Jimmy Carter’s New Book

Yesterday at COMMENTARY’s contentions, I posted a reaction to the review of Jimmy Carter’s new book in the New York Times Book Review.  To give you the flavor of the book, it might be useful to provide an excerpt from Carter’s recounting of his meeting with Hamas last April. 

As background, here is the New York Times account of the meeting in its April 19, 2008 news article:

The meeting with the Hamas leader, Khaled Meshal, took place under tight security in
Damascus, the Syrian capital, and was closed to reporters. But The Associated Press said it included talks about the fate of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants in 2006.

State Department officials had advised Mr. Carter not to meet with leaders of Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the
United States,
Israel and the European Union, responsible for kidnappings and for suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of Israelis. Several members of Congress made similar appeals. . . .

Mr. Meshal’s deputy, Mousa Abu Marzook, also took part in the meeting with Mr. Carter. Both men were named “specially designated global terrorists” by the Treasury Department in 2003. . . .

Mr. Carter also met with Hamas officials in
Cairo on Thursday, where he asked them to halt rocket attacks against
Israel, and criticized
Israel for allowing only basic supplies into
Gaza.

Now here is part of Carter’s account of his meetings in his book:

In dealing with Khaled Mashal and other Hamas leaders, I agree with other outsiders who have visited them, that a real change may be under way, especially regarding the group’s willingness for Palestinians to live peacefully next to
Israel. . . . Knowing that Mahmoud Abbas recognizes
Israel and is willing to negotiate peace, Hamas leaders assured me that they accept him as head of the PLO and president of the Palestinian Authority and therefore spokesman for all Palestinians. . . .

We pursued the concept of nonviolent resistance with Hamas leaders and gave them documents and video presentations on the successful experiences of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others.  However, they do not believe that the Israeli occupation can be ended through such means, because of the lack of positive response by
Israel during the relatively nonviolent early days of the first intifada.

And the “talks about the fate of Cpl. Gilad Shalit” mentioned by the New York Times?  Here is the entire treatment of the issue by Carter in his summary of his meeting:  “[I told them] I hoped they would consider . . . to make progress on the prisoner exchange, with at least a letter from Corporal Shalit to his parents.”

Carter also mentions in passing during his summary of the Hamas meeting that he had also met with Prime Minister Fayyad, who “pointed out that full pay was going to about eighty thousand Fatah employees of his government in
Gaza, although he did not permit any of them to work.”  (Emphasis added).  There would seem to be several logical follow-up questions one might ask about the 80,000 non-working employees, but none apparently occurred to Carter, who simply observes that “This steady influx of money is a great stimulus to the isolated economy.” 

The New York Times review says the book was “dashed off” and could have “easily been put in 900 words” but that Carter’s counsel “has much to recommend it” – especially his “advice to pursue peace.”