It has been reported that President Carter’s book titled PEACE,NOT APARTHEID has many Israeli supporters in Congress giving him the cold shoulder as if he has committed a sin.The sin in this case happens to be the use of the word Apartheid which casts the current state of Israeli society in a harsh light comparable to that of White South Africa.
Representatives like Tom Lantos,Henry Waxman, Jane Harman and Howard Berman are reportedly furious at Carter for using the word Aparthied in the title.
I respectfully disagree with these Congressmen and woman.I think the conditions in Israel are such that as an American the only word that would accurately describe the conditions there would be what President Carter used and what Archbishop Tutu and Nelson Mandela have confirmed.
To these representatives the crime of Carter,Tutu and Mandela has been that they want to apply the standards that apply to others to Israeli society.That is a no no.
In many of my trips to that unfortunate land,I have seen highways where no access to Palestinains is available even for emergency purposes.A grotesque wall has been built to keep West Bank residents away from their nearest relatives within a stone’s throw.And daily humiliations are visited on these people each day including meting out collective punishments.To call this anything but Apartheid would be a lie.
President Carter, who made it possible for Egypt and Israel to arrive at peace is now being reviled by these men and women for uttering the truth.For my part, President Carter remains a hero of mine not merely for the peace he has brought between two implacable foes but the exemplary way he has conducted himself after he left office.
Each day President Carter lives the statement of Mahatma Gandhi “Be the change you want the world to be”.These Congresspersons ought to be ashamed of themselves
