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How has the situation in the Middle East changed since the publication of Jimmy Carter's book and his goals as President?

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a long-standing battle between Israel and Palestine, primarily over the fact that both nations claim to own the same land. Other differences also contribute as well to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Jimmy Carter analyses the history and peace attempts made in the past between Israel, Palestine, and other Arab countries. Carter traveled multiple times throughout the Middle East to speak with leaders and the common people, as well as studied the causes of the dispute, in order to find a way to create a permanent peace solution.

After World War II, Israel was formed to give the Jews a safe home and return them to the Holy Land. “Fifty-five percent of the territory is allocated to the Jewish state. In 1949, Armistice agreements with the Arabs allow Israel to gain more land (77% of Palestine).” (Carter 4) The formation of Israel has caused more problems than progress towards bringing security and peace.

In 1973, after Carter met with the Israeli leaders, he thought that if Israel had any interest of peace then Israel would have to return the occupied territories to Palestinians. However, as he became more involved in the conflict, Carter realized that the solution was much more complex than just returning land.

During Carter’s presidency, the twelve day summit at Camp David between Begin, the Israeli leader, and Sabat, the Egyptian leader, marked the one of the larger attempts at peace. “It is to be remembered that the Camp David Accords, signed by Sadat and Begin and officially ratified by both governments, reconfirmed a specific commitment to honor U.N. Resolutions 242 and 338, which prohibit acquisition of land by force and call for Israel’s withdrawal from occupied territories.” (Carter 48) However, the Camp David Accords were dishonored and discarded in 1982.

However, the Middle Eastern leaders looked at the peace conference of 1991 in Madrid with optimism for a peace agreement. In 1993, “Israel and the PLO conclude a peace agreement in Oslo with mutual recognition and a five-year plan to resolve all remaining differences.” (Carter 8) It stated that the Israeli troops would leave the West Bank and a Palestinian government would be set up, over a five year period. However, in 1996, two suicide bombing took place by Palestinian terrorists, which caused Israel to retaliate by ignoring the Oslo Agreement, which lead to more violence. Nevertheless, “the Quartet Group agrees on a “road map for peace”. Palestinians pledge full support, but Israel rejects key points. Violence continues, and the security barrier in the West Bank draws international criticism for undermining the peace process. An unofficial peace agreement negotiated by Israelis and Palestinians is released with extensive international support as the Geneva Initiative.” (Carter 9)

Moreover, since the Palestine Liberation Organization has been formed, it has caused problems in the Middle East. Many of the events linked to this organization have been seen as terrorist attacks by Israel and other countries. The Palestinian people have not helped the situation by glorifying these events because the “terrorists” are seen as martyrs.

In 2006, the Palestinians elect Hamas as the new government, which caused Israel and the Unites States to cut off all funds to Palestine. Meanwhile, Israel built a dividing wall. The wall allowed Israel claim land that was held by Palestine in the past. In addition, Israel believed the encircling wall will solve the Palestinian problem, but it only made the problem worse. According to the International Court of Justice at the U.N., the wall is illegal and violated international humanitarian law. The court demanded Israel to tear down the wall and compensate the Palestinians, but Israel has not acknowledged these demands yet. Instead, Israel stated that the wall will help establish the borders, which caused the 2006 Lebanese War. “Hamas and Hezbollah militants capture Israeli soldiers, and Israeli forces attack Gaza and Lebanon.” (Carter 10) This 33 day conflict between Lebanon an Israel continued until the United Nations Security Council approved UN Resolution 1701 in an attempt to end the fighting.

According to Carter, the encircling wall must come down before any peace agreement can be even considered. In addition, there are two complications that must be solved before any peace agreement can be established permanently. “Some Israelis believe they have the right to confiscate and colonize Palestinian land and try to justify the sustained subjugation and persecution of increasingly hopeless and aggravated Palestinians; and Some Palestinians react by honoring suicide bombers as martyrs to be rewarded in heaven and consider the killing of Israelis as victories.” (Carter 206) In order to reach a feasible peace agreement, “The security of Israel must be guaranteed; the internal debate within Israel must be resolved in order to define Israel’s permanent legal boundary; the sovereignty of all Middle East nations and sanctity of international borders must be honored.” (Carter 208)

In November 2007, there was a peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, U.S., called the Annapolis Conference. The goal of the conference was to come up with an agreement to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict using the two-state solution. By the end of the conference, Palestine, Israel and the U.S. agreed to this solution. Nonetheless, there were still many specific problems with this solution.

