Former president Jimmy Carter's recent book on the Israeli - Palestinian conflict sparked controversy before it was even published. It started with the book's title: "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." Carter says he chose the title himself to be deliberately provocative. And to encourage debate in the United States about an issue that he still feels passionate about. But Carter's critics say he missed the mark.
Matthew Bell reported the story on The World and compiled the following additional material.
Listen to Matthew Bell's report (Jan 23)
Jimmy Carter's legacy was the focus of a recent conference at the University of Georgia, marking the 30th anniversary of Carter's presidential inauguration. The moderator was NBC's Brian Williams. During a panel discussion on the Middle East, Williams asked Carter to reveal some aspect of the peace talks at Camp David that he'd never shared before. Thanks goes to WUGA in Atlanta for this audio.
Former President Carter on Camp David accord
Aaron David Miller is a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. He helped advise six US presidents on the Middle East. Miller says that Jimmy Carter should be credited for making it possible for Israel and Egypt to sign their historic peace deal in 1979. But Miller says that Carter's book fails to lay out both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Aaron David Miller
Zbigniew Brzezinski worked closely with President Carter as National Security Advisor from 1977 to 1981. Brzezinski does not believe that Carter has lost credibility with his recent book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In an interview with The World's Matthew Bell, Brzezinski said that Carter might be trying to use his book to challenge the historic role that the United States has played as a mediator.
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Norman Finkelstein of DePaul University has high praise for Carter's book. Here's an excerpt from his conversation with Matthew Bell explaining why Finkelstein believes Carter's legacy will be well-served in the long run by the book.
Norman Finkelstein
There's no shortage of critics of Jimmy Carter's book. On January 11th, 14 members of the Carter Center's advisory board resigned to protest the publication of "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." Here's a copy of the letter they wrote to the former president, giving the reasons why they could "no longer in good conscience continue to serve the Center." It's posted on the Anti-Defamation League website.
On January 18th, Jimmy Carter responded to the criticism of his book with this op-ed piece in the Washington Post.
Researchers at the Israel Project in Washington have been following the Carter book controversary closely. The Israel Project describes itself as "an international non-profit organization devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel while promoting security, freedom and peace." This page includes links related articles from the New York Times, Washington Post and other sources.
And finally, Norman Finkelstein teaches political theory at DePaul University in Chicago, and he's the author of "Beyond Chutzpah: On the misuse of anti-Semitism and the abuse of history." Finkelstein's website has a collection of articles on the Jimmy Carter's recent book from a variety of publications.
