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Last Word: Jimmy Carter Revisiting 'Apartheid'
[Newsweek International, December 25, 2006]
Former president Jimmy Carter has long been regard-ed as an
elder statesman, using his political muscle to address
issues like democracy and human rights. But he's also been a
prolific author. Since leaving office in January 1981, he
has written 23 books, on subjects ranging from American
moral values to his childhood on a Georgia farm. His
latest—and perhaps most controversial—offering, "Palestine:
Peace Not Apartheid," reflects his long interest in the
Middle East. (As president, he personally negotiated peace
between Israel and Egypt.) But it has also drawn fire for
its use of the word apartheid to describe the current
circumstances of the Palestinian people. While the book has
shot up the best-seller list, the former president has been
denounced for his criticism of Israel. He's also come under
fire from former Carter Center associate Kenneth Stein, a
professor of Middle Eastern studies at Emory University, who
has raised questions about the book's accuracy. (Disclosure:
NEWSWEEK's Christopher Dickey was one of the people asked to
comment on an early draft of the book.) President Carter
spoke to NEWSWEEK's Eleanor Clift. Excerpts:
Clift: You've created quite a stir. I suspect it was partly
intentional.
Carter: Well, it was. One of the purposes of the book was to
provoke discussion, which is very rarely heard in this
country, and to open up some possibility that we could
rejuvenate or restart the peace talks in Israel that have
been absent for six years—so that was the purpose of the
book.
The word apartheid—did you agonize about that?
Not really, I didn't agonize because I knew that's an
accurate description of what's going on in Palestine. I
would say that the plight of the Palestinians now—the
confiscation of their land, that they're being suppressed
completely against voicing their disapproval of what's
happening, the building of the wall that intrudes deep
within their territory, the complete separation of Israelis
from the Palestinians—all of those things in many ways are
worse than some of the aspects of apartheid in South Africa.
There is no doubt about it, and no one can go there and
visit the different cities in Palestine without agreeing
with what I have said.
Why do you think you're under attack for the book and the
title?
You and I both know the powerful influence of AIPAC [the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee], which is not
designed to promote peace. I'm not criticizing them, they
have a perfect right to lobby, but their purpose in life is
to protect and defend the policies of the Israeli government
and to make sure those policies are approved in the United
States and in our Congress—and they're very effective at it.
I have known a large number of Jewish organizations in this
country [that] have expressed their approval for the book
and are trying to promote peace. But their voices are
divided and they're relatively reluctant to speak out
publicly. And any member of Congress who's looking to be re-
elected couldn't possibly say that they would take a
balanced position between Israel and the Palestinians, or
that they would insist on Israel withdrawing to
international borders, or that they would dedicate
themselves to protect human rights of Palestinians—it's very
likely that they would not be re-elected.
In some of your interviews you've said that this is a debate
that's out in the open in Israel, and it's only here that we
feel inhibited.
Oh yes—that's correct. Not only in Israel—all over Israel,
the major news media, every day—[but] obviously in the Arab
world, even in Europe. In this country, any sort of debate
back and forth, any sort of incisive editorial comment in
the major newspapers, is almost completely absent.
You're obviously aware of your main critic, Mr. Stein, who
used to be with the Carter Center.
Thirteen years ago! He hasn't been associated with the
Carter Center for 13 years.
He says that he was a third party in some meetings and that
his notes don't jibe with yours.
He was a third party in some of the meetings, I can't deny
that. And a lot of those meetings took place when I was
still president and an exact transcription was kept and it's
in the official files. So the reports that I gave in the
book are completely accurate.
He also accuses you of plagiarism, saying you took from
other sources.
The only source that I took anything from that I know about
was my own book, which I wrote earlier—it's called "The
Blood of Abraham" ... Somebody told me [that Stein] was
complaining about the maps in the book. Well, the maps are
derived from an atlas that was published in 2004 in
Jerusalem and it was basically produced under the aegis of
officials in Sweden. And the Swedish former prime minister
is the one who told me this was the best atlas available
about the Middle East.