In February 2008, Hamas broke the Gaza-Egypt border. Hamas took down the wall and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flow into the nearby Egyptian towns. However, a week later, Hamas militants and Egyptian troops were working together to put the barbed wire back up. This breach has made Israel and Egypt vulnerable to infiltrators because in many place there is no fence. “Police in Sinai reportedly apprehended at least one team of armed Palestinians equipped with suicide belts, sniper rifles and detailed plans of Israeli border installations.” (The Economist, Feb 2nd, 53) Most of the pressure has been shifted to Egypt and Israel would be happy to leave Gaza’s problems in Egypt’s lap. However, Hamas can’t loose its economic ties with Israel and political ties with the West Bank.

After putting up the barb wire again, things are back to the way they were, but it’s not good because “Gaza’s 1.5m people remain besieged, generally unable to leave, and with imports restricted to minimal amounts of staple food and fuel.” (The Economist, Feb. 9th, 54) The Hamas militants continue to fire rockets and mortars into Israeli towns and farms. Also, Hamas starts to send suicide bombers into Israel again and with more violence to follow. In retaliation, Israeli missile strikes and raids continue to kill Gaza’s people.

While the situation in the West Bank isn’t terrible, it is not good either. Since Israel already put 40% of the territory out of bounds forcing 2.4m Palestinians out of their homes. “A lacework of roads built for the use of 450,000 settlers, whose number had grown by 5.5% a year since the signing in 1993 of the peace-seeking Oslo accords, confines Palestinians inside isolated enclaves that are controlled by checkpoints subject to sudden closure.” (The Economist, Feb. 23rd, 63) Palestinians are physically divided by Israeli barriers, politically split between governments in Gaza and the West Bank, and economically reliant on the world’s charity.

The latest fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas has caused Mr. Abbas to cancel the peace talks that have been going on since November, after the two sides met in Annapolis. However, after American secretary of state flew in for a visit, Mr. Abbas decided to reopen the talks. “But the fighting caused both sides to edge closer to a full-scale war in Gaza. Israel’s foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, said Israel would “change the rules of the game”. Instead of beefing up attacks only when the Palestinian fighters did, and slackening off on the same basis, Israel would now keep sticking at will.” (The Economist, Mar. 8th, 53) The conflict grew worse and left only two options: a full scale invasion and destroy Hamas and the militant groups and take over Gaza or stop fighting and negotiate with Hamas. However, the problem is that an invasion and a negotiation with Hamas could mess up peace process between Israel and Palestine. It could make it very difficult for Mr. Abbas to talk to Israel, and it would risk Mr. Abbas siding with Fatah. An invasion would just cause many causalities and leaving army watching over the hostile population in Gaza. “A more peaceful variant would mean Israel and America ditching the idea that Hamas can be destroyed and asking Saudi or Egyptian mediators to broker a ceasefire and prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.” (The Economist, Mar. 8th, 54) However, in order to make a longer term solution, Hamas and Fatah will have to cut a deal, one better than the one made in Mecca. In most recent events, “Hamas’s strategy depends on the acquiescence of Fatah and Israel, neither of which wants the Islamists to develop as a political force. This means all it has left if the threat of crisis.” (The Economist, Mar. 29th, 61)

In conclusion, the events in the Middle East following the publishing of Carter’s book have not been what Carter expected. Jimmy Carter wrote suggestions on what needs to be done to have permanent peace in the Middle East. However, none of the steps that have been taken have brought the region closer to peace. This is mainly because all the parties involved have their own demands and have no will to compromise. In order for there to be piece each side must give up something so that they can work out a solution that benefits everyone.

Work Cited:

• Carter, Jimmy. Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2006.
• "The Shifting Balance of Power." The Economist 2 Feb. 2008: 52-54.
• "Back to Abnormal." The Economist 9 Feb. 2008: 54.
• "Split by Geography and by Politics." The Economist 23 Feb. 2008: 62-63.
• "The Bloody Conundrum of Gaza." The Economist 8 Mar. 2008: 53-54.
• "Hamas's Battle for Hearts and Minds." The Economist 29 Mar. 2008: 60-61.
• "History." Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1 Apr. 2008. 5 Apr. 2008 <http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/History/>.
• "Current Events in Israel/Palestine." Palestine Fact. 2008. 5 Apr. 2008 <http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_current.php>.
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Wikipedia. 9 Apr. 2008. 5 Apr. 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli-Palestinian_conflict>.
• "Two-State Solution." Wikipedia. 26 Mar. 2008. 5 Apr. 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-state_solution>.
• "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." WikiSummaries. 19 Mar. 2007. 1 Apr. 2008 <http://www.wikisummaries.org/Palestine:_Peace_Not_Apartheid>

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