Is Jimmy Carters book Peace not apartheid more fiction than fact?

Question

in today's Washington Post, former President Jimmy Carter defended his book, ``Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.''

President Carter wrote, `` ..... most critics have not seriously disputed or even mentioned the facts ..... ''

But after reading the book, I have become a critic and today will only correct the facts that he purports in his book. Regarding our policy towards Israel, there is little room for mistakes, let alone outright misstatements of fact.

For that reason, I want to present to the House eight factual inaccuracies found in President Carter's book.

Error number one, on page 62, President Carter quotes Yasser Arafat as telling him, ``The Palestinian Liberation Organization has never advocated the annihilation of Israel.'' No evidence is provided, and the book does not contain a single footnote.

Fact check, article 22 of the PLO's charter states, ``The liberation of Palestine will destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence.'' Yasser Arafat supported this charter, and he directly lied to President Carter.

Error number two, on page 57 President Carter writes, ``The 1947 armistice demarcation lines became the borders of the new nation of Israel, and were accepted by Israel and the United States, and recognized officially by the United Nations.''

Fact, the 1949 armistice lines were never accepted as the official borders of Israel, United States or the United Nations. The error reflects a very poor attention to detail in the book.

Error number three, on page number 127, President Carter writes that there was ``a surprising exodus of Christians from the Holy Land.''

Fact, Israel is one of the only Middle Eastern nations where the Christian community has grown in the last half century. But Christian communities and other faith communities like Baha'is have dropped in size in many Muslim nations.

Error number four, on page 152 President Carter writes, ``It was later claimed that the Palestinians rejected a `generous offer' put forward by Prime Minister Barak with Israel only keeping 5 percent of the West Bank. The fact is no such offers were made.''

Fact, according to President Clinton's lead negotiator, Ambassador Dennis Ross, Prime Minister Barak accepted President Clinton's proposal, offering to withdraw from 97 percent of the West Bank, to dismantle isolated settlements, and to accept the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Arafat rejected this proposal, and a quick call between President Carter and President Clinton would have corrected this error.

Error number five, on page number 148 President Carter presents two maps he claims were considered at Camp David, one of them labeled ``Israel's interpretation of Clinton's proposal.''

Fact, there were no maps at Camp David. The map President Carter labeled as Israel's interpretation is a copy of a map that was created later by Dennis Ross for his book, ``The Missing Peace.'' Ambassador Ross's map is a representation of an offer agreed to by Prime Minister Barak and rejected by Arafat. President Carter violated Ambassador Ross's copyright of the map.

Error six, on page 197 President Carter writes, ``Confessions extracted through torture are admissible in Israeli courts.''

Fact, the Israeli Supreme Court banned the use of torture in interrogations in a decision handed down by the court on September 6, 1999, by Supreme Court President Barak.

Error number seven, on page 188 President Carter writes, ``Kadima had been expected to gain 43 seats based on its pledge of a unilateral expansion of the `great wall.' ''

Fact, Israel's Kadima Party ran on Prime Minister Sharon's platform of disengagement, a pledge to dismantle settlements and unilaterally withdraw from territory.

Error number eight, on page 215 President Carter writes that the one option for Israel is ``withdrawal from the 1967 border as specified in U.N. Resolution 242.''

Fact. The U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 does not define a border.

Madam Speaker, these errors, in fact, diminish the credibility of President Carter's book. President Carter is entitled to his own opinions, but not to his own facts. The errors I present here are only a sampling of the other errors included in his book.

Now, in the twilight of his career, with many at the Carter Center resigning from their posts, President Carter should recall the book and hire competent assistants to assure that his future work does not reflect such poor scholarship.

I want to thank, especially, Dr. Mitchell Bard and the Committee for Accuracy in the Middle East Reporting in America for helping compile this list of errors.

Answer 1

I miss Carter, I loved making 20% on T-Bills (a great time for the old rich), being able to charge middle-class people 18% on loans, 5 hour gas lines (on your day) and our embassies under siege. Good times! We need another Carter, our greatest president since Hoover.

Answer 2

Finally, I found someone of importance who shares the feelings I have had for years about the Israeli-Palestinian issue. We have blindly supported Israel for the past (almost) 60 years no matter what they do & who they hurt. It was our soldiers fighting side by side with the Israelis during the 6-Day War which pulled more land out from under the feet of the Palestinians. Where are they supposed to live. They are not Arabs; they are not Jordanians, they are Palestinians. Where were we all those 60 years when they were crying out peacefully that they were being mistreat-
ed? Why do you think some of them behave like animals? We have left them no choice. We did not help them when they needed our help. Do we in the US realize that the bulk of our foreign aid $$ go to Israel when there are 3rd world countries with people dying of starvation & illnes by the 1000's if not 10,000's every day? It's more than sickening, it's criminal. Why is Israel's airport security 2nd to none, even better than our own? That's our American tax $$ at work, as well as Jewish American $$ being funneled over there. It's all the fault of the Jewish Lobby in Washington. They say jump & we jump. Do we realize that the reason for 9/11 was our unilateral support of Israel & the exclusion of the Palestinians? If you heard Bin Laden's speech on the Sunday immediately following 9/11, you heard him mention the Israelis & the Palestinians. This was the reason for 9/11. Until we decide to play fair with both sides & stop unilaterally supporting Israel not matter what they do & who they hurt, we can expect more 9/11's. President Carter is right when he equates Palestians with Apartheid.

Answer 3

Not only is it not "as we all know" but it is in fact, false. Israel is not a nation that has been left over from colonial excess. In fact, since before Israel was created it was a colony of Great Britain, then GB withdrawing and having a new independent nation created, is the very definition of moving away from the notion of colonialism, like numerous other countries, even many within a the region. But another thing you don't realize is that the question of whether Israel is a "colonial entity" (its not) is an entirely separate question from whether it practices Apartheid (it doesn't). And your reference to Jimmy Carter's book does not bolster your argument it merely underscores that Carter doesn't know what he's talking about.

Answer 4

Yes, many of the other Palestinian orgs have advocated the abolition of Israel. But there are Israeli Jews that advocate the abolition of a Palestinian state. Look at 'Maier Kahone' (please excuse my spelling) the racist zionist that was killed by a Islamic fanatic. He called Palestinians parasites and cancers on the Jewish home land. Most Zionist do not want a Palestinian homeland. None of the other surrounding countries want a Palestinian homeland. Deep down inside, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Egypt do not want a Palestinian or Jewish homeland. So, where are the Palestinians going to go? Oh yea, GOOD OLE USA!

Answer 5

I think 14 employees at Carter's library quit over the anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish lies in his book.

Did you read the book? If so, why? If not, where is this criticism from?

Answer 6

You got it right.When you take away everything else the bottom line is this.If the Palestinians really wanted peace Israel would agree to it today.It is the Palestinians goofy religion that is causing them almost every problem they have.It is the Muslims who continue to keep things stirred up with their terrorist tactics.

Answer 7

watch this ---u will find out

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7828123714384920696&q=peace+propaganda+video

the guy is saying the truth and have the courage to stand by it----not scared of all the stuipd anti-semetism accusations---btw

AIPAC IS WORKING HARD NOW DAYS TO discredit mr carter

Answer 8

You fool,anyone working for peace, as long and hard as President Carter is not in error. you and your nit-picking friends are standing in the way of peace.