Is Former President Jimmy Carter a “Coward”, a “Hypocrite” and a Bribed Propagandist?

There is quite an interesting story taking place regarding a Brandeis University invitation to President Carter to speak to the Brandeis student body and faculty on the subject of his book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” (Please see my previous post.)

According to reports, the original invitation from the university required Carter to debate with Alan Dershowitz, who teaches at Harvard and has no connection with Brandeis University. When President Carter agreed to speak at Brandeis but refused to participate in a compulsory debate with Dershowitz, the invitation apparently became moot. Dershowitz launched into worse-than-rude, taunting, insulting attacks on the former president. The notorious Dershowitz demonstrated, not for the first time, that he is on the same level as the beefy boasters of the World Wrestling Federation.

Now various faculty and students at Brandeis have arranged to have President Carter invited to speak at Brandeis on January 23 without a debate with Dershowitz.

The following stories help fill in the picture. I plan to do some research and write a bit more about Dershowitz in a near-future entry.

By David Abel, Boston Globe Staff, December 26, 2006:

“Almost 100 students, faculty, and alumni of Brandeis University have signed a petition calling for campus officials to bring President Jimmy Carter to Waltham to discuss his controversial new book about Israel without requiring him to debate.

“The former president told The Boston Globe this month that he declined an invitation from a university trustee to speak at Brandeis, because it came with the suggestion that he debate Alan Dershowitz , a professor at the Harvard Law School who has criticized Carter's book, ‘Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.’

“A student who started the online petition -- which calls for ‘neither censoring nor filtering [Carter's] content’ -- said the group has received about $1,000 in pledges from faculty to help sponsor the visit. They plan to invite Carter in a letter by the end of the week.

“‘I think there's a basic lack of debate here about Israel and Palestine," said Kevin Montgomery, 22, a senior majoring in politics who started the petition. "My belief is debate doesn't have to happen face to face. It can happen over time. Most speakers brought to Brandeis are pro-Israel, and I think it feeds a lack of understanding of the other side.’”

The following is from BBS News online, Tuesday, January 16 2007 @ 10:57 AM EST

“Arutz Sheva is reporting that Alan Dershowitz will be asking questions of Carter during the Brandeis University talk Carter will give on January 23rd (if the current scheduled date holds) and that Dershowitz makes a stunning allegation against Carter in the article: 'He [Carter]claims that Jewish money buys the silence of politicians and the media, and yet he denies that Arab money has bought his silence,' said Dershowitz.

“It is amazing, such an accusation. Carter is simply reflecting the facts on the ground in the occupied Palestinian territories; they are uncomfortable facts for sure but facts nonetheless. To claim that Jimmy Carter is somehow being paid to take the tough but honest position that he has seems to be the height of chutzpah."

The same article also goes on to quote Dershowitz as saying to Reuters about his being in the audience at the Brandeis presentation:

"I will have my hand up the minute he finishes. It will be polite. It will be dignified but it will be tough," Dershowitz told Reuters News Agency. "There are some very, very hard questions that have to be asked to him."

“In a story from WSBT in Atlanta Dershowitz labels Jimmy Carter a coward, for not wanting to be drawn into a legalistic confrontation of minutiae. They report: 'It's the height of cowardice,' said Dershowitz. 'He released this book saying he wanted to spark a debate and now he refuses to do just that.'

“In an opinion piece in the Boston Globe Dershowitz also called Carter a ‘hypocrite’ for telling Brandeis officials he would not debate Dershowitz. “

Here’s Dershowitz’ opinion piece . Dershowitz was particularly irked because: “Carter has gone even beyond the errors of his book in interviews, in which he has said that the situation in Israel is worse than the crimes committed in Apartheid South Africa. When asked whether he believed that Israel's ‘persecution’ of Palestinians was ‘[e]ven worse . . . than a place like Rwanda,’ Carter answered, ‘Yes. I think -- yes.’”

It’s interesting that Dershowitz is such a closed-minded professional Zionist that he automatically assumes his readers will think that Carter’s assertion is shocking rather than obviously true!

Dershowitz concludes: “When Jimmy Carter's ready to speak at Brandeis, or anywhere else, I'll be there. If he refuses to debate, I will still be there -- ready and willing to answer falsity with truth in the court of public opinion.”

It will be interesting to see how this works out. Brandeis University itself says :

“Former President Jimmy Carter has accepted an invitation from a student and faculty committee at Brandeis University to speak on campus Jan. 23.

"The Brandeis Faculty and Student Committee for the Visit of President Carter invited Carter to 'address our community of students and scholars.' The former President will talk about the Middle East and his latest book, 'Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid'. He will give remarks for about 15 minutes and then take questions from audience members. The event will last about one hour and is open to MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY ONLY, including students, faculty members, staff and trustees.

“YOU MUST HAVE A BRANDEIS ID TO OBTAIN A TICKET AND TO ATTEND.”

Sounds as if Dershowitz, despite his foaming at the mouth, has been sidetracked.

A possible loophole? The university states, “If you'd like to submit a question: The faculty and student committee that is planning the event is taking questions, which must be submitted by Jan. 18th. To submit a question go to http://www.carterquestion.com.” That website states, “There will be time for only about 15 questions. The faculty and student committee organizing the visit will select a set of questions representing a wide variety of groups and viewpoints, and invite the selectees to read their questions in person during the event, time permitting.”

I believe that the organizers of the Carter speech at Brandeis will prevent a Dershowitz intrusion, and deserve congratulations not only for overcoming resistance to Carter’s appearance, but also for eliminating the foul-mouthed sophist Dershowitz from the proceedings.