[Peace-discuss] Carter's book report

[Morton K. Brussel]

from smirkingchimp.org
Published on Friday, December 8, 2006 by the Los Angeles Times
Speaking Frankly about Israel and Palestine
by Jimmy Carter

I signed a contract with Simon & Schuster two years ago to write a  
book about the Middle East, based on my personal observations as the  
Carter Center monitored three elections in Palestine and on my  
consultations with Israeli political leaders and peace activists.

We covered every Palestinian community in 1996, 2005 and 2006, when  
Yasser Arafat and later Mahmoud Abbas were elected president and  
members of parliament were chosen. The elections were almost  
flawless, and turnout was very high — except in East Jerusalem,  
where, under severe Israeli restraints, only about 2% of registered  
voters managed to cast ballots.

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 last 30 years,  
I have witnessed and experienced the severe restraints on any free  
and balanced discussion of the facts. 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.

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 defense of  
justice or human rights for Palestinians. Very few would ever deign  
to visit the Palestinian cities of Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron, Gaza  
City or even Bethlehem and talk to the beleaguered residents. What is  
even more difficult to comprehend is why the editorial pages of the  
major newspapers and magazines in the United States exercise similar  
self-restraint, quite contrary to private assessments expressed quite  
forcefully by their correspondents in the Holy Land.

With some degree of reluctance and some uncertainty about the  
reception my book would receive, I used maps, text and documents to  
describe the situation accurately and to analyze the only possible  
path to peace: Israelis and Palestinians living side by side within  
their own internationally recognized boundaries. These options are  
consistent with key U.N. resolutions supported by the U.S. and  
Israel, official American policy since 1967, agreements consummated  
by Israeli leaders and their governments in 1978 and 1993 (for which  
they earned Nobel Peace Prizes), the Arab League's offer to recognize  
Israel in 2002 and the International Quartet's "Roadmap for Peace,"  
which has been accepted by the PLO and largely rejected by Israel.

The book 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.

Although I have spent only a week or so on a book tour so far, it is  
already possible to judge public and media reaction. Sales are brisk,  
and I have had interesting interviews on TV, including "Larry King  
Live," "Hardball," "Meet the Press," "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,"  
the "Charlie Rose" show, C-SPAN and others. But I have seen few news  
stories in major newspapers about what I have written.

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 House 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.

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 blacks 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 colonize  
choice sites in Palestine, and then to forcefully suppress any  
objections from the displaced citizens. Obviously, I condemn any acts  
of terrorism or violence against innocent civilians, and I present  
information about the terrible casualties on both sides.

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.
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