Palestine

Peace Not Apartheid

By: Jimmy Carter

Narrated by: Jimmy Carter

Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Following his #1 New York Times best seller Our Endangered Values, the former president, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, offers an assessment of what must be done to bring permanent peace to Israel, with dignity and justice for Palestine.

President Carter, who was able to negotiate peace between Israel and Egypt, has remained deeply involved in Middle East affairs since leaving the White House. He has stayed in touch with the major players from all sides in the conflict and has made numerous trips to the Holy Land, most recently as an observer of the Palestinian elections in 2005 and 2006.

In this book, President Carter shares his intimate knowledge of the history of the Middle East and his personal experiences with the principal actors, and he addresses sensitive political issues many American officials avoid. Pulling no punches, Carter prescribes steps that must be taken for the two states to share the Holy Land without a system of apartheid or the constant fear of terrorism.

The general parameters of a long-term, two-state agreement are well known, the president writes. There will be no substantive and permanent peace for any peoples in this troubled region as long as Israel is violating key U.N. resolutions, official American policy, and the international "road map" for peace by occupying Arab lands and oppressing the Palestinians.

Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid is a challenging, provocative, and courageous work.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.; Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2006 Jimmy Carter. All Rights Reserved (P)2006 Simon and Schuster, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Comprehensive, fair, accurate, and accessible

This book has numerous things going for it:

1. Carter is a remarkable writer, having published everything from poetry to novels to memoirs and serious non-fiction.

2. He has been a major player in bringing peace to the Middle East, perhaps the most effective ever. This means he knows the other notables personally. He knows the issues backwards and forwards. And he knows who has and who hasn't kept to their agreements. All of this has shaped his views and points of emphasis.

3. His main interest in bringing about peace was the well being of real people, not any particular side (thought he almost thoroughly ignored the Palestinians in the 70's). This means his biases tend to be against those subverting peace.

4. He is a good reader, bringing feeling and passion and a sense of reality to the audio version.

5. He presents numerous viewpoints on the oppression of Palestinians and what it means to the conflict in the Middle East. These range from Syrian to Jordanian to Egyptian, Israeli, and Palestinian viewpoints. The book is all in all a melange of viewpoints of the plight of Palestinians.

6. His firsthand accounts of life in the West Bank are vivid and illustrative. You will come away with a feel and understanding for a very confusing place.

The book has been severely criticized for bias in favor of Palestinians. The attacks border on character assassination and constitute mainly a criticism of the title. Israelis don't like being compared to an apartheid state. Having studied numerous books on the issue, I consider Carter's to be both fair and comprehensive.

The West Bank is currently broken up into numerous tiny enclaves. Communication between them is severely impeded by Israeli checkpoints. This has profoundly disrupted the economy and day to day lives.
Meanwhile Palestinians only have access to about half the land on the West Bank. And the settlement building only continues. Carter highlights what this means to ordinary people and the prospect of peace.

A Point of View from a known & credible source

Would you listen to Palestine again? Why?

This book points out specific lawful points in this conflict. For example UN resolutions without inferring bias and leaving the reader with the ability to cross reference the situation from a Judicial perspective.

What did you like best about this story?

JC provides an independent on the ground view of the conflict and proposes possible and best options to resolve the conflict in the most civil manner without discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, or political beliefs.

Any additional comments?

JC also touches although lightly on key factors such as numbers of people affected by this conflict on both sides of the fence. Many people have died, the numbers help on taking a humanistic approach to a simple yet over loaded topic. It leaves one with thirst for understanding the massive immigration of "International non native Jews" to this small geographical region. It provokes thought on how natural resources in the area must be distributed to provide for the people living in this land and leaves me to wonder if the Israelite ever think about the "Final Solution" when they were on the chopping block, and how this affects their view and association with other peoples.

Eye opener

This has made me see clearly that the situation is much more than we know, I encourage you to listen, no matter your creed or view, this book is nothing but the facts.

Eye opening

Issue is very clearly explained. The narrative is easy to follow. Great to hear a U.S. president criticize US policies so plainly.

Ther is still hope for Peace

This book is well researched and presented with first hand information. I respect Mr.Carter and his candid report on the situation, never befor a prominent US citizen ever took time to visit the place and get the facts from both sides of the parties. It is sad to see that there were several occasions where both parties came very close to a peaceful agreement, but never honored eachothers words. I am sincerely hoping that this book will initiate a dialogue between the two parties and bring new hope and peace to the region which is very dear to people of all faiths.

Perfectly put, as usual.

Carter nailed it. What an amazingly sharp mind, eloquent storyteller, and all-round ethical human being. Anyone disputing him on the topic of Israeli treatment of Palestinians is either deceiver or deceived.

The whole truth

I can describe this book in a word: WOW! I thought I was knowledgeable about the subject matter particularly by comparison with the average person but Jimmy Carter gives insight about the inner workings behind the scenes.

As a person who once thought that the Palestinians were a bunch of terrorists, that opinion doesn't survive the application of objective logic. I now know that this is simply how they have been portrayed by partisan politicians, the media, and during election year speeches.

I think everyone should read this book before assigning blame because there is plenty to go around. It is a complex situation which requires objectivity which is not possible until one knows the whole story.

The most powerful aspect of the book is the description of the living conditions of the Muslims and Christians in the occupied territories. I almost wanted to cry for them.

I shudder to think that my tax dollars have been used to lend blind support to these atrocities. The saddest thing is that so many people have been trained to look down on someone simply for questioning current policies. Any ideal worth standing for can easily withstand such questions. When a light is shined on the corner of a room, the only thing which scurries away is that which should not be.

This book points out things each side has done to exacerbate the problem so to say it is biased is short-sighted. It is simply honest and provides a clear road map for a solution. To call it a must-read would be a gross understatement.

A non biased look at one of the Middle East crisis

Any additional comments?

A well researched informative book for anyone curios about the actual events taking place in Palestine. Nice to hear the account of someone who has actually BEEN there and involved in the negotiations for decades...

Powerful!

Jimmy Carter is a man of high morals! he did so much for the peace process. Truly a neutral negotiator for peace.

Very good

I love it but, the narrator spoke a little fast. I am glad I listened to it.