Palestine: Peace not Apartheid

Former President Jimmy Carter has been drawing fire for writing what has been termed an anti-Semitic book that unfairly blames Israel for the stalled peace process. The book begins with a dry history of the regional and political makeup of the Middle East, but picks up steam with narratives of Carter’s trips to Israel and his interest in the biblical region, and an overview of the various peace proposals and why each one has not succeeded. The heart of Carter’s argument—that Israel must withdraw to its 1967 borders in accord with UN resolutions—is repeated throughout. He places much of the blame for the failures on the state of Israel, using the title to compare the situation with the occupied territories to the apartheid of South Africa. Carter has stood by his book, only removing and apologizing for one sentence: “It is imperative that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Roadmap for Peace are accepted by Israel.”