Fuck Yourself Jimmy Carter

I am almost ashamed to admit that I spent the better part of two hours in the Barnes & Noble on the 21st and 6th today, dumbing myself into rage while reading Jimmy Carter's new book "Palestine, Peace Not Apartheid."

I laughed, I cried, holiday shoppers and passersby thought I was manic depressive. For the record, I'm not. I paced back and forth and wondered what degree of foul brainwashing could possess a former President to write such a ridiculously-titled book.

Then I realized, the title itself sells copies. The actual content of the book is not a treatise on the subject of apartheid or an indictment of Israel as an apartheid state. That's not to say this book is not RIFE with errors and other such revisionist shlock, but the whole booming catharsis a reader is supposed endure with Carter's assertion that Israel is the purveyor of apartheid policies is not in the book. He takes the analogy no further than the title. But let's explore the issue since most people may only glance at the title anyway and be struck by the idea.

Michael Kinsley of The Washington Post writes:

I mean, what's the parallel?...

Apartheid had a philosophical component and a practical one, both quite bizarre. Philosophically, it was committed to the notion of racial superiority. No doubt many Israelis have racist attitudes toward Arabs, but the official philosophy of the government is quite the opposite, and sincere efforts are made to, for example, instill humanitarian and egalitarian attitudes in children. That is not true, of course, in Arab countries, where hatred of Jews is a standard part of the curriculum..

The reality here is that Carter has been hijacked by the radical left. What the left doesn't understand is that the convenient buzzwords that they employ to tug at the heartstrings are morally corrupt. They are corrupt because indicting Israel as an apartheid state or a Nazi state or a terror state are all inherently anti-Semitic proclamations.

I am not saying that criticizing Israel is anti-Semitic, I am saying that singling Israel out alone (especially with regard to the plight of the Palestinians) is completely absurd. While Israel has reached a political impasse with the Palestinians (and neither party is solely to blame for this situation), the elected representives of the Palestinian people hail from a party that publicly states its intention to destroy Israel.

Meanwhile, Iran cares so much about Palestinian poverty and human rights abuses that they spend billions sending the Palestinians weapons as well as funding and training a complete army to try to destroy Israel rather than help Palestinians build infrastructure, hospitals, and better lives. Saddam Hussein used to send the family of each detonated suicide bomber almost $30,000 as reward for their sacrifice. Hungry people need food not weapons and Carter is wrong to implicate Israel in perpetuating a culture of despair.

Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia does not permit religions other than Islam to be practiced on their soil. Egypt jails its pro-democracy activists and throws away the key. Syria assassinates Lebanese politicians that don't like the way that Syria has strangled Lebanon's movement toward modernity through political occupation.

The fact that Israel gives its citizens (Arab or not) the right to vote and freedoms of speech and press places it lengths above its detractors who jail, abuse, silence, and kill just about anyone they don't like. The far left marches side-by-side at anti-Israel rallies without even thinking that if Israel disappeared, its replacement might be a country devoid of civil liberties, a place like neighboring Jordan where a woman can legally be killed by her family for being raped because it shames and disgraces the family name. If the girl is lucky they will just force her to marry the rapist. The options for the gay community: lie about it, be banished, or be killed.

According to Carter, that's nothing compared to Israeli apartheid. It's not even worthy component of the Middle East conversation. Only apartheid-obsessed Israel, where walls are built to keep people from killing each other. That's much worse.

Kinsley:

And the most tragic difference: Apartheid ended peacefully. This is largely thanks to Nelson Mandela, who turned out to be miraculously forgiving.

If Israel is white South Africa and the Palestinians are supposed to be the blacks, where is their Mandela?

I need a glass of water. Happy Hanukkah.

Further reading:
Michael Kinsley's essay in The Washington Post.