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<H1 itemprop="name headline ">Israel, Palestine, peace and apartheid</H1>
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data-component="Article:standfirst_cta">Americans need to know the facts about
the abominable oppression of the Palestinians</DIV></DIV>
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<LI><A href="http://www.theguardian.com/profile/jimmycarter" rel=author
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<DIV class=contributor-full><SPAN itemprop="author"
itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope=""><SPAN itemprop="name"><A
class=contributor href="http://www.theguardian.com/profile/jimmycarter"
rel=author itemprop="url">Jimmy Carter</A></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV></LI>
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<LI class=publication><A href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian"
itemprop="publisher">The Guardian</A>, <TIME itemprop="datePublished"
pubdate="" datetime="2006-12-11">Monday 11 December 2006</TIME> </LI></UL></UL>
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<DIV id=article-body-blocks>The many 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. For the past 30 years,
I have witnessed and experienced the severe restraints on any free and balanced
discussion of the facts. This reluctance to criticise policies of the Israeli
government is due to the extraordinary lobbying efforts of the American-Israel
Political Action Committee and the absence of any significant contrary voices.
<P>It would be almost politically suicidal for members of Congress to espouse a
balanced position between Israel and Palestine, to suggest that Israel comply
with international law or to speak in defence of justice or human rights for
Palestinians. Very few would deign to visit the Palestinian cities of Ramallah,
Nablus, Hebron, Gaza City or Bethlehem and talk to the beleaguered
residents.</P>
<P>What is even more difficult to comprehend is why the editorial pages of the
major newspapers and magazines in the US exercise similar self-restraint, quite
contrary to private assessments expressed forcefully by their correspondents in
the Holy Land.</P>
<P>My new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, is devoted to circumstances and
events in Palestine and not in Israel, where democracy prevails and citizens
live together and are legally guaranteed equal status. It is already possible to
judge public and media reaction. Sales are brisk, and I have had interesting
interviews on TV. But I have seen few news stories in major newspapers about
what I have written.</P>
<P>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. The book describes the
abominable oppression and persecution in the occupied Palestinian territories,
with a rigid system of required passes and strict segregation between
Palestine's citizens and Jewish settlers in the West Bank. An enormous
imprisonment wall is now under construction, snaking through what is left of
Palestine, to encompass more and more land for Israeli settlers. In many ways,
this is more oppressive than what black people lived under in South Africa
during apartheid. I have made it clear that the motivation is not racism but the
desire of a minority of Israelis to confiscate and colonise choice sites in
Palestine, and then to forcefully suppress any objections from the displaced
citizens. Obviously, I condemn acts of terrorism or violence against innocent
civilians, and I present information about the casualties on both sides.</P>
<P>The ultimate purpose of my book is to present facts about the Middle East
that are largely unknown in America, to precipitate discussion and help restart
peace talks (now absent for six years) that can lead to permanent peace for
Israel and its neighbours.</P>
<P>Another hope is that Jews and other Americans who share this goal might be
motivated to express their views, even publicly, and perhaps in concert. I would
be glad to help with that effort.</P>
<P><B>·</B> Jimmy Carter was US president from 1977-81. His book Palestine:
Peace Not Apartheid was published last month. This is an edited version of an
article that first appeared in the Los Angeles
Times</P></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>