Introduction:
Palestine: Peace not Apartheid is a strong and general forceful book written by former President Jimmy Carter which attempts to portray the issue of Palestine and Israel in a more clear and factful light. Some writers and especially Jewish scholars have contested several of Carter’s theories in the book where he espouses the dictum that Israel’s hostile control and semi dictatorship in the occupied Palestinian territories are principal obstacles in the peace process. Carter also focuses at length on the talks he had hosted between President Begim of Israel and Anwar Sadat that led to the famous Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty and which he sees as a model for a similar agreement between Israel and Palestine. Some have also observed that the use of the word ‘apartheid’ raises concerns that Israeli policy is racist and this has created hot debate and denouncement from the Orthodox Jewish community.
The book was followed by an interesting documentary titled ‘Jimmy Carter, Man from the Plains’ where the role of the former President who travelled extensively to promote his book and also describes his involvement in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, an issue which has caused him substantial controversy.
Major points in the book
Carter’s book touches on several issues which may start with the thousands of deaths of civilians on both sides of the divide. He insists that all violence and terrorism must stop before peace is eventually achieved. He is highly critical of the Israeli policy which focuses on the occupation of choice Palestinian land which has been colonized and settled to the detriment of the Palestinians themselves who are left pariahs in their own country. Carter argues that this is forced segregation and apartheid since Israel imposes severe restrictions on Palestinian Arabs travelling through the occupied territories while Jewish settlers do not have any of these restrictions to travel.
Carter is also heavily critical of the wall built in the West bank which passes over what were once large Palestinian settlements. This policy of colonization has continued to foment bad feeling and segregation amongst Israelis and Palestinians. Israel also controls the Jordan River territory with Gaza surrounded by military installations that make citizens prisoners in their own homeland. Carter argues that citizens have absolutely no free access to world travel.
Economic restrictions have also severely deprived the Palestinians of a normal life with several thousand families now living on the poverty line or below it. Carter states that this situation has been further exacerbated with the election of Hamas candidates to the government in Gaza that have resulted in economic sanctions by the US and Israel.
The book also analyses the failed efforts of Mahmoud Abbas as Prime Minister of Palestine to succeed with negotiations in Israel. He also cites the several accords made at Camp David and Oslo which are based on the premise that Israel withdraw from Palestinian territories as well as the recognition of the state of Israel by Palestine.
Jimmy Carter the man in the book
Jimmy Carter was a President with a difference and even today he is still quite appreciated for his philanthropic work although his term as President was marked by a rather benign foreign policy which unfortunately did not always work and left him with considerable baggage in this respect.
Perhaps the American nation had high expectations regarding foreign policy especially after the disaster of the Watergate scandal and the quite uneventful Presidency of Gerald Ford. Notwithstanding all this, Carter was also quite unlucky in the sense that a number of issues occurred on his watch which could have been avoided especially the Iranian Revolution and the issue regarding unemployment and the fall of the US economy into recession. Perhaps Carter was not as strong willed as one would have expected him to be in the circumstances but that does not necessarily mean he was a bad President anyway.
Carter is quite forceful about the Palestinian question which in many ways is very dear to his heart. The book focuses on the importance of finding a common ground between Palestine and Israel otherwise peace will never be achieved. The book is perhaps skewed against Israel in its mindset although at the end of the day, one knows where Jimmy Carter’s sympathies lie.
Carter’s election
Carter was elected with a slim majority although he did win a substantial majority in the Electoral College largely due to the fact that he was a favourite son from Georgia and carried a substantial number of Southern states which have never returned back to the Democratic column since. This made his victory slightly dependent on senators and Congressmen who were still rather conservative on civil rights issues and this made his life difficult as time went by. Certain economic decisions coupled with the problem of OPEC continued to create further problems for him and this meant that his Presidency eventually degenerated into a free for all with conflicts high on the agenda. However there is little that could have been done differently especially with regards to the foreign policy issues which arose, particularly the ones with Iran where the revolution practically took everyone by surprise with the United States obviously a target for Muslim reprehension and attacks.
Richard Nixon was always a corrupt and morally reprehensible President who ended up skewered on his own fork with the Watergate Scandal. That also meant that the American public viewed the Presidency with some disdain and Carter obviously had to work hard to rebuild the reputation of the institution. Whether he succeeded or not was quite debatable although one has to say that under his watch several policy initiatives to help the poor and downtrodden were undertaken. Nixon was perhaps more successful on the foreign policy front especially when he managed to open up diplomatic relations with China which was not exactly a country that had a lot going for it at the time. Carter was perhaps very much a calmer person in this regard and did not want to engage in any sort of conflict with other countries and preferred a foreign policy which was certainly not belligerent at all.
Carter was definitely not corrupt and was very much a forward thinker in terms of local issues and he had a lot of respect for the poor unlike Nixon who was brash and belligerent and unashamedly courted rich contacts for his own personal gain, something which Carter would definitely not dream of doing. He was steadfast and very virulent on the principles in which he believed in accordingly, very much so in the context of those troubled times which affected him singularly and accordingly.
Role as post-Presidency statesman
Today Jimmy Carter is very much highly regarded as a statesman who is consistently held in high esteem especially with countries where the US has difficult diplomatic relations. On more than one occasion he has visited hot countries such as North Korea and Iran and holds an excellent rapport with the leaders there. This is something which could definitely not be achieved under other Presidents such as George Bush and Barrack Obama and demonstrates his standing in international affairs which is certainly of the highest order.
Carter’s relationship with the FBI was also something of an issue and he definitely did not care much for the brazen interrogation techniques used by that institution. Today he also remains a very vocal critic against torture methods such was waterboarding and suchlike principally due to his experience as being a patient negotiator. More often than not he has been instrumental in securing the release of American prisoners held in high security jails in countries which are deemed as hotspots. His valuable work in the United Nations and as a special representative in countries where there is war and civil strife is also something which must be noted accordingly.
He was also the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 largely for his sterling work in developing nations and also for his role as a vocal critic of the Israel-Palestinian peace conflict. Carter’s experience as Governor of Georgia before his presidency also helps to put certain issues into perspective especially the fact that his life was undoubtedly permeated by decision making on civil rights issues. In his role as a post Presidency statesman, Carter has been at the forefront of several important military issues and has worked assiduously to promote peace in this regard. He is also the founder of a non-profit organization together with his wife Roslyn where he tirelessly works to promote issues of an environmental and human nature such as deforestation, desertification and hunger where he has been particularly active.
Some other issues may appear controversial such as Carter’s support of the death penalty and abortion although he was personally opposed to them. Perhaps the issue of the United States boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games was something which he could have done without but with hindsight there was not much which could have been done in the circumstances.
Works Cited
Carter J: Palestine: Peace not Apartheid; 2006, Simon and Schuster (Print)
