CAMERA to the Rescue against Jimmy Carters Lies

Today in the NY Times, CAMERA (the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America). Ran a Great ad calling on Jimmy Carter's Publisher, Simon and Schuster, to correct the Peanut Presidents lies. The Ad points out some of the inaccuracies in Carters Blood Libel. It says in part:

Peace Can’t Be Built on A Foundation of Lies
Correct Carter’s Falsehoods

All those who seek an enduring Israeli-Palestinian settlement must be dismayed by former President Jimmy Carter’s error-riddled book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. In falsely casting Israel as a malevolent, colonialist power overwhelmingly responsible for failed peace efforts, Carter encourages those who obstruct resolution of the conflict and pursue Israel’s annihilation. We urge a full and systematic review of the book and public correction of every material error. Below are a few of the many untruths. Others can be found at www.camera.org —

CARTER SAYS –

P. 57 The 1949 armistice demarcation lines became the borders of the new nation of Israel and were accepted by Israel and the United States, and recognized officially by the United Nations.

P. 215 [An option for Israel is] withdrawal to the 1967 border specified in U.N. Resolution 242 and as promised in the Camp David Accords and the Oslo Agreement...

THE FACTS:

• Carter repeats many times variations on these falsehoods about Israel’s borders and the contents of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242. Contrary to Carter, 242 does not require Israel’s returning to the pre-1967 lines. Lord Caradon, an architect of the resolution, said, “It would have been wrong to demand that Israel return to its positions of June 4, 1967, because those positions were undesirable and artificial. After all, they were just the places where the soldiers of each side happened to be on the day the fighting stopped in 1948. They were just armistice lines. That’s why we didn’t demand that the Israelis return to them.”

• Israel’s only international borders are those with Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. The 1949 armistice lines separating the West Bank from Israel never became permanent borders recognized by Israel, the United States or the U.N. Security Council. Resolution 242 requires negotiations to resolve the ultimate designation of that boundary and those final status talks have yet to occur

CARTER SAYS –P. 51-52 ...[I]mportant provisions of our [1978/79] agreement have not been honored since I left office. The Israelis have never granted any appreciable autonomy to the Palestinians.

THE FACTS:

• Carter continually misrepresents facts about the Camp David agreements he oversaw, obscuring Arab responsibility for their flawed implementation. Here he omits that Palestinian autonomy as envisioned in the agreements was bitterly opposed by the very PLO he defends. Yasir Arafat and his lieutenants publicly denounced autonomy efforts and Palestinians who supported them were killed.
• Obviously, after 1993 the Palestinians gained “appreciable autonomy.” The Oslo process created the Palestinian Authority and gave Palestinians control of political, civic, security, medical, educational and media institutions. Israel ceded 40% of the West Bank and evacuated the entire Gaza Strip. Any subsequent Israeli military incursions into these areas have been in response to their use by Palestinians as bases for terrorism.

CARTER SAYS –P. 62 When I met with Yasir Arafat in 1990, he stated, "The PLO has never advocated the annihilation of Israel. The Zionists started the 'drive the Jews into the sea' slogan and attributed it to the PLO.”

THE FACTS: Carter often quotes as fact, without any qualification, such baseless statements by Israel’s adversaries. The PLO’s founding charter contains multiple demands for the elimination of Israel, and Arafat himself frequently called for destroying that nation, as in: “Peace for us means the destruction of Israel. We are preparing for an all-out war, a war which will last for generations.” (February 1980) Other PLO leaders have also demonized Israel, urging jihad against and elimination of the Jewish state.

CARTER SAYS –P. 190 The governments of Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert have built the fence and wall entirely within Palestinian territory, intruding deeply into the West Bank to encompass Israeli settlement blocs and large areas of other Palestinian land.

THE FACTS:
•This too is erroneous. United Nations numbers confirm that the barrier under construction directly follows 45% of the “green line,” the 1949 Armistice Line. Clearly the “green line” is not “within Palestinian territory.” Those areas where the barrier deviates east of the line are, according to 242, disputed areas yet to be negotiated. Moreover, in some places the barrier also veers into Israeli territory.
• So extreme is Carter’s hostility to Israel that he ignores the effectiveness of the structure in thwarting lethal attacks and saving lives. Israeli fatalities have decreased by 70% since construction of the barrier.

The Ad Goes on to ask readers to Call Simon and Schuster Now is the time to set the record straight. Contact Simon and Schuster and Jack Romanos at 212-698-7000.

May I add that Simon and Schuster is owned by the CBS Corporation So maybe you should add Les Moonves (212) 975-4321 and Sumner Redstone (Born Sumner Murray Rothstein) (212) 258-6000 to your call list. A Look at the ad as well as a link to see it in full size is below

CAMERA ran this full-page advertisement calling on Simon & Schuster, the publishers of Carter's error-riddled book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, to correct the falsehoods prevalent there. The advertisement ran on December 28, 2006 in the New York Times. Click on ad to enlarge