We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Too many of the reviews here are politically motivated. My goal here is to step back and write an objective review about the book only, politics aside.

This book is genuine, intelligently written, and has a well-thought out premise backed by Jimmy Carter's decades of experience working with key leaders on all sides of the Middle-East peace process. The political tide in the United States has turned, and the timing of this book is no mistake: Carter is hoping take advantage of the change to encourage another attempt of peace in the Holy Land.

The main body of the text provides a relevant history of peace efforts in the Middle-East. I found this review to be quite helpful. It reads much easier and more interesting than "The Blood of Abraham," Carter's 1985 detailed history of the various groups involved in the Middle-East. The reason I rated this book as 4 stars instead of 5 is because there really isn't a lot of new information or ideas for those who are well-read on Carter. But I can still highly recommend this book since most people out there haven't read lots of Carter.

Carter recounts the trial-and-error Camp David negotiation process that he used as President in 1978. He reminds us of the bickering and accusations made by both sides, but also the compromises they were ultimately able to agree upon. Carter's role was to lay down and enforce some rules, be willing to ad lib, be determined, and to act as friend and intermediary to both sides.

Carter is not getting any younger, and I think the take-home message is clear. This is an urgent issue that still requires a lot of hard work. Too many lives are being lost everyday on all sides. The Camp David Accords, the Oslo Accords, and other agreements were ground-breaking in their day, but time marches on. It's up to our generation and our country to go to work and use our influence in the pursuit of peace. The process will be difficult and may seem impossible at times. With this book, Carter urges us to try.

I have never seen so many 1 star reviews for a book. People are giving us their opinion of Jimmy Carter and publishing it as a review and many of them are one sentence reviews. Then we have Michael Evans who wrote his review to promote his own book. Michael has praised Sean Hanitty and Bill Orielly with 5 star reviews for their books and he was friends with Menachem Begin who is quoted in the book as the "most notorious terrorist in the region." Begin is the former leader of the Irgun terrorist group which killed many innocent civilians and bombed the King David Hotel which involved the murder of dozens of people. If bombing a hotel does not qualify someone as a terrorist, regardless of what they did afterwards, than I would like Mr. Evans or anyone to explain why.

Michael asks the question; "Could it be that Jimmy Carter's ideals are formulated by the number of zeros before the decimal on the contributions to the Carter Center by oil-rich Gulf States?" I counter this by asking; Could it be that Jimmy Carter is actually telling the truth and giving us the facts which are hard to swallow?

People condemn Carter for being too critical of Israel and not blaming the Palestinians enough. Only two months after taking office back in 1976, Carter said in answer to reporters question that Israel needs to be "recognized by the Palestinians" and the desire to destroy Israel must change. He says in the book that "the same answer can be given today."
He starts the book off by telling us his early fascination of the Middle East region as a kid and then gives us a brief overview of all the death and destruction that Israel and her neighbors have done to each other. The next chapter includes the awful truth of the illegal settlements and how every President since Lyndon B. Johnson has considered the settlements in the occupied territory to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.

The settlements are the main issue that has blocked peace efforts and in chapter 11, Carter explains to us the insanity of the Israeli government in regards to this issue. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice once said while she was in Jerusalem that she was "very concerned" about the continual building of settlements at a time when we are trying to "build confidence." The response by Israel was to build 1300 new homes in the West Bank and projected 40,000 more during the next decade." Israel has metaphorically given the middle finger to President Bush and every U.S. president of the last 30 years who has ever tried to stop the building of settlements on Palestinian land. This is the root of the conflict.

In chapter 12, Carter talks about the frightening scenario of the Palestinians being absorbed into Israel in a one state solution. Prime Minister Ehud Olemert is quoted twice in interviews with Jewish newspapers Yediot Aharanot and the Haaretz as having said that if Palestinians ever demand the right to vote as citizens of Israel, "we will lose everything." He also said if a two state solution does not work, we will "face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights." You can find this all on page 164.

He ends the book by saying the blood of Abraham continues to run through the veins of Jews, Christians, and Arabs and "too much of it has been spilled" in the holy land. He shows a poll which has the majority of Israel wanting peace, but he says that it is the minority conservative leaders in Israel that have done everything to avoid peace and these leaders and have been backed by powerful American Jewish organizations such as AIPAC. Please read the Israel Lobby for more on this.

The final solutions that Mr. Carter suggests are summed up as: A demilitarized Palestinian state, a withdrawal of all settlers from the West Bank except from Jerusalem (which should be a capital of both states), the right of the Palestinians to return to the West Bank and Gaza, an international peacekeeping force at the borders, and a commitment from both states to recognize their right to live side by side. These resolutions are reasonable and fair, but the removal of all settlers from the West Bank is something that is difficult to imagine considering the stubbornness of the Israeli government and the unwillingness of the U.S. government to have a backbone. Only time will tell if President Obama may finally be the man to say to Israel; remove the settlements, or else.

