It is encouraging to hear more and more people speaking out in defense of Jimmy Carter’s latest book, "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid." A former senior Republican, Paul Findley who represented Illinois in the U.S. House for 22 years, offered a vigorous defense of Carter. He is the author of numerous books, including "They Dare to Speak Out" and "Silent No More."
Sadly, Findley, paid the ultimate price for speaking out in favor of Palestinian rights and criticizing the construction of Jewish-only settlements on confiscated Palestinian land. He lost his Congressional seat by a narrow margin after the pro-Israeli lobby poured money into his opponent’s campaign. In his book, “They Dare to Speak Out”, Findley describes the tactics used by pro-Israeli groups to silence opponents. Other human rights stalwarts, such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and UN Envoy John Dugard, compare Israeli policies to former white South African apartheid. Surprisingly, even Israeli policians, such as former Education Minister, Shulamit Aloni, acknowledge that an apartheid system exists in Israel. Israeli policies are counter to basic American polices and values and a complete violation of international law. Yet, Israel continues to build illegal settlements largely financed by US tax money. Our unconditional support to Israel has completely damaged our credibility and has endangered our security. It is time for citizens to speak out and demand accountability from Israel which has consistently demonstrated its utter disdain for the rule of international law.
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