Israel, Palestine, peace and apartheid

[Scurrilous]

Jimmy Carter
Tuesday December 12, 2006
The Guardian

Americans need to know the facts about the abominable oppression of the Palestinians

<snip>

"The many controversial issues concerning Palestine and the path to peace for Israel are intensely debated among Israelis and throughout other nations - but not in the United States. For the past 30 years, I have witnessed and experienced the severe restraints on any free and balanced discussion of the facts. This reluctance to criticise policies of the Israeli government is due to the extraordinary lobbying efforts of the American-Israel Political Action Committee and the absence of any significant contrary voices.

It would be almost politically suicidal for members of Congress to espouse a balanced position between Israel and Palestine, to suggest that Israel comply with international law or to speak in defence of justice or human rights for Palestinians. Very few would deign to visit the Palestinian cities of Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron, Gaza City or Bethlehem and talk to the beleaguered residents.

What is even more difficult to comprehend is why the editorial pages of the major newspapers and magazines in the US exercise similar self-restraint, quite contrary to private assessments expressed forcefully by their correspondents in the Holy Land.

My new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, is devoted to circumstances and events in Palestine and not in Israel, where democracy prevails and citizens live together and are legally guaranteed equal status. It is already possible to judge public and media reaction. Sales are brisk, and I have had interesting interviews on TV. But I have seen few news stories in major newspapers about what I have written.

Book reviews in the mainstream media have been written mostly by representatives of Jewish organisations who would be unlikely to visit the occupied territories, and their primary criticism is that the book is anti-Israel. Two members of Congress have been publicly critical. Some reviews posted on Amazon.com call me "anti-semitic," and others accuse the book of "lies" and "distortions". A former Carter Centre fellow has taken issue with it, and Alan Dershowitz called the book's title "indecent". Out in the real world, however, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The book describes the abominable oppression and persecution in the occupied Palestinian territories, with a rigid system of required passes and strict segregation between Palestine's citizens and Jewish settlers in the West Bank. An enormous imprisonment wall is now under construction, snaking through what is left of Palestine, to encompass more and more land for Israeli settlers. In many ways, this is more oppressive than what black people lived under in South Africa during apartheid. I have made it clear that the motivation is not racism but the desire of a minority of Israelis to confiscate and colonise choice sites in Palestine, and then to forcefully suppress any objections from the displaced citizens. Obviously, I condemn acts of terrorism or violence against innocent civilians, and I present information about the casualties on both sides."

[Stockholm]

1. Kick for Carter

"...the motivation is not racism but the desire of a minority of Israelis to confiscate and colonise choice sites in Palestine, and then to forcefully suppress any objections from the displaced citizens."

Then who belong to this minority?

[Scurrilous]

2. "Out in the real world, however...

....the response has been overwhelmingly positive."


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/books/bestseller/1217besthardnonfiction.html


7) PALESTINE PEACE NOT APARTHEID, by Jimmy Carter. :thumbsup:

[Violet_Crumble]

4. I'm sure the silliness going on has helped sales a fair bit n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

3. ....

:rofl:

[Scurrilous]

5. Carter defends book in Pasadena appearance

<snip>

"Jimmy Carter staunchly defended his controversial Middle East book at an appearance in Pasadena on Monday night, saying "horrible, despicable human rights abuses" are occurring in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

The former president also asserted that pro-Israel lobbyists have stifled open debate in this country on the Israeli-Palestinian situation. "It's impossible for any candidate for Congress to make a statement like 'I favor balanced support of Israel and Palestine,' " he said.

Carter made his remarks in a brief session with reporters before a book-signing appearance at a jammed Vromans bookstore, which attracted an overwhelmingly supportive crowd estimated at nearly 2,000.

The warm reception was a marked contrast to the heated criticism that the book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," has triggered since its publication last month. It has drawn fire from pro-Israel organizations and some scholars, including the former executive director of the Carter Center in Atlanta."

more

[Tom Joad]

6. I saw Carter on Jay Leno last night...

Now when these issues get discussed on something like the Leno show, when it is becoming part of general discussion and debate, it means that people are taking notice.

For those who want real discussion of these issues and for the US to end its support for Israel's oppression and militarism, it is a very signicant time.

For defenders of Israel's current policies of oppression... this is not the time to fret.
It is time for total and absolute panic. A feeling akin to what the the Emperors tailors must have felt when that kid spoke up... and you heard a slow and stifled giggles going through the crowd, and they knew that there would be no end, it would only get worse, that the whole illusion was soon to be gone.

It is only a matter of time before the politicians begin to admit what everyone can see. That Israel is responsible for some very serious human rights abuses, and it is not in the interest of the US to support such things.

[oberliner]

8. What US do you live in?

The US should end its support for Israel's oppression and militarism?

Is that the same US that attacked a foreign country completely unprovoked?

The same US that is currently occupying that country?

The same US that is responsible for over 50,000 civilian deaths in Iraq since the conflict began?

The same US whose soldiers have raped Iraqi children and murdered infants?

Maybe the US needs to end its own oppression and its own militarism.

[Tom Joad]

9. We need a whole new foreign policy. Very True.

We could add things like:
Killing millions in Vietnam.
Supporting Indonesia genocide in East Timor.
Supporting the fascist Pinochet dictatorship. and much, much more.

I am not suggesting anyone hold their breath waiting for this to happen, i am just saying that is what we need to do.

[bloom]

7. We have to look to the Guardian for a reasonable article. nt