Jimmy Carter Writes New Book On Middle East

ATLANTA — Former President Jimmy Carter has written a new book on the Middle East with a title he hopes will not be as controversial as the last one, which was called, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."

Carter said Wednesday night that "We Can Bring Peace to the Holy Land" will be published in January, just after the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.

"I was going to call it, 'Yes, We Can.' My wife talked me out of it," Carter joked toward the end of a panel discussion on human rights at The Carter Center. He offered no further details on the new text, to be published by Simon & Schuster.

As president, Carter brokered peace between Israel and Egypt. But Jewish groups and some fellow Democrats strongly objected to his book published two years ago because it compared Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories with former racial oppression in South Africa.

During the panel discussion at the conclusion of a two-day forum of international human rights activists, Carter said the "persecution of Palestinians" and lack of U.S. commitment to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict remains one of the most volatile issues in the Muslim world.

He said when he took office in 1977, there had been four wars and Arab oil embargoes, and he saw a need to begin tackling Middle East peace in the first year of his administration. Those efforts led to the 1979 Camp David Accords.

"We've had very few efforts since then to bring about a comprehensive peace," Carter said.

Carter, 84, has been a prolific author since leaving the White House, in 1981. His many best sellers include "An Hour Before Daylight" and "Our Endangered Values."

Comments

[OCaptainMercaptan]

What I am about to say is a bit off topic, but bear with me...

Any time there is a "controversial" issue with, claim about, or stake to Isreal, there is invariably a mention by the media that "Jewish groups" are offended. These mentions are categorically true, if not entirely accurate.

It's such an easy claim to make, that it can practically be made without any fact-checking at all. "Oh, Isreal? Let's mention dissent from 'some Jewish groups.'"

The media's convention -- as evidenced in the election coverage, e.g. -- is that American Jews are universally sympathetic to Israel, or, worse, stalwarts of its policies. This is hardly true. "Pro-Israel groups" is vastly more accurate and more nuanced than "Jewish groups."

[nukemind]

I agree. Some of Israel's harshest critics are Jewish Americans like Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein (whom I've talked to in the past while I was a grad student in NY). Finkelstein was targeted by Mr. Dershowitz (I have nothing nice to say about this despicable man) after Finkelstein ripped him apart during a debate they had with Amy Goodman as moderator (can be looked up on youtube) who contacted DePaul University to deny Finkelstein tenure. These are types of people who use propaganda to cloud the issue of US involvement in the Mideast that is contrary to US interests and strangle any honest dialogue on the topic of Israel by reverting to charges of anti-Semiticism. Jimmy Carter is brave to challenge this group that has proven to be ruthless and virtually unstoppable. Throw in the Christian evangelicals and it's complicated and the pandering by politicians to the pro-Israel lobby is nothing short of nauseating.

[mystic]

I agree with every word you say. Carter is a man who genuinely wants peace and to me, a Jew, he is a true Christian in the best sense of the word. When he uses the word apartheid", he is being kind. I grew up in apartheid South Africa, and while it suppressed the rights of the disenfranchised blacks and forced them to live in ghettos, (like the Palestinians), it never deprived them of water, food, medical and humanitarian aid as Israel has done with the Gazans, nor did it bomb innocent civilians as Israel has done "to defend themselves"; The rationale is similar to Bush torturing innocent people
(i.e. without trials) "to defend us". Carter is, in my opinion, a balanced and unbiased, unlike the Council of Foreign Relations, Dennis Ross and all the other Israeli firsters.
Only Carter, unlike all these other "experts", remembers that we were attacked on 9/11 because of our unilateral unbalanced pro-Israel position, and much Islamic extremism today is based on this correct and inescusable fact.

[Prattvictory2]

What happened to Norman Finkelstein is indicative of any dissent to the Likudist right wing. Dershowitz mounted a campaign against him and won. It not that Jews are of one voice on the Middle East its that the extremists hold sway.

[tiradintim]

It seems that criticism of Israel is one aspect of free speech that is not quite free....

[tiradintim]

Some comments seem to have disappeared from this post

[who38]

I agree, but I have read many posts that state that "Zionist" if just a code word and those who use it are anti-Semites. Unfortunately, because Israel presents itself as a "Jewish state", it is difficult to remove religion from the issue. I do not believe that Israel can be both a Jewish state and a democracy. I quite agree that the term. "pro-Israel groups" is the correct descriptor and should be used by the media and the general population.

[Merckx]

A great man.

[tiradintim]

Who unfortunately wrote a book

[toocoldout]

I know he's extremely controversial, but he's probably the only truly brilliant president of the 20th century. Wasn't he a nuclear engineer or something?

[rbarthjr]

Yep, he was, and the last time I met him, he was impressed by the fact that I knew of his background as a nuke engineer in the Navy. The first time I met him, his first words to me were, "Oh, I like you!" It was at a book signing and I had a stack of about 10 books I'd purchased.

Believe me, his expressed fondness for me is more than reciprocated; he's the most honorable man to have served as President in my lifetime (born 1963).

[zamerdee]

I like Jimmy Carter a lot. Yes, he does say it like it is.

[firelord5000]

President Carter makes me proud to be an American, he is honest, and has the t e s t i c u l a r fortitude to say what other people are thinking, but are too PC or afraid for their political future to say.

