Jewish board members quit Carter Center over ex-President's Palestine book

RAW STORYPublished: Thursday January 11, 2007

The writings of ex-Democratic President Jimmy Carter have prompted 14 Jewish members of a foundation named for him to resign, according to a report in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today.

JTA reported that 14 Jewish staff issued a letter to Carter, criticizing his latest book, which they called one-sided. The book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, is described by the publisher Simon and Schuster as "Pulling no punches," and including "steps that must be taken for the two states to share the Holy Land without a system of apartheid or the constant fear of terrorism." It has garnered heavy criticism from Jewish groups for blaming the Israelis for too much of the conflict.

The letter comes down hard on Carter and his Center, which was founded in 1982 at Emory University in Atlanta to promote democracy, human rights and peacemaking. The group's role in election monitoring the world over is particularly well known.

JTA reports the members of the Center wrote that, "This is not the Carter Center or the Jimmy Carter we came to respect and support," adding "It is with sadness and regret that we hereby tender our resignation from the Board of Councilors of the Carter Center effective immediately."
The names of those who resigned were not given, nor were their responsibilities on the Carter Center Board of Councilors.

A recent op-ed in the Washington Times from a former Carter Center staff-member took the form of an open letter criticizing the former president. Yariv Nornberg, who worked with Carter, wrote that the book "puts all responsibility for the failure of the peace process on Israel...the reader gets the impression that Israel is the source of all wrongdoings in the region and that if it were just willing to comply with the Arab demands, peace would already be flourishing in the Middle East." DEVELOPING ...

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