Judging a Book by Its Cover and Its Content - Abraham Foxman[Jimmy Carter] unjustly encourages Israel-bashers around the world. The legitimizing factor of being able to quote a former president of the United States and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize cannot be overestimated. Secondly, this gives comfort to the extremists on the Palestinian side who are reinforced in their extremism by this kind of "analysis."
(New Jersey Jewish Standard)
2 comments:
The book just came out so I have to admit I have researched it through passages and reviews, as well as trying to digest what I could from websites equally, and obviously, biased for or against it and what it promotes. Unfortunately, just like in court, where you may be forced to give a yes or no answer when an explanation is clearly in order, Jimmy Carter says a lot of truthful things, in the sense that they are facts, and though open to semantic interpretation, they are what they are. If one just observes these unqualified facts, and I viewed many anti-Israel websites that did, you can make a case for the points in the book. Unfortunately, it is not really that easy. Are their Israeli only roads, exclusionary barriers and double standards in some areas? Sure. If the world were black and white would these things be wholly objectionable? Sure. But the world does not work that way. In Africa, you had the black majority suppressed by a late coming very small white minority, and still the level of violence throughout that large nation was small. In the Middle East you have a small group-the Palestinians, thrust upon the Israelis, who have rights granted in various ways to their own lands, and only "occupied" other lands when attacked by war abiding aggressors. The Palestinians are killing Israelis, even at the cost of strapping bombs on their own children. This presents unprecedented security risks that the rest of the world has rarely had to deal with. The Western world has not had to deal with it at all until 9/11. And from that one horrible act, 9/11, look at the changes in attitudes, personal rights and privacy and security that our nation has undertaken. Imagine what we would be like if we dealt with the scores of events the Israelis deal with every year. I have not found Jimmy Carter to be evil, so I can only guess at his motivations now, which I conclude might have to do with his frustration at looking at a process he began 20 years ago has barely moved forward. Because Israel is the strong, unified, richer nation, I can only think that he is blinded by the desire for simplicity and resolution, to think that it is all in the hands of Israel, which should mean it was achievable. But, unfortunately for all concerned, it is not solely up to Israel. When the Palestinians have elected a government that denies Israel’s right to exist, you need your exclusionary practices and barriers. One could naively argue that the election was a reaction to all that Israel has done up until now, if one forgets about all the years of suicide bombings of innocent Israeli civilians, and the history of violence directed at Israel since its inception. I don't hate Carter as much as pity him for grasping at straws to salvage a peace he seemed to want very badly, but was ill equipped to resolve.
My distaste for Mr. Carter is much stronger than yours...his giving comfort to Israel's enemies is unforgivable...and will be paid for in Israeli blood.
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