Palestine - Peace Not Apartheid

Palestine; Peace Not Apartheid by Jimmy Carter

Category: International Affairs Grade: B

I'm probably going to get in trouble for this review. I don't usually talk politics publicly - its really a no-win thing to do. Former President Carter has just been lambasted by the main stream press and American Jewish leaders. There's a lot wrong with this book, but the reaction reminds me a lot of the broad inter-generational attitude in the 60s summed in the bumper sticker slogan - "America - Love it or Leave it". Alan Dershowitz commented on Carter's book - "he blames everything on Israel and nothing on the Palestinians". Unfortunately, as in the 60s, there's a strong push, in the United States, to take the opposite view. The strength of the American Jewish lobby has defined the slightest anti-Israel statement as fundamentally anti-Semitic. Disagreements and discussions that are fairly common within the Israeli people - settlements or no settlements, land for peace, the wall - are condemned without discussion in the United States.

There is strong international support, reflected by repeated UN resolutions and repeated multi-party agreements, that Israel, as a country has a right to exist in peace. Carter never suggests otherwise. While his biases are clear and, as I gather from a little research, sometimes wrong, his fundamental point seems simple and, to me, pretty obvious. This area of the world will never know peace unless some just solution is found for the million plus refugees that have been created by the creation and expansion of Israel. Whether the expansion is justified, and what the Israeli borders should be doesn't change this basic fact. Maybe expelling these people from their homes and settling them in foreign countries, long term refugee camps or occupied territory is a necessary evil for the long term security of the Israeli people. It doesn't change the fact that a million rootless people are a permanent breeding ground for unrest and international terrorism. The "war on terrorism" is not a battle that can be won with missiles and tanks. Its a hearts-and-minds battle. Creating a permanent underclass in the region is not a viable solution.

One of the best things about the 60s was that it taught people that love of country did not require unconditional acceptance. Rather, the survivability of democracy requires constant skepticism about the things done in our names. The lesson for today is that, especially to an American Jew, support for Israel can not demand blind allegiance. Don't accept the branding that Carter has received. Read the book for yourself; do the research; make up your own mind. Otherwise, don't criticize.