[WCUSP] Apartheid as our frame? Dems Repudiate Carter Book

Fri Oct 27 06:44:49 CDT 2006

Okay, here's my personal opinion:

Yes, I strongly agree that Israel is an apartheid state.  But there is one 
good reason to not refer to it that way -- the need to reach people who will 
turn off when we use the term.  We must describe the awful conditions Israel 
is putting the Palestinians under, and do it in the strongest way possible. 
We can do it without using the term.

The American Jewish community is a tremendous active force for much that is 
good in our country.  It also presents a tremendous obstacle to changing 
U.S. policy regarding Palestine and Israel.   That obstacle must be removed. 
A mass defection of American Jews from the current U.S./Israeli policy would 
be powerful.  We must be honest and frank in what we say, but find the ways 
of speaking that will reach that community and others who are allied to it.

Libby

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Barbara Taft" <beejayssite at yahoo.com>
To: <kzaidan at wilpf.org>; <wcusp at wilpf.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2006 12:11 PM
Subject: Re: [WCUSP] Apartheid as our frame? Dems Repudiate Carter Book

I can think of two good reasons to call it apartheid:

1)  South Africans, both Black and White, have visited the Occupied 
Territories and
    declared them to be "worse than apartheid".

2)  Many years ago, I heard a White South African speak about apartheid.  He 
told
    the audience that its correct pronunciation is "apart-hate" and that it 
is
    very descriptive.  He said, "You keep them apart because you hate". 
Especially
    now, with the Separation Wall and Jews-only roads, it is an apt 
description.

Barb T.

--- Kate Zaidan <kzaidan at wilpf.org> wrote:

---------------------------------
    This article raises some interesting strategical questions in terms 
ofchallenging US policy in
the Middle East. To me, it makes the case thatApartheid is a word that the 
peace movement needs to
adopt as theframe to describe the conflict.

 I think that we need to make the case to our legislators, especiallythose 
that we consider
"friendly", that the situation is indeedapartheid and that policy must be 
constructed out of that
framework.The US Government has taken a stand against apartheid before, 
andabsolutely would not
have done so without the hard work of theanti-apartheid movement.

Apartheid is more than a word. It's a story. Stories have the power toshape 
the way that our
decision makers see the world. Apartheid is avector that carries this story 
and makes it such that
we, as activists,don't have to understand every nuanced dimension of policy, 
we justhave to set
the frame and make it such that policy is formed out ofthat frame.

And from this article, it seems that the precedent has already been setby a 
powerful political
figure, and we, as activists should pick up theball where Jimmy Carter left 
off and take
advantages of the existingtensions in the democratic party.

I'll send out a brief history on the sanctions that the US Governmentimposed 
on South Africa
separately.

Kate

Dems Repudiate Carter Book

Jennifer Siegel | Fri. Oct 27, 2006

Top Democrats are rushing to repudiate former President 
Carter'scontroversial new book on the
Middle East, in which he accuses theIsraeli government of maintaining an 
apartheid system.

Two key party leaders - Democratic National Committee Chairman HowardDean, 
party chairman, and
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi - andseveral congressmen issued 
statements Monday saying that
the book,"Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," does not represent their views on 
theJewish state.

"It is wrong to suggest that the Jewish people would support agovernment in 
Israel or anywhere
else that institutionalizes ethnicallybased oppression, and Democrats reject 
that allegation
vigorously,"Pelosi wrote in a statement. "With all due respect to former 
PresidentCarter, he does
not speak for the Democratic Party on Israel."

Carter's book is being published by Simon & Schuster and is slatedfor 
release November 14. In an
advanced draft copy of the work,obtained by the Forward, the former 
president asserts that
Israel'scurrent policies in the Palestinian territories constitute "a system 
ofapartheid, with two
peoples occupying the same land but completelyseparated from each other, 
with Israelis totally
dominant andsuppressing violence by depriving Palestinians of their basic 
humanrights." He argues
that Israel's settlement policy is principally toblame for the failure of 
peace initiatives in the
Middle East.

Dean also took issue with Carter's assessment.

"While I have tremendous respect for former President Carter, Ifundamentally 
disagree and do not
support his analysis of Israel andthe Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Dean 
wrote in a statement.
"On thisissue President Carter speaks for himself, the opinions in his book 
arehis own, they are
not the views or position of the Democratic Party. Iand other Democrats will 
continue to stand
with Israel in its battleagainst terrorism and for a lasting peace with its 
neighbors."

Several Democratic members of New York's House delegation - Reps. 
SteveIsrael, Charlie Rangel and
Jerrold Nadler - also have issued statementscriticizing Carter's book, as 
did Rep. John Conyers,
Jr., a MichiganDemocrat who is often criticized by members of the Jewish 
community forhis failure
to support Israel in a certain instance. Last summer,Conyers was one of 
eight House members who
did not vote for aresolution backing the Jewish state in the wake of the 
Hezbollahattacks.

In his statement, Conyers said that Carter's use of the word"apartheid" went 
too far.

"I cannot agree with the book's title and its implications aboutapartheid," 
the lawmaker wrote in
a statement. "I recently called theformer president to express my concerns 
about the title of the
book,and to request that the title be changed."

Fri. Oct 27, 2006

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