed the seats closest to the microphones. Hennessey said that he overheard people in the group saying that the point of their strategy was to make sure that Carter, whose book, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, faced only tough questions. In the end, most of the eight questions fielded by Carter at the March 8 event took a pro-Israel tack in challenging the former president. Four of the students read their questions off of the sheet distributed beforehand.

Fishman told the Forward, Schwartzapfel reports further: "'You know how we did it, honestly? ... We said, "Let's sit near the microphones." They each had a copy of the questions, and then they stood on line.'" Yet, she adds: "Hennessey asserted that the maneuver ended up influencing media coverage of the event. 'This small group successfully outgunned the microphones and managed to give some journalists this totally erroneous impression that that was how the student body felt about Carter,' he said." Whereas "Hennessey, who described Carter's book as 'very courageous,' contended that the G.W. students 'very successfully stood up and blocked anyone else from asking a question,'" Schwartzapfel continues:

Berman insisted that she and her fellow pro-Israel students did nothing wrong. It wasn’t his group's responsibility "to let other people ask questions", he said. "If they wanted to get to the microphone quicker, they could have."

Fishman also rejected the assertion that the students' tactics were improper.
"There was nothing done in there to stop anyone from asking questions", Fishman said. "It's important that, when you have that many people in the room who may not be familiar with the Israeli–Palestinian situation, those people have the opportunity also to hear those areas that are questionable in the book."

In that sense, Fishman said, his group's approach "is what dialogue is about."

University of Iowa visit

Pointing out that "The former president rarely speaks about his book at universities. He says he’s been invited to more than 100 campuses, but he's only visited five," Claire Keller reported that, during his public appearance at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, on 18 April 2007, Carter said, "I wrote this book to describe the plight of the Palestinians and because I'm convinced we desperately need debate about where we are and where we ought to be going, and how to rejuvenate the non-existent peace process in the Middle East" ... Carter says the book's objective is permanent peace for Israel and its neighbors; it’s something the former president says he’s dedicated his entire adult life to.

Keller wrote that "Many in attendance applaud his efforts" but that "others criticize the author, claiming his book contains factual errors and misstatements. Members of the local Jewish community say it's simply one-sided." She quotes Tali Ariav of the Hillel Jewish Student Center on the Iowa campus, who said, "'I am an Israeli so of course I served in the military, so I feel emotionally involved, but I feel every person, every American, every thinker needs to think twice about Carter's opinion, because it's not right' ..." Nevertheless, Keller added, "Carter adamantly defends the accuracy of his book, saying he wrote every word himself."

University of California, Irvine visit

On 3 May 2007, Carter presented a lecture and participated in a discussion relating to the book in conjunction with the Center for the Study of Democracy and Model United Nations, in association with the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, Department of Political Science, at the University of California, Irvine. According to Carter's lecture transcript, in answering a question on whether conflict between pro- and anti-Israel student groups obstructs chances of peace, he said, "I think an altercation or debate or sometimes even an uncomfortable confrontation on a college campus in America is a good move in the right direction. But I would like to see the leaders of those two groups form a combined group that would take advantage of my invitation to go to Palestine and see what’s going on."

