Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter was on Meet the Press today flogging his new book: Peace not Apartheid. At least I think that was the title. He argues that the core of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is the desire of a few Israeli's for Palestinian land - and that the US and Israeli government are treating the Palestinians badly. He also says that while these issues are debated passionately in Israel, they are almost invisible in the US.

Since the Lebanese war, it's almost impossible for me to feel any optimism about the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. I suspect that Jimmy Carter will get a lot of heat for his ideas, but he is one of the few who ever did accomplish anything in the Middle East, so maybe he's worth a listen.

The alternative seems likely to be endless war, or war until one side or the other is exterminated.

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