14 Carter Center Board Members Resign

(AP)  Fourteen members of an advisory board to Jimmy Carter's human rights organization resigned on Thursday to protest his new book, which has been attacked as unfairly critical of Israel and riddled with inaccuracies.

The resignations at the Carter Center are the latest backlash against the former president's book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." The book has also drawn fire from Jewish groups and fellow Democrats, and led to the resignation last month of Kenneth Stein, a center fellow and a longtime Carter adviser.

"You have clearly abandoned your historic role of broker in favor of becoming an advocate for one side," the departing members of the center's Board of Councilors told Carter in their letter of resignation.

The 200-member board is responsible for building public support for the Carter Center. It is not the organization's governing board.

The board's members "are not engaged in implementing work of the Center," Carter Center Executive Director John Hardman said Thursday in a news release.

The book follows the Israeli-Palestinian peace process starting with Carter's 1977-1980 presidency and the peace accord he negotiated between Israel and Egypt. It doles out blame to Israel, the Palestinians, the United States and others — but it is most critical of Israeli policy.

Steve Berman, an Atlanta real estate developer who is among those who resigned, said members have "watched with great dismay" as Carter defended the book, especially as he implied that Americans might be afraid to discuss the conflict in fear of a powerful Jewish lobby.

Berman said the religious affiliation of the resigning members, which include some prominent Jewish leaders in the Atlanta area, did not influence their decision.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said in a statement Thursday that Carter "has only himself to blame" for the resignations because the book was "blatantly one-sided and unbecoming of a former President."

Also Thursday, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, which represents nearly 2,000 Reform rabbis, said it would cancel its visit to the Carter Center in protest over the book when the group holds its convention in Atlanta in March.

The resignations came a day after Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo and officials at Brandeis University said Carter will discuss the book at the Waltham, Mass., campus. However, the Nobel Peace Prize winner will not debate the book with outspoken Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, as Brandeis had originally proposed.

[feelfree1]

Good for Mr. Carter for standing up to the Israeli rogue terrorist State!

[benalbanach]

Sad reflection of the current state of the USA that a man with the stature of James Carter should be vilified for honestly held views.Clearly a case of "If you don't like the news shoot the messenger". The US does no longer operate at a level of discussion.Violence,be it from mouth or gun seems to be the only approach from the highest level of society to the lowest.
You are no longer a civilised society.

[Matt in NYC]

These are sad days. Anyone who has actually read Palestine Peace or Apartheid knows that it is a pro-Israel book. That fourteen self-described Jews would resign over this book is proof of the power -- and utter amorality -- of AIPAC in the U.S. Shame on them for choosing racism, hatred and violence over Peace.

[old_nick-2009]

So the worst President in my lifetime (12 Presidents) publishes a silly book that is so divorced from reality that it is easy to assume he is suffering from dementia. What else is new %u2013 he loses a few members from an advisory board when they wake up and find he is making them look like idiots for associating with him. The ones I worry about are the ones who didn%u2019t resign. Are they such partisans for the Middle Eastern terrorists that they actually think what Carter wrote was OK? Another good example of why most ex-Presidents have chosen to stay out of the limelight after their term in office concludes.

[old_nick-2009]

So the worst President in my lifetime (12 Presidents) publishes a silly book that is so divorced from reality that it is easy to assume he is suffering from dementia. What else is new %u2013 he loses a few members from an advisory board when they wake up and find he is making them look like idiots for associating with him. The ones I worry about are the ones who didn%u2019t resign. Are they such partisans for the Middle Eastern terrorists that they actually think what Carter wrote was OK? Another good example of why most ex-Presidents have chosen to stay out of the limelight after their term in office concludes.

[old_nick-2009]

So the worst President in my lifetime (12 Presidents) publishes a silly book that is so divorced from reality that it is easy to assume he is suffering from dementia. What else is new %u2013 he loses a few members from an advisory board when they wake up and find he is making them look like idiots for associating with him. The ones I worry about are the ones who didn%u2019t resign. Are they such partisans for the Middle Eastern terrorists that they actually think what Carter wrote was OK? Another good example of why most ex-Presidents have chosen to stay out of the limelight after their term in office concludes.

[edroma111]

I would like to thank MR Carter for having the valor to say what we all think. I see too many jewish that put Israel interest above America's interest like those resigning from Carters Center Board.
Why dont they press Israel to allow US extraditions of American Jewish crooks who break US law and get automatic protection in Israel?
Remember Crazy Eddy? or a recent Florida company?
This is another scandal like the Palestinian appartheid!

[bob_smith2]

As I understand, the primary justifications for Israel's establishment are a) the land was officially given to Jews by God, b) so that Jews would have a homeland in which they can be safe from further persecution. Most rational folks will realize that religious justification for a state is a dangerous thing, as we easily recognize with many Muslim states. The second justification is a hideous abuse of a more hideous history. As with any group, Jews should be safe wherever they are, in any country or setting. Civilized countries should be willing to commit lives and resources to this ideal.

The military establishment of a country on land that others were living was not the solution to the problem of the Holocaust. In academia, commentary on Israel such as this is equivalent to resigning, as your institution will be bombarded by shrill letters screaming for your resignation and equating you to the entire 3rd Reich. That shrill reaction is also not a solution to anti-semitism.

[m_kotyk]

Why is it that anyone who dares criticize Israel is automatically their 'enemy' and ends up labeled as being 'anti-Semitic' or hating Jews? If I had a brother who did something wrong and told him about it, this doesn't mean I hate him, on the contrary, it shows I love him enough to tell him, "hey, you're *** up." The resignation of the 14 Board members is a knee jerk reaction and is personally as distasteful as those board members who have criticized Mr. Carter. Must we all have the same opinions as everyone else? Are we not allowed to disagree with popular opinion?

[mcguire2744]

If 14 Catholics had resigned from the Center would anybody pay attention? In fact Would 14 Catholics ever resign from this Board? The medium is in the message!

Dave McGuire
Oregon