Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid in Around the World in 80 Books

Nov 12, 2008 Madeleine rated it liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, swana, ur-opeds-r-better-than-ur-books, palestine

Well, I finally read this. And before I read it I expected to give it five stars, just based on the amount of respect I have for several different people who've recommended that I read it (though none of the recommenders had actually read it yet either). I think it's pretty terrific that a former US president has written a book that cuts through a lot of misinformation and accurately presents the facts of the current situation in Palestine and Israel. The book itself, however, is not completely Well, I finally read this. And before I read it I expected to give it five stars, just based on the amount of respect I have for several different people who've recommended that I read it (though none of the recommenders had actually read it yet either). I think it's pretty terrific that a former US president has written a book that cuts through a lot of misinformation and accurately presents the facts of the current situation in Palestine and Israel. The book itself, however, is not completely terrific.

I'm working on a longer review to post on my blog (I apparently still suffer from the delusion that people actually read my blog), but here are some things that concern me.

First, this is really a book about Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter's travels in Israel and Palestine, what Jimmy Carter thinks peace and justice will look like, what Jimmy Carter did when he was president, what Jimmy Carter has done since leaving office, etc. If you consult the index, you will perhaps notice that there is an entire page of entries for "Carter, Jimmy." Incidentally, there are a grand total of three index entries for "apartheid." The title is by far the most "controversial" thing about this book. If you want to read a book about Jimmy Carter, great, go for it. I just didn't think that was supposed to be the point of this book.

There is very little information about anything pre-1967. Which worries me, because I think someone could pick this up, read it, and come away with the opinion that nothing bad happened before 1967. Which is simply not true, and understanding that earlier history has really helped me understand why issues like Palestinian right of return are so important to people. Again with the Jimmy Carter thing: the narrative basically starts when Carter's involvement started, which is to say the 1970s. .

And then there is the fact that Carter thinks he has all the answers. I feel that the responsibility of the concerned outsider, the white American author, the activist, whatever, is: listening to the people who are most directly affected and respecting what they feel to be the best solution or solutions. Even if you're Jimmy Carter. Carter has strong views as to what is going to fix this situation. I don't fully agree with them. But I think whether or not I agree with him is something of a moot point, because deciding what will fix things is not my role, or his. It is arrogant and imperialist for someone like me to assume that she has the answers to the questions of "what will peace and justice look like?" I would assume that a former US president has a lot more business putting forth his opinions than I do, but reading this book, I have to say that I didn't see much of any respect on Carter's part for people who disagree with his opinions.

Now that I've poked holes in all that, I can't stress enough how glad I am that this book is in print. I think people who would look at me like I'm nuts if I made these arguments (who *do* look at me like I'm nuts when I make these arguments, actually) will take what Carter has to say at least somewhat seriously, just because he's Jimmy Carter. I just think there are better "starting point" books out there...like Palestine by Joe Sacco, or The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan. Though it's been a while since I read either of those, and my opinion might be different today. I think I need to re-read them both before I do the blog review. Oh darn...

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Aug 28, 2007 Telly rated it liked it

Like the reviewer before me, I agree that Carter does a good job of bending over backwards to be fair. Unlike most of the other readers, I don't think he needed to go further in condemning Palestine. I does that well enough. What was slightly disappointing is that perhas he didn't condemn Israel more for some of their actions.

The book provides a very unbiased and thorough history on the conflict, which I found to be beneficial. Carter also proposes resolutions and actions to get the region back ...more

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