Informed Speculation

Former President Jimmy Carter has, I regret to say (truly, as someone who holds the office of the President in great esteem), behaved in a simply shameful manner since his inflammatory anti-Israel book Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid was released. 

First, he refused to debate Alan Dershowitz, and now, he has refused an appearance with Dennis Ross, former Special Envoy to the Middle East under Bill Clinton, and a man who has previously accused Carter of both using maps without attribution and mischaracterizing the respective positions of the Palestinians and Israelis during negotiations. 

11 Emory University (where the event was to have taken place) professors take the ex-President to task:

Once again, Jimmy Carter has shrunk from debate. Despite having written a book whose purpose he claims was to promote dialogue and discussion, he has consistently dodged appearing with anyone who could challenge him on the numerous factual errors that fill the pages of his slim book.

First it was at Brandeis University, where he was invited to appear with professor Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School. Dershowitz, who has written two books and numerous articles on the topic (not to mention being a respected First Amendment scholar and one of America’s most distinguished attorneys), was not even allowed into the building until Carter had left.

When it became known that Carter was anxious to speak at Emory, the administration consulted a group of faculty and was advised that the most fair and academically valuable format would be to have Carter appear with someone who could engage in a productive interchange and discussion on the topic. This clearly would be the only way for the event to meet the educational standard of a leading university.

Everyone agreed that the best person for this interchange was Ambassador Dennis Ross, who was the main negotiator on the Arab-Israeli situation in both the first Bush administration and the Clinton administration. He was responsible for organizing Camp David II, Clinton’s last-ditch effort to find a resolution to the situation. Ross agreed to appear, but Carter pointedly refused to appear with him or with any other expert. No explanation was given.

Is this the behavior of a man who wants to promote dialogue? What precisely is Carter afraid of? Could it be that Dennis Ross – who, like President Clinton, places the blame for the failure of the negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis at Camp David II squarely on the shoulders of Yasir Arafat – would tell the former president, who blames Israel for everything, that he is simply wrong? Remember Ross and Clinton were there; Carter was not.

Jimmy, a little personal advice: you’ve lived a life that’s full, you’ve traveled each and every highway (and may I say, not in a shy way), now go off and retire…