Talking Points on Jimmy Carter's book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid"
President Carter should be applauded for significant past contributions, but his new book has many serious errors. These include repeating Arafat's claim without comment "The PLO has never advocated the annihilation of Israel" p. 62 He fails to say that the PLO charter called for Israel's destruction.
Using the term "apartheid" is not accurate and demeans the suffering of blacks under the racist South African regime.
Nearly 20% of Israeli citizens are Arabs, who are free to vote, practice religion; serve in parliament and in the Israeli Supreme Court.
The book ignores Palestinian acts of terror and implicitly condones terrorism as a bargaining tool in negotiations. "it is imperative, that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Roadmap for Peace are accepted by Israel." p.21
The Jewish community wants a better future for Palestinians, but they have failed to consistently and unequivocally recognize Israel, to adhere to their past peace agreements and to renounce terrorism.
The book does not reflect the reality of Israel's security concerns and longstanding commitment to peace.
Israel gave up all of Gaza, making painful sacrifices for peace. The Palestinian response was to launch more than 1,200 rockets into Israeli towns and elect a terrorist organization as their representatives.
The book blames Israel and ignores the responsibilities of others. It falsely claims that UN Resolution 242 says "Israel must withdraw from territories" (p. 38) actually the resolution calls for negotiations and compromise from all parties.
Creating peace in the Middle East also requires that we pay attention to grave threats to the region like the Iranian President who says he wants to wipe Israel off the map while Iran develops nuclear weapons and defies the UN.
