We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work

Very informative book by Jimmy Carter. It made me curious to buy the other book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid"!

Writing in his usual modest style, Nobel Peace Laureate former President Jimmy Carter lays out the history of political and diplomatic events in Israel/Palestine since 1948. In the first 12 chapters, he provides a clear and even-handed summary that favors no country--including the U.S.--over another. He makes a strong case for engaging Israel/Palestine's neighbors, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, in any solution of an apparently intransigent situation.He does not praise or blame, but simply lays out the facts gleaned from first-hand experience. In the 13th chapter and the 5 enormously insightful appendices that follow, he lays out the agenda for peace. Jimmy Carter understands the deep need of both Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and safety. He believes that the moment of decision is close, and that strong, unbiased U.S. presidential leadership willing to deal with both Fatah and Hamas is vital.Despair in lack of progress will lead to disaster: one state instead of the majority-desired two-state solution. I am using this book for group discussion. It's great for that, although it provides no discussion guide. The 5 maps are terrific, although I would have liked more. That, and the fact that he does not mention the plight of ancient Christian communities in the region,might be the only reason not to give this book 5 stars.

Several years ago, I read Carter's book Palestine: Peace not Apartheid. I enjoyed it and learned a lot. He really attempted to present the perspectives and parts of all the parties involved (the countries and peoples). That book primarily focused on the many sides. This book spends the first few chapters reiterating what the first book talked about. But, then he enters new territory and the events of the past nine years. Before he begins, he writes an introduction/forward that addresses the controversy over the title of his first book and specifically the use of the word "apartheid". It was very interesting and informative. His explanation is likely something that very few Americans are aware of. I actually did hear Tavis Smiley's interview of Jimmy Carter on PBS about that book and he questioned him very disrespectfully about the title. His questions were accusatory and inappropriate. Jimmy Carter, on the other hand, responded in a very respectful way with a great deal of decorum. After the introduction and first few chapters of the book, Carter begins to talk about what has happened in Israel and Palestine during the last 9 years. He included several statistics that simply made me cry. This book is an important one. At first, I thought this book supplanted his first and that there would be no need to read the first. But, I don't think that is the case. Both are important. The first because it talks about all of the sides. The second because it talks about the last 9 years and the events of those years.

Jimmy Carter lived through this history and is a part of it himself. After having read his last book on the issue, I was very eager to read his new addition. His purpose is clear: he would like to influence a potential new push for peace in a climate of hope that the new administration has promised. His popularity has waxed and waned over the years particularly as he has never been afraid to push America's traditional ally, Israel, out of its comfort zone toward what he thinks is the right thing to do, but he has CERTAINLY always been an unbending ally of Israel, regardless of what his critics have said. Controversy aside, no other statesman, particularly American president, has achieved what he has and to this day he is still loved and respected by many Israeli statesman including men who scoffed at the idea of any peace treaty with Israel's neighbors before personally hammering out the first such treaty alongside Jimmy Carter in 1979. This book gives a quick glance at the history and sum up of his last book "Peace Not Apartheid." He goes out of his way to reach out to those who reacted so strongly against his last book and tries his best to be objective and win some of those people back. This seems classic Jimmy Carter; he is reminding the reader his interest is peace and the long term survival of the State of Israel as a peaceful and secure country. He does a great job of outlining the options and challenges at hand today with frequent references to the Carter Center, the work they have done, and the lessons they have learned in the (seemingly failed) attempt to build the nation of Palestine with frequent references to the challenges the men and women of his day faced in forging the peace they accomplished. As someone who loves history books, I was glad to read this book as soon as I could, as we are watching history unfold again. It is no substitute for his last book, which was a FANTASTIC read (numerous Bible references as he goes into even more detail on his past visits to Israel), but really is a must along with his last work for anyone serious about understanding the history and politics of the region. Enjoy!

I have never seen so many 1 star reviews for a book. People are giving us their opinion of Jimmy Carter and publishing it as a review and many of them are one sentence reviews. Then we have Michael Evans who wrote his review to promote his own book. Michael has praised Sean Hanitty and Bill Orielly with 5 star reviews for their books and he was friends with Menachem Begin who is quoted in the book as the "most notorious terrorist in the region." Begin is the former leader of the Irgun terrorist group which killed many innocent civilians and bombed the King David Hotel which involved the murder of dozens of people. If bombing a hotel does not qualify someone as a terrorist, regardless of what they did afterwards, than I would like Mr. Evans or anyone to explain why. Michael asks the question; "Could it be that Jimmy Carter's ideals are formulated by the number of zeros before the decimal on the contributions to the Carter Center by oil-rich Gulf States?" I counter this by asking; Could it be that Jimmy Carter is actually telling the truth and giving us the facts which are hard to swallow? People condemn Carter for being too critical of Israel and not blaming the Palestinians enough. Only two months after taking office back in 1976, Carter said in answer to reporters question that Israel needs to be "recognized by the Palestinians" and the desire to destroy Israel must change. He says in the book that "the same answer can be given today." He starts the book off by telling us his early fascination of the Middle East region as a kid and then gives us a brief overview of all the death and destruction that Israel and her neighbors have done to each other. The next chapter includes the awful truth of the illegal settlements and how every President since Lyndon B. Johnson has considered the settlements in the occupied territory to be illegal and an obstacle to peace. The settlements are the main issue that has blocked peace efforts and in chapter 11, Carter explains to us the insanity of the Israeli government in regards to this issue. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice once said while she was in Jerusalem that she was "very concerned" about the continual building of settlements at a time when we are trying to "build confidence." The response by Israel was to build 1300 new homes in the West Bank and projected 40,000 more during the next decade." Israel has metaphorically given the middle finger to President Bush and every U.S. president of the last 30 years who has ever tried to stop the building of settlements on Palestinian land. This is the root of the conflict. In chapter 12, Carter talks about the frightening scenario of the Palestinians being absorbed into Israel in a one state solution. Prime Minister Ehud Olemert is quoted twice in interviews with Jewish newspapers Yediot Aharanot and the Haaretz as having said that if Palestinians ever demand the right to vote as citizens of Israel, "we will lose everything." He also said if a two stat