See also

Notes

  1. "Annotated Bibliography of books by Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter". www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov. Archived from the original on 1 June 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  2. According to https://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/bestseller/index.html "Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction", New York Times, accessed 27 January 2007: Palestine Peace Not Apartheid was number 6 on the list as of date accessed. It was listed as number 11 in "New York Times Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction" on 18 March 2007, on the list for 15 weeks for the week ending 3 March 2007. As of 6 May 2007 it no longer appears on the expanded list featured at that site
  3. ^ "SimonSays's On Demand Pages on Vimeo". vimeo.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  4. ^ Carter, Jimmy (8 December 2006). "Speaking frankly about Israel and Palestine". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  5. Life & Times – Transcript – 12/14/06
  6. "CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  7. ^ "Jimmy Carter: Israel's 'Apartheid' Policies Worse Than South Africa's". Haaretz. 12 November 2006. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  8. Jimmy Carter, http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/20/reiterating_the_keys_to_peace/ "Reiterating the Keys to Peace," Boston Globe 20 December 2006, accessed 3 January 2007. (Bullets added)
  9. Bosman, Julie (2006-12-14). "Carter Book Stirs Furor With Its View of Israelis' 'Apartheid'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  10. http://my.brandeis.edu/news/item?news_item_id=7816 "Brandeis News: Full coverage of the Historic Jan. 23rd Visit by Former President Jimmy Carter," Brandeis University, 24 January 2007, accessed 27 January 2007
  11. Tom Zeller, Jr., http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/carter-and-his-critics-the-skirmishes-continue/ "Carter and His Critics: The Skirmishes Continue," New York Times, The Lede (blog), 12 January 2007, assessed 12 January 2007; includes "Letter of resignation dated 11 January 2007" (PDF). (79.4 KiB)
  12. ^ Eric Pfeiffer, http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070125-112710-7481r.htm "Carter Apologizes for 'stupid' Book Passage,"] Washington Times 26 January 2007, accessed 26 January 2007
  13. "Israel and Apartheid: In Defense of Jimmy Carter | Rootless Cosmopolitan – By Tony Karon". Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  14. "President Clinton Thanks AJC on Carter Book" Archived 2007-08-08 at the Wayback Machine, press release, American Jewish Committee, n.d., accessed 3 May 2007
  15. Cf. Jennifer Siegel, "Apartheid Book Exposes Carter-Clinton Rift: Clinton: 'I Don’t Know Where His Information Came From'", The Jewish Daily Forward, 30 March 2007, accessed 3 May 2007
  16. James D. Besser, "Jewish and Israel News from New York - the Jewish Week". Archived from the original on 2007-06-13. Retrieved 2006-12-25. "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, 15 December 2005, accessed 8 January 2007
  17. Traub, James (2007-01-14). "Does Abe Foxman Have an Anti-Anti-Semite Problem?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  18. Bronner, Ethan (2007-01-07). "Jews, Arabs and Jimmy Carter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  19. George Bisharat, Truth At Last, While Breaking a U.S. Taboo of Criticizing Israel, Philadelphia Inquirer, January 2, 2007, editorial, accessed January 11, 2007.
  20. Robert Fisk, "Banality and Bare Faced Lies," Archived 2007-01-15 at the Wayback Machine The Independent December 23, 2006, accessed January 3, 2007.
  21. "Carter Is No More Critical of Israel Than Israelis Themselves". The Forward. 2007-01-20. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  22. ^ Jimmy Carter, "Israel, Palestine, Peace and Apartheid", The Guardian (London), 12 December 2006
  23. "Carter explains his book's 'apartheid' reference". NBC News. 2006-12-16. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  24. "Jimmy Carter Issues Letter to Jewish Community on Palestine Peace Not Apartheid". The Carter Center. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  25. Associated Press, "Carter Explains Apartheid Reference in Letter to US Jews", International Herald Tribune, 15 December 2006, accessed 12 March 2007
  26. "Carter defends his book's criticism of Israeli policy". The Florida Times-Union. 8 December 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  27. Rachel Zelkowitz, http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=16915 Archived 2008-06-11 at the Wayback Machine "Professor Describes Carter 'Inaccuracies'", The Emory Wheel, 12 December 2006, accessed 12 January 2007. Carter reiterated a desire to correct any such errors in his subsequent speaking engagement at Brandeis University and elsewhere (see section below).