Jimmy Carter, We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land

Former President Jimmy Carter has just released a new book, We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan that Will Work. Carter's solution is straightforward; Israel should embrace the Quartet. The plan is backed by a group known simply as The Elders, an idea formulated by British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and musician Peter Gabriel to create a world council of elders to tackle issues such as peace in the Middle East. Jimmy Carter and the Carter Center are heavily involved with this endeavor. Carter is one of three appointed as Elders to the Middle East. The delegation's objectives were met with skepticism by the Israelis, but according to Mr. Carter, were eagerly embraced by the "Palestinians, peace groups and human rights activists in the region."

How could he ask the Jewish people to embrace a group know as The Elders? The controversial Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion is the biggest bestselling book in a bigoted world, and is charged with fueling anti-Semitism, from the Russian pogroms to the Holocaust. Carter's plan is to allow the Quartet to solve the Middle East problem. He calls for peace-loving organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas and states like Iran and Syria to be involved in the negotiating process in order to have peace in the Holy Land.

Carter refers to Jews again and again as "radicals," another word for terrorists. He called Menachem Begin a "radical" and then goes on to describe him as the "most notorious terrorist in the region." Of course, he said the British said that, not him. Carter describes Benjamin Netanyahu as a " key political associate and naysayer" who was strongly opposed to Israel relinquishing control over the Sinai.

It appears that Jimmy Carter is revising history. The Benjamin Netanyahu I know was attending college during the Camp David meetings. In fact, when I recommended him to Begin for a government job, the prime minister did not even know who Benjamin was. I have no idea how Carter was so aware of Benjamin Netanyahu's political ideology; he was selling furniture.
The former president writes that Begin agreed to divide Jerusalem. I found that to be astonishing...especially since Mr. Begin had given me a copy of the letter he wrote to Jimmy Carter on September 17, 1978. In the letter he wrote,
"Dear Mr. President....On the basis of this law, the government of Israel decreed in July 1967 that Jerusalem is one city indivisible, the capital of the State of Israel."
According to Begin, Jimmy Carter informed him that the U.S. government did not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Begin told me he responded, "Excuse me sir, but the State of Israel does not recognize your non-recognition."

The former president writes that Prime Minister Menachem Begin agreed to a freeze on building Jewish settlements. Begin told me he had not agreed to a total freeze; he only agreed not to build new settlements for three months, during the negotiations. Carter gives the impression that he and Begin were close friends by saying that Begin and Sadat visited him in Plains to reaffirm the personal commitments each had made to the other. I found that quite humorous; Mr. Begin told me he had refused to meet with Jimmy Carter when the president traveled to Jerusalem. At that time, he was no longer Prime Minister but was outraged that Carter had misrepresented the events during their meetings.

Carter viewed Yasser Arafat as a Middle East George Washington. He pens, "We pursued the concept of non-violent resistance of Hamas leaders and gave them documentation and video presentations on the successful experiences of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and others." Peace in the Holy Land must include Palestinian militant leader, Marwan Barghouti, the serial killer. Carter calls him the "most intriguing player in the Middle East." He wants him to run for the office of the presidency in the Palestinian National Authority.

Menachem Begin told me of a meeting with Carter during which he gave the president a list of cities in the United States with Bible names, i.e., Shiloh, Hebron and Bethel. He asked Carter, "Could you imagine the governor of Pennsylvania would proclaim that anyone could live in the city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, except Jews?" President Carter agreed that such a man, if he did such a thing, would be guilty of racism. Begin replied that he was governor of the state in which the original Bethlehem, and the original Jericho, and the original Shiloh were located. He asked me, "Did Carter expect me to say that everybody could live in those cities except Jews?"

Could it be that Jimmy Carter's ideals are formulated by the number of zeros before the decimal on the contributions to the Carter Center by oil-rich Gulf States? These same States do not now nor will they ever allow Jews to worship freely within their borders no matter how much land Israel relinquishes.

Carter's final plea is for President Barack Obama to "shape a comprehensive peace effort between Israel and the Palestinians....then use persuasion and enticements to reach these reasonable goals with the full backing of other members of the International Quartet [Russia, the UN, the EU, and the United States] and the Arab nations." It is likely he would call on The Elders for their expertise. The best thing President Obama could do is completely ignore Jimmy Carter and his plan.

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Michael D. Evans, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, is the author of Jimmy Carter: The Liberal Left and World Chaos. A television special based on the book is currently being produced (www.carterbooktv.com).