[tiradintim]

Thank heaven for Huffington Post! (Now, where did those comments go?)

[jc23blue]

I had the privilege of meeting President Carter at a book signing over ten years ago. We waited for hours as the queue snaked all through the village of Huntington, NY. When we finally went inside the store, where the line continued to move slowly along, it was clear that everyone who had just met him were beaming. When my turn finally came - he must have been signing for hours at that point, without a break - there was such light and peace surrounding this incredible man. I've never seen anyone with such a spiritual air about him.
President Carter, I applaud your honesty and sense of justice and fairness, and wish you well.

[Cogitoe]

Yes, those are exactly the qualities that led me to vote for Carter to my later deep regret. He proved a good man, but an incompetent President. Perhaps Machiavelli was right. These are not the qualities of an effective leader though they must act to the public as if they have them. Think Clintons and all other skilled politicians.

[RoloTomassi]

Oh please; Carter disappointed you and many others because he was way ahead of the curve, and promoted policy changes that you [and many other Americans] were too selfish, hawkish and otherwise too dense to comprehend.

Carter didn't fail us...WE FAILED HIM.

[marymansour]

Funny you mention that spiritual air which was was also apparent in Carter's good friend Anwar Sadat. The first time I met Sadat I was stunned at that same sense of spirituality and almost beatific peacefulness about his person.

[nukemind]

Nice. Jimmy Carter's the man. One of the few honest Presidents and ex-Presidents. He comes out and CORRECTLY states that Israel is an apartheid state (2nd class status for its Arab citizens who face land owning restrictions, discriminatory marriage laws and other daily forms of 2nd class status) in which Palestinians live under foreign dominion in the name of 'security'. In reality this is imperialism pure (settlements and attempts to annex Arab E. Jerusalem by pushing out Arabs) and simple. A nuclear armed state with a military that dwarfs all its neighbors (and has the full backing of the world's sole superpower) is not doing this for security. And AIPAC and Dershowitz and all of the rest of Israel's backers are the real bad guys here, going after the one man who has brought more peace to Israel than anyone else in history. If nothing else, American involvement needs to end with regards to backing Israel. Then, at least, we won't be complicit in their imperialism and will merely be guilty of ignoring the human rights violations of yet another foreign country along with Sudan, Saudi Arabia etc. And for the record, anyone who read Carter's book knows that he was actually pretty mild in his criticism compared to others (including MANY Israeli academics).

[Cogitoe]

Imperialism??? Isn't Israel motive simple survival? If that could be guaranteed in a majority Muslim land, the apartheid could end immediately.

[firelord5000]

Survival based on demise of another population, that may I add was living peacefully with the Jewish population until the allies drew the lines at end of WWII.

[nukemind]

Their 'survival' has nothing to do with it. So what if the majority becomes Muslim over time? As long as you promote equality and use education to establish tolerance and moderation, that same majority will learn to co-exist as they do in Turkey. Otherwise, Israel is no different than the ethnic states they live amidst. And what does the West Bank and Gaza etc. have to do with its survival? Nothing, as even Olmert admitted. It's imperialism and the 2nd class status of its Arab citizens does not make them a real democracy. it's like us in the US having special rights for English speakers for fear of being 'taken over' by Spanish speakers. It's wrong no matter how you look at it.

[breakfast]

Israel wants land., not peace.

[who38]

Sure,

[marymansour]

Not simply survival. Much, much more. They have the P- stinians in a prison situation.

[tiradintim]

Unfortunately, criticizing Israel is the last taboo in America--one need not look far to see evidence of that

[marymansour]

Bravo!

[fussygorilla]

Ex-President Carter is the ONLY American who tells it as it is, fairly and unbiased. That is why the jewish groups and "some Democratic politicians" ciritcize him. I am looking forward to reading his upcoming book.

[biwee]

Yes, Pres Carter speaks and writes the truth. But, in America today, the truth does not count for anything. A simple reading of the UN Security Council resolutions that Israel has violated in the past 40 years would convince a reasonable person that America should ABANDON Israel. Mix in Israeli spy Pollard, the USS Liberty, Sabra and Shatilla, and Qana (twice), and real law-abiding
citizens would wonder WHY the current situation exists.

[StillIRise]

As I recall, Carter was literally eviscerated on FOX and by Republican politicians who were guests on every cable news show I watched following the release of his last book. I don't doubt that "some Democratic politicians" criticized him as well, but Republicans were overwhelmingly very offended by his book as well. It fell right into their anti-American dialogue that they save for anyone who points out the truth about America's imbalanced approach to the Middle East crisis.

[nukemind]

Transparent pandering by Republicans and Faux. They flow wherever the Evangelicals go so when they back the pro-Israel lobby they hop on the bandwagon and go after Jimmy Carter, a better man than any of them and who has done more for Israel's security than any of them as well, ironically enough.

[tiradintim]

I fail to understand the relevance of a o.n.e p.e.o.p.l.e--o.n.e r.e.l.i.g.i.o.n s.t.a.t.e in the twenty-first century.....such a concept can only continue to breed more hatred and war from both sides

[marymansour]

Jimmy Carter is a great man and as you post, is the only one that tells the real truth regarding the P.a.l.e.s.t.i.a.n.s and I.s.r.a.e.l.