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ADC Press Release - December 18, 2006
President Carter: Opening discussion on
resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
Jimmy Carter, the USA's 39th President and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, recently published his 23rd book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." The contents of the book and the title have been met with much controversy.
In the book, Carter discusses topics which are widely debated around the world but rarely receive much notice or widespread analytical attention within the US. This is particularly relevant as many seek to foreclose the debate on the Middle East by promoting the idea that criticism of Israel's policies is indistinguishable from hatred of Jewish people and a person raising these issues is Anti-Semitic. President Carter has already been maligned as an Anti-Semite and some allege his work diminishes public debate, as opposed to opening dialogue. During an interview Carter said, "There is no discussion or debate in this country about very sensitive issues in the Middle East...if that discussion implies a criticism of Israel."
The book is Carter's interpretations of events, he offers invaluable insight into personal relationships and includes discussions with some of the most pivotal figures throughout the years of ongoing conflict. From Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who he identified as a very close personal friend, to current Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, he has known and interacted with these figures and this has lead him to write this book.
The title of the book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," and its timing, imply we have reached a critical juncture in the history of the conflict. In interviews about the book Carter has said, "There is a horrible apartheid in Palestine. And apartheid by definition is a forced separation of two peoples living in the same land with subjugation of one people by the other. And that is exactly what is happening to the Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli occupiers inside Palestine."
Carter identifies two possible options as way of resolving this conflict. He suggests that a comprehensive peace agreement must be reached between all the actors involved (including Lebanon, Syria, as well as the Palestinians and Israelis) or the Palestinians will continue to suffer and be subjugated to the continued oppression of the ongoing Israeli occupation. Carter also offers strong words about US administrations for not being an even-handed broker. He notes that the failure of US administrations in stopping illegal Israeli settlement building and expansion is a fundamental failure and key impediment to resuming peace negotiations.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) reiterates the fact that Israel still has control over Gaza's land, sea, and air borders; utilities; tax revenue; and internal economy, continuing its occupation, despite its unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. In Gaza, approximately 40 percent of its residents live in poverty and unemployment is 55 percent. The West Bank remains under military occupation and illegal settlement activity continues. ADC also notes that Israel continues to violate the 1976 US Arms Export Control Act by using US supplied weapons to carry out its military actions and targeted assassinations against the Palestinian people over the years. ADC opposes violence against civilians, regardless of the identity of the perpetrators or victims, and reiterates its call for direct, open negotiations in order to reach a just and lasting peace to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Carter stresses, in the book, the necessity of defining Palestine's and Israel's national boundaries openly and honestly. He also notes peace will come to the region only when the "Israeli Government is willing to comply with International law, with the Roadmap for Peace, with official US policy, with the wishes of the majority of its own citizens - and honor its own previous commitments - by accepting its legal borders."
ADC President Hon. Mary Rose Oakar said, "For 39-years Israel has occupied Palestinian lands, encouraged settlers from around the world to set up more than 205 illegal settlements on Palestinian lands in violation of international law. Israel has also built roads and highways that dissect Palestinian territories that are open only to Jews and from which Palestinians are prohibited. Palestinians are forced from checkpoint to checkpoint, many times unable to travel from Gaza to the West Bank. With greater frequency, US citizens of Palestinian origin are being prevented from traveling to the Palestinian territories."
Oakar added, "President Carter's book carries an important message of peace, upon which most Israelis and Palestinians agree. We hope this message of peace will reach the American public and US policymakers who have the power to put Israel and Palestine on the path to peace and away from apartheid."
Los Angeles Times - December 8, 2006
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.
[Jimmy Carter was the 39th president of the United States . His newest book is " Palestine : Peace Not Apartheid," published in November 2006.]
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