Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Although he is more than 2,000 miles away from home, former President Jimmy Carter is still pushing buttons.
Carter spent Monday trading barbs with Jay Leno as part of a West Coast swing to promote his latest book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," but groups closer to home are still voicing outrage over claims in the book that Israel practices apartheid against Palestinians. Debate is even starting to rage in Israel and the Palestinian territories, where the book is becoming available.
Carter continued to stoke the fire with an op-ed piece in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday, where he wrote that Israeli leaders are not demonstrating interest in fostering peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
"I would not agree that Israeli leaders have been in constant pursuit of peaceful resolutions of the conflict with Arab neighbors," Carter wrote.
Carter, 82, concluded that the "ultimate purpose" of his book was to "present facts about the Middle East that are largely unknown in America, to precipitate discussion, and to help restart peace talks."
The column came in response to an earlier one in which he was criticized by 16 Jewish organizations.
Steven Rakitt, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, said that while Carter claims restarting peace talks between Israel and its neighbors as one of his main purposes for writing "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," the controversial book will not create a climate for peace.
"Carter's book will embolden the Palestinians not to engage in the hard decisions that they have refused to consider, and, hence, not to create the true climate for peace that Israel has always sought," Rakitt said.
Carter has come under tremendous fire because the book places most of the blame for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the Jewish state for fostering a type of apartheid that he said is worse in some cases than what blacks saw in South Africa. He also criticizes the Bush administration for failing to intervene.
"Israel has always initiated overtures for peace after every one of the conflicts, all of which were started by her enemies," Rakitt said. "Contrary to what President Carter states, Israel throughout President [Mahmoud] Abbas' term of office has continued to make overtures for peace with the Palestinian Authority."
Judy Marx, executive director of the Atlanta chapter of the American Jewish Committee --- another of the groups expressing concerns about the book --- said she "appreciates [Carter] reaching out to the Jewish community." But she said Carter "ignores the idea that the Palestinian government is now headed by a terrorist organization and this would be a concern to Jews. He's not addressing that concern."
Carter has staunchly defended the book in speeches, opinion pieces and on talk shows. But Jewish groups maintain that Carter has refused to see all sides of the issue and continues to blame Israel.
"I don't think his reaction has addressed the issues that we brought up." said Shelley Rose, southeast regional director of the Anti-Defamation League. "He is just repeating what he has been saying all along. He is not open to listening."
Not only is the debate raging in America, but also in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
"The use of the term 'apartheid' is precisely the use of Palestinian propaganda," said Gerald Steinberg, professor of political science at Israel's Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv. "This confirms what many, many Israelis have always thought about Carter, as someone who is really anti-Israel and has simplistic myths about the conflict."
The view is completely different in the occupied West Bank, where many are praising Carter for presenting the Palestinian side of a long-running tragedy often told through an Israeli filter.
"President Carter knows what he is talking about," said Ziad Abu Amr, a former member of the Palestinian parliament. "He's visited here several times. He's seen the situation with his own eyes. I think he has been impressed by Palestinian eagerness for freedom and democracy."
Despite the criticism, the book has been a relative success at the cash register.
Last week, more than 700 supporters formed a line through the Lawrenceville Books-A-Million to ask the former president to sign the book. Monday,after his appearance on the "Tonight Show," he signed 2,000 books in Pasadena, Calif.
Victoria Meyer, executive director of publicity for Carter's publisher, Simon & Schuster, said sales are strong. An original printing of 300,000 copies has soared to 395,000 copies after four printings.
The book is ranked No. 7 on The New York Times best seller list; No. 8 on Amazon.com; and No. 21 on BarnesandNoble.com.
English-language copies are selling well in Israel, and several publishers are interested in producing Arabic copies. The waters are also being tested for interest from Hebrew publishers, said agent Cecile Barendsma, who handles the international rights for Carter's books.
"It's doing very, very well," said Wil Ennis, community relations director at the Buckhead Barnes & Noble, where the book commands a prominent display. "It's actually doing better the closer we get to Christmas. He's definitely a hero for the state of Georgia."
Meyer said the publisher is not surprised at the strong reaction to the book.
"We knew that President Carter had taken on a very controversial topic, and that it would be much discussed and argued about," Meyer said.
"Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," is Carter's 21st book and sixth with Simon & Schuster.
Some scholars, including former aide Kenneth Stein, have said Carter's latest entry into the literary world is also his sloppiest. Stein, who resigned as the Carter Center's Middle East fellow in protest, has said the book is riddled with errors and omissions.
Meyer downplayed that claim, as well as allegations that parts of the book were plagiarized.
"The allegations are ludicrous," said Meyer. "We stand fully behind the book. President Carter has said publicly that, if any errors in factual details are found, they will be corrected in future editions. This is standard practice in the publishing business."
Staff writers Mike Morris, Bob Deans and Marlon Manuel contributed to this article.
Copyright 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
