14 Carter Center Board Members Resign Over Book Controversy

Fourteen members of an advisory board to the Carter Center, in Atlanta, have resigned, saying they are “deeply troubled” by Jimmy Carter’s recent book, “Palestine Peace Not Apartheid” and his subsequent comments about the Arab-Israeli conflict, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Former President Carter’s book has stirred controversy since it was published and has been criticized for being unfairly biased against Israel and for implying that Israel is committing the kinds of racial segregation that occurred when South Africa backed apartheid.

“You have clearly abandoned your historic role of broker in favor of becoming an advocate for one side,” the board members wrote in their letter. “This is not the Carter Center or Jimmy Carter we came to respect and support.”

The Carter Center has worked on antipoverty, democracy, human rights, and other projects around the world.

Several of the departing board members are longtime colleagues of the former president, including a former White House aide and an ambassador under the Carter administration.

A spokesman for the Carter Center responded in a written statement, saying the nonprofit group is “grateful to these Board of Councilors members for their years of service and support for The Carter Center in advancing peace and health around the world. The Carter Center’s Board of Councilors is an advisory body of community leaders and business people who are briefed quarterly on the Center’s work and serve as emissaries of the Center to the greater community. . . . The Center’s governing board is the Board of Trustees.”

(A paid subscription is required to view this article and the letter on the Wall Street Journal site.)