Former US President Jimmy Carter braved a storm of controversy when he came out in 2006 with his book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid”. While other major figures including Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu had made the same allegation, Carter was the first major western figure to adopt that terminology. He paid dearly for it. Read more…

Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford for the US presidency in the wake of the scandal plagued Nixon administration. His presidency was a difficult one which included economic stagflation, the Iranian hostage incident and an energy crisis. He also attempted to further middle east peace by hosting the Camp David Accord which led to a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, (but left the Palestinian issue unresolved.)

Carter had a reputation for speaking from his heart rather than from his advisers’ talking points. Just a few weeks into his presidency, at a Massachusetts town hall in responding to a question he asserted, “There has to be a homeland provided for the Palestinian refugees who have suffered for many, many years.” He no doubt believed it in his heart, but this brought the wrath of the professional American Jewish world down on his head. He was defeated after only serving one term.

After leaving the office, Carter devoted much energy to human rights and humanitarian endeavours. He established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights, which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He traveled extensively to conduct peace negotiations, monitor elections and further the eradication of infectious diseases. Among the causes he espoused was that of the Palestinians, including writing a bombshell book in which he criticized Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as apartheid.

His book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, published by Simon and Shuster in 2006, was a New York Times Best Seller. It was the first time any senior American figure had used that loaded term.

It caused an immediate uproar. Carter was denounced as an antisemite by Zionists across the country. He was vilivied by the leaders of his own Democratic party including Bill Clinton and Nancy Pelosi Fifteen board members resigned from his Carter Centre.

At the time, Carter was bemused, but defiant. “Apartheid is a word that is an accurate description of what has been going on in the West Bank, and it’s based on the desire or avarice of a minority of Israelis for Palestinian land,” he told NPR’s Steve Inskeep in a January 2007 interview. “This is a word that’s a very accurate description of the forced separation within the West Bank of Israelis from Palestinians and the total domination and oppression of Palestinians by the dominant Israeli military.”

By today’s standards, when Israel is accused by the UN of “genocide”, Carter’s criticism of Israel was mild. Despite the title he hardly referred to “apartheid” at all in the book. Furthermore, Carter made it clear he was ONLY talking about the West Bank. “ Israel is a wonderful democracy, you know, where everyone has guaranteed equal rights and where, under the law, Arabs and Jews who are Israelis have the same privileges about Israel. That’s been most of the controversy because people assume it’s about Israel. It’s not,” he mistakenly claimed.

After publication of his book, Carter and his wife Rosalyne, went on a book tour across the USA where he spoke in many churches and at many universities. At each place, he met with both approval and hostility. He was even refused entry to Brandeis University, a predominantly Jewish institution.

A documentary film recounting his book tour called “The Man from Plains” is worth watching, as he struggles to explain his book, and his ideas, to Americans. It is available for rent from YouTube.

A deeply Christian man, Carter was a kind of prophet. And like many prophets he gained many adversaries as well as admirers.

CTIP is among the admirers.

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Canada Talks Israel Palestine (CTIP) is the weekly newsletter of Peter Larson, Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion in Canada about Canada’s response to the complicated and emotional Israel/Palestine issue with a focus on the truth, clear analysis and human rights for all. Readers with different points of view are invited to make comment.

Want to learn more about us? Go to http://www.ottawaforumip.org