Jimmy Carter's Contradictory Palestine Legacy ...

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who passed away on December 29 at the age of 100, was laid to rest last Thursday. Carter is remembered not so much for his presidency as for the path he forged after leaving office, particularly his support for the Palestinian cause.

However, Carter also bore responsibility for contributing to the deadlock in the "Palestinian issue." Serving as President from 1977 to 1981, Carter was the architect of the 1978 Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel. Signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, the accords were widely criticized in the Arab world as a "betrayal agreement" and left Palestinians abandoned.

Carter’s critical misstep was excluding Palestinians from the negotiations between Egypt and Israel, despite the Palestinian cause being the driving force behind Egypt’s three wars with Israel. By leaving the initiative in Begin’s hands, Carter made a grave error. Begin secured what he wanted but failed to fulfill any promises regarding Palestinians. Instead, he expanded illegal settlements. Later, Carter frequently remarked that Begin had lied to him.

Carter was one of the few American leaders with the courage to question U.S. policies toward Israel. Yet, during his four-year term, he refrained from pressuring Israel to halt the expansion of illegal settlements. Meanwhile, U.S. military aid to Israel continued under his administration.

Before Carter’s time, Henry Kissinger, who served as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, had designed the framework for the so-called resolution of the Palestinian issue, ensuring it would remain under U.S. control. The Camp David Accords followed this bleak path laid out by Kissinger, who had promised Israel that the U.S. would not engage with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), even though the UN General Assembly had recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974. The bipartisan foreign policy establishment in the U.S., unable to resist the influence of the "Israel lobby," maintained Kissinger’s design. By the time Carter realized his mistake, it was too late. Conscience drove him to work toward resolving the Palestinian issue.

Carter was the first American leader to label Israel’s settlement policies as "apartheid." In his 2006 book *Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid*, he likened Israel’s policies in East Jerusalem and the West Bank to South Africa’s apartheid regime. In 2016, Carter urged Barack Obama to officially recognize Palestine before leaving office, believing that other nations would follow, paving the way for Palestine’s full UN membership. His pleas, however, fell on deaf ears in Washington.

Carter's efforts in the early 2000s, including meetings with PLO and Hamas leaders, deeply angered Israel. In June 2009, he met with Ismail Haniyeh, the Prime Minister of the Hamas government in Gaza. After visiting Gaza, Carter described the experience as harrowing and humiliating. He recounted the destruction he saw: bombed-out buildings reduced to rubble, agricultural land abandoned due to Israeli fire, and widespread human suffering. Carter was particularly struck by the devastation caused by American-made bombs and missiles, which had flattened schools, hospitals, and government buildings.

Standing near the ruins of the American International School, Carter said, "I had to hold back tears when I saw the deliberate destruction inflicted upon your people." He admitted partial responsibility for the weapons provided to Israel.

Fifteen years later, little has changed. Israel continues to bomb Gaza indiscriminately, destroying hospitals, schools, and places of worship, and killing tens of thousands of Palestinians, 70% of whom are women and children.