Criticism of Carter book

RON FRIEDMAN

In 2006, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter wrote a book about the Israel-Palestinian conflict titled Israel: Peace Not Apartheid (Simon and Schuster). It sparked wide controversy at the time, drawing heavy criticism from pro-Israel groups and individuals who said that Carter was guilty of distortions, omissions and lack of balance. This January, Carter started a publicity tour for a new book that also focuses on the Middle East – We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land. The criticism quickly followed.

Last week, the pro-Israel media organization, the Israel Project, set up a conference call for journalists, featuring Jewish American commentators Lanny Davis, Prof. Alan Dershowitz and Prof. Kenneth Stein. The topic was Confronting False and Misleading Assertions by Former President Jimmy Carter on the Middle East.

"We are not just responding to the book that President Carter wrote or his recent television appearances but we are responding to what we believe to be at least a somewhat imbalanced presentation of what happened in Gaza over the last several weeks that, at least in most of the media, we believe left out some important facts," started Davis, a consultant for presidents Clinton and George W. Bush and the author of Truth to Tell: Notes from My White House Education.

For this trio, the most important issue that the media omitted and one that they say Carter fails to address in his books, is the matter of intent. "There seems to be no dispute that Hamas intentionally launches rockets to kill civilians. They in fact publicly boast that the rockets are aimed at Israeli civilians. That is by definition, under any convention that one wants to look at, a war crime," said Davis. "Whereas the Israeli defence forces, when they defend themselves from these terrorist rockets, and I'm using the word 'terrorist' very specifically, as defined, as intending to kill civilians, the Israeli defence forces, if and when – and, of course, there have been tragic occurrences of the defence forces killing Palestinian civilians – do not do so intentionally, and that distinction is one that I don't hear being made sufficiently in the media."

Dershowitz added that Israel should not be seen as responsible for the deaths of Palestinian civilians when Hamas plays "Russian roulette with the lives of its children." "They want Israel to respond and Hamas wants Israel to kill Palestinian babies and women and children and that's why they create human shields," said Dershowitz, using as an example an online video in which Hamas member of parliament Fathi Hamad says, "It is as if we were saying to the Zionist enemy: we desire death like you desire life."

Dershowitz, who is a prominent civil rights lawyer and a Harvard professor, argued that Hamas's use of the Israeli blockade on Gaza as an exuse for firing rockets was false. He admitted that there was a blockade in place, but said that it was a minor one and that it was justified. "The blockade was designed to do two things. One, to make sure that rockets weren't sent in to be able to attack Israeli children and second to put pressure on the people of Gaza who were responsible for having elected a Gaza government," said Dershowitz. He also denied that there was a humanitarian crisis in Gaza before the beginning of the operation.

Dershowitz said that although he agreed with Carter's endgame, a two-state solution, he felt that, with his words, Carter was becoming a barrier to peace, "my real criticism of Carter is that he makes it much harder for peace to be achieved by siding with Hamas and against Israel and becoming part of that chorus of condemnation every time Israel responds in self-defence, and thereby encouraging Hamas to continue to send rockets," said Dershowitz. In September, Dershowitz published his latest book on the Middle East: The Case Against Israel's Enemies: Exposing Jimmy Carter and Others Who Stand in the Way of Peace (Wiley).

Stein should be a familiar name to Vancouverites. He was guest speaker at the launch of the 2008 Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver annual campaign last September. Stein, a former close associate of Carter and the first director of the Carter Centre for Peace, publicly broke off ties with the former president after the publication of Carter's 2006 book.

In the conference call, Stein accused Carter of pandering to whichever audience he's speaking before: "Carter is a master wordsmith. He understands the economy of words. He understands how they are used. He understands their ambiguity. He understands verbal acrobatics." Stein argues that Carter's new book, similar to his previous one, contains historical innacruacies, omissions and misrepresentations. "It's the history according to the way I [Carter] see it and the way I want it interpreted, not according to what happened," said Stein.

In his latest publication, Carter dedicates several passages in response to the criticism he received on Israel: Peace Not Apartheid and especially on its title.

"I intended the word apartheid to describe a situation where two peoples dwelling on the same land are forcibly segregated from each other, and one group dominates the other.

"I thought the title and text would make it clear that the book was about conditions and events in the Palestinian territories and not in Israel and that the forced separation and domination of Arabs by Israelis were based on the acquisition of land and not on race, as had been the case in South Africa," writes Carter. "I realized that this might cause some concern in Israel and among Israel's supporters in America, but I intended to emphasize these distinctions in dozens of public presentations," he added. He con- tends that the underlying purpose of the previous book was to "stimulate debate and perhaps some interest in reviving the moribund peace process."

Carter's We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land proposes a blueprint for a two-state solution in the region based on the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002. It maps out a solution whereby Israel would withdraw to the pre-1960 borders, the Palestinians would occupy an independent state, and both sides would share Jerusalem. Carter has also said that he believes Hamas must be consulted as part of the solution for the region.

Carter himself has met with Hamas leaders in the past, an action which, combined with his writings, have made him a pariah in Israel and in pro-Israeli circles. The former president, who brokered the 1977 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, was snubbed by Israeli officials when he was visiting in Israel last April for his urgings that Israel sit down to negotiations with Hamas.

^TOP