17, December 2006 Jimmy Carter
It is troubling that so many letters have recently appeared vilifying Jimmy Carter who had the moral courage to expose the appalling plight of the oppressed Palestinians in his recent book, ‘Peace not Apartheid’. Carter has justly earned the reputation of one of the foremost humanitarians for his tireless work with “Habitats for Humanity’, monitoring elections in newly emerging democracies, and for his efforts in bringing about a peaceful settlement with Israel and Egypt for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Many of your readers are clearly outraged and stung with the dreaded label ‘apartheid’. Perhaps these same people could offer a more palatable description for Israeli polices which are aimed at destroying the means of survival of the Palestinian people by demolishing their homes, the centuries old olive trees, theft of their land and water, forcing them to stand for hours at check points facing Israeli tanks and guns and imposing an economic blockade .which is driving them to the brink of starvation. It is encouraging that more and more courageous Jews such as Rabbi Michael Lerner are voicing their support for Jimmy Carter. I urge readers to view the searing testimonies of former members of the Israeli Defense Force who confirm the brutal horrors heaped on the Palestinians (see ww.peaceworkmagazine.org/pwork/0410/041008.htm)
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Finally, it speaks volumes when another great humanitarian with impeccable credentials, Rev. Desmond Tutu, was denied a visitor’s visa by Israel to conduct a fact finding mission to investigate the recent slaughter of Palestinian children.
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