Jimmy Carter book controversy

[bobman0330]

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Here is the Times article. You may need to register to read it.

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WTF, bugmenot extension.

[elscorcho768]

I came across this article regarding Carter's book. It's an op/ed, critical of Carter, and pro-Israel just so everyone knows. The most interesting line is where Norman Finklestein of all people says his book is loaded with inaccuracies.

[Bill Haywood]

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Your description of the Times article is not fair.... the article seems to be very fair in its treatment of the issue.

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My problem isn't with the article but with the critic it quotes, who said he found all kinds of errors, and "In due course, I shall detail these points."

There's going to be harping about all sorts of little pedantic points, but little engagement with the main arguments, such as Israel's flaunting of universal international opinion that it should give back the conquered areas.

The link provided by elschorcho is a good example. The editorial claims the book is rife with errors, but the example it gives is over what Israel's borders are -- a political dispute, a difference of opinion, not a glaring factual inaccuracy.

One clearly misleading point however is the attempt to enlist Norman Finkelstein in trashing Carter. Finkelstein responds: "It seems Israel's "supporters" have conscripted me in their media lynching of Jimmy Carter. Count me out."

Notorious self-hater Norman Finkelstein continues...

And in case someone wants to what the man himself has to say: Carter responds to inevitable kneejerk calumny

[aheravi]

Can we give Copernicus a warning/timeout for making a low-content OP?

Change that to no content.

[elscorcho768]

Yeah, I was hoping the author would cite his work with at least where he got that Finkelstein quote as that part just seemed too hard to believe.

[Mickey Brausch]

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I came across this article regarding Carter's book. It's an op/ed, critical of Carter, and pro-Israel just so everyone knows. The most interesting line is where Norman Finklestein of all people says his book is loaded with inaccuracies.

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The FrontPageMag.com "review" to which you linked, is not telling the whole story. Very typical of that website. Anyway, here is what Norman Finkelstein wrote about the book :

The historical chapters of Peace, Not Apartheid are rather thin, filled with errors small and large, as well as tendentious and untenable interpretations. But few persons will be reading it for the history.

It is what Carter has to say about the present that will interest the reading public and the media (assuming the book is not ignored). It can be said with certainty that Israel's apologists will not be pleased. Although Carter includes criticisms of the Palestinians to affect balance,[1] it is clear that he holds Israel principally responsible for the impasse in the peace process. The most scathing criticisms of Israel come in Chapter 16 ("The Wall as a Prison"). One hopes that this chapter (and the concluding "Summary") will be widely disseminated.

Below I reproduce some of Carter's key statements :

The overriding problem is that, for more than a quarter century, the actions of some Israeli leaders have been in direct conflict with the official policies of the United States, the international community, and their own negotiated agreements.
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[1] E.g., Carter writes: "With a single-mindedness amounting to tunnel vision, Palestinians see the restoration of their rights, defined by international law, as the key to peace throughout the broader Middle East, including the Gulf states" (p. 187). What's wrong with grounding rights and peace in international law?

[Felix_Nietzsche]

Map Maker claim Plagerism
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,235422,00.html

Ex-Pro Carter Guy
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2...349.shtml?s=ic

[4 High]

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Can we give Copernicus a warning/timeout for making a low-content OP?

Change that to no content.

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Hes been doing this for months i dont think anyone cares to enough to warn or ban him sadly.

If the book does have factual errors in it, thats a problem to me. Altho i do agree with most of what Carter says on the issue.

[iron81]

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Can we give Copernicus a warning/timeout for making a low-content OP?

Change that to no content.

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Mmm, ok. I don't really hand out bans for this, usually I'll just get the OP to give us some background or I'll get it myself. Poofer helped us out this time, so we're fine. I just don't like threads that are about guessing what the OP is talking about.

Copernicus, please don't do it again.

[Mickey Brausch]

All text (except in parenthesis) taken from your Links.

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Map Maker claim Plagiarism

[/ QUOTE ]Carter's response: "A former Carter Center fellow has taken issue with it, and Alan Dershowitz called the book's title 'indecent.' Out in the real world, however, the response has been overwhelmingly positive," Jimmy Carter wrote in a Los Angeles Times op-ed piece published in Friday's edition.

(Lest we forget, Alan Dershowitz is the guy whose book, ostensibly the definitive defense of Israel's polices, was completely demolished by Norman Finkelstein.)

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Ex-Pro Carter Guy

[/ QUOTE ]Kenneth Stein, the Carter Center's first executive director and founder of its Middle East program, sent a letter that bluntly criticized the book to Carter and others. Carter issued a brief statement saying that Stein had not been actively involved with the center for more than 12 years.

(Stein is director of the Institute for the Study of Modern Israel.)

It is not the first time Carter and Stein have disagreed over Middle East policy, said Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Tulane University and the author of the 1988 Carter biography, "The Unfinished Presidency."

"They've never been on the same page in the Middle East. They've been in an almost constant state of disagreement," Brinkley said. Stein "doesn't trust the Palestinians as much as Carter."