  28. ^ Associated Press, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) "Atlanta: 14 Carter Center Advisers Resign in Protest Over Book", AccessNorthGA.com, 11 January 2007, accessed 11 January 2007
  29. Stockman, Farah; Bombardieri, Marcella (2006-12-15). "Carter book won't stir Brandeis debate". Boston.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  30. Dershowitz, Alan. "Why won't Carter debate his book?". Boston.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  31. The Case Against Israel's Enemies, 20
  32. ^ Bombardieri, Marcella (2006-12-22). "Brandeis group pursues Carter visit". Boston.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  33. http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/10609718/detail.html Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine "Brandeis Students Support Carter Visit: Students, Faculty Sign Online Petition", (updated) online posting, TheBostonChannel.com, WCVB-TV, Channel 5, Boston, 26 December 2006, accessed 26 December 2006
  34. ^ "USA TODAY: Latest World and US News - USATODAY.com". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  35. "Israel". Fox News. 2022-07-21. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  36. Belluck, Pam (2007-01-24). "At Brandeis, Carter Responds to Critics". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  37. David Weber, Carter: Book Has Prompted Discussion," ABC News 23 January 2007, accessed 24 January 2007.
  38. Abel, David; Vaznis, James (2007-01-24). "Carter wins applause at Brandeis". Boston.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  39. "Sharks spotted at New York City and Long Island beaches". MSN. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  40. Larry Cohler-Esses, "Brandeis Donors Exact Revenge For Carter Visit: Archived 2007-02-18 at the Wayback Machine Major Givers Reportedly Withholding Funds from School, Sparking Fierce Free-Speech Debate on Massachusetts Campus", The Jewish Week, 16 February 2006, accessed 23 March 2007
  41. Chris Tilly, "Demme 'Comes in Peace' - the TOMB movie news - Time Out Film". Archived from the original on 2007-05-26. Retrieved 2007-01-24. "Demme 'Comes in Peace'," The Time Out Movie Blog: This Week's Top Stories from the Movie World (TOMB), Time Out London, 5 December 2006, accessed 23 January 2007
  42. Borys Kitt and Nicole Sperling, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i01ddb1dac0f7f4bd485b9e1f3984dd7a "Demme Helms Docu on Carter for Participant", The Hollywood Reporter, 6 December 2006, accessed 3 May 2007. Cf. Nick Paumgarten, http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/12/11/061211ta_talk_paumgarten "Jimmy Carter Aloft", The New Yorker, 11 December 2006, accessed 3 May 2007
  43. ^ Stockman, Farah (2007-01-20). "Carter film maker faults Brandeis". Boston.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  44. "TIFF '07 - Films & Schedules Man from Plains". Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-09-10. "Man from Plains Jonathan Demme", Toronto International Film Festival official website "film schedules", accessed 10 September 2007.
  45. http://www.cartercenter.org/involved/conversations/index.html Archived 2006-12-22 at the Wayback Machine Conversations at the Carter Center 2006–2007, accessed 24 December 2006
  46. http://www.cartercenter.org/multimedia/conversations2.07.ram Archived 2007-07-15 at the Wayback Machine Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, Carter Center, RealPlayer media file (Updated), accessed 25 February 2007
  47. ^ Beth Schwartzapfel, http://www.forward.com/articles/hillel-director-students-defend-tactics-at-carter/ "Hillel Director, Students Defend Tactics at Carter Speech", The Jewish Daily Forward, 22 March 2007, accessed 22 March 2007
  48. For the video of the event posted on server of George Washington University, see http://www.gwu.edu/%7Enewsctr/audiovideo/JimmyCarter.ram Jimmy Carter speech and Q&A, RealPlayer video clip, 8 March 2007, accessed 22 March 2007
  49. SCHWEID, BARRY (2007-03-08). "Carter Defends Gaza Theory at GWU Speech". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  50. http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2007/april/041107carter-tickets.html Archived 2008-01-27 at the Wayback Machine "University of Iowa News Release", press release, University of Iowa, 11 April 2007, accessed 12 June 2007 (provides related links)
  51. ^ Claire Kellett, "Jimmy Carter Visits Iowa City" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, KCRG, 18 April 2007, updated 19 April 2007, accessed 11 June 2007
  52. "Jimmy Carter Lecture - Submit a Question". www.socsci.uci.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-21.

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