Israel, Palestine, peace and apartheid

Israel, Palestine, peace and apartheid
Americans need to know the facts about the abominable oppression of the
Palestinians
di Jimmy Carter

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

• 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

The Guardian, Tuesday December 12, 2006




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