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By J. Zel Lurie
 DELRAY BEACH, Florida — President Jimmy Carter has learned his lesson on book titles, His new book has the soothing title We Can Have Peace In The Holy Land
In the introduction he explains how he happened to choose the unfortunate title of his last book; Palestine, Peace or Apartheid. He had written a fairly accurate, if understated, description of Palestinian Life under the occupation of the Israeli Army and he was looking for a title that would be both “descriptive and provocative,” Apartheid fit the bill.
He knew that apartheid would cause a stir but he says it had been used n Israel by many people from journalists to litigants before the Supreme Court. He had intended to make dozens of public presentations simultaneous with publication to emphasize the distinction between apartheid in South Africa, where the word was coined, and in the Wes Bank. But prior to publication and before his first speech, copies had been delivered at his request to every member of Congress.
This was huge mistake. “Without claiming to have read the text,” Carter writes, “some Democrats condemned the title.” Their condemnations were broadcasted far and wide and enlarged upon by his rightist enemies to the point where the man who has achieved more peace in Israel than any other person was called a racist and an anti-Semite. The content of the book was lost in the public brouhaha.
The violent personal attacks hurt him but he should not have been surprised. This is the way the ultras operate. They hate everyone. The New York Times reported last month that a Rabbi of a West Bank Jewish settlement called President Obama the Hebrew equivalent of “nigger.”
At any rate Carter has learned not to search for a provocative title. His new book is dedicated to: “People of faith who still trust that God, with our help, will bring peace to the Holy Land.”
I am a man of little faith. I believe in documents . One of the best features of Carter’s new book is that it includes a cache of maps and documents.
One of the documents is the Roadmap, presented by President Bush in April 2003 in the name of the Quartet, consisting of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, the whole civilized world. The full title is “Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict."
Unlike Carter’S books, here is a title that says what it means and means what it says.
Both sides accepted the Quartet’s Roadmap. It is clear, concise and comprehensive on the steps that Israel and the Palestinians must take to achieve peace. Neither side implemented what they were asked to do. Six years of terror and war and expanded settlements have gone by.
President Bush made speeches but did nothing to implement it. President Obama has adopted it. He and his aides will hammer away at it, continuously, until both sides have performed necessary steps towards peace.
Here are the first two steps in the Roadmap : The Palestinians issue an “unequivocal statement reiterating Israel’s right to exist in peace and security” and the Israeli leadership issues an “unequivocal statement affirming its commitments to the two-state vision of an independent, viable, sovereign, Palestinian state living in peace and security alongside Israel.”
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The Palestinians recognized Israel a long time ago but the Israel right is now demanding that they recognize Israel as a Jewish state. This demand fondles the hearts of Israeli Jews who have fought a half dozen wars for their homeland. But it will not happen ostensibly because the Palestinians will not turn their backs on the Palestinians who are citizens of Israel and constitute 20 percent of the population. So let’s stick to the Roadmap and not complicate matters with what is not in the Roadmap.
On the Israeli side, the Israelis, have historically opposed a Palestine state. Since the Roadmap was issued and accepted six years ago the majority has changed its mind. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a recent addition to the fold under American insistence. But his caveats stripped the Palestine state of the independence and sovereignty specified in the Roadmap.
I’d like to see both parties issue “unequivocal statements” in accordance with the Roadmap, even though they would be redundant of past statements and actions.
The following steps demand that the Palestinians denounce all terror organizations and actively fight them. This has been performed despite some rhetoric at the recent Fatah confeence on armed struggle. Recently the Palestine National Service lost two of its cops in liquidating a Hamas terror cell in Qalqilia.
The Government of Israel (GOI) is called upon to end all demolitions of Palestinian homes . This has not been performed and is continuing in East Jerusalem as this is being written on August 11.
What is being performed is in the next paragraph which says that as the Palestinian security service occupies the cities the IDF will withdraw. This has happened and will continue as more and more Palestinian National Service police are trained in Jordan by Americans and Jordanians.
Then come several items that have yet to be accomplished.
First, the Palestinians must hold fair elections. The lack of agreement with Hamas has held up Palestinian elections.
The GOI must reopen Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem including the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce. This is unlikely to happen for a long time.
Next “the GOI immediately dismantles settlement outposts erected since March 2001.” It hasn’t happened yet although the GOI signed this document and promised to evacuate the illegal outposts.
And lastly: “Consistent with the Mitchell Report, the GOI freezes all settlement activity.” Sharon accepted this but hoodwinked Bush into accepting modifications and settlements expanded. Netanyahu’s peculiar government is the first to publicly reneg on this commitment.
All of these provisions are in Phase One of the Roadmap. If and when they are fulfilled to the satisfaction of the Quartet, the parties will proceed to Phases 2 and 3 which deal with the final status treaty and the permanent end of conflict. The completion of Phase One, which will take a year or two, is only the beginning of complex peace negotiations.
President Carter’s promise of peace in the Holy Land is as misleading as the scores of peace plans that have preceded it.
The two-state solution is an essential part, but only one part, of a complicated series of steps towards peace as specified in the Roadmap on which the Obama/Clinton teams are devoting all their efforts.
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