Former president Jimmy Carter and the Simon & Schuster publishing company are being sued by five readers alleging that Carter’s book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, “contained numerous false and knowingly misleading statements intended to promote the author’s agenda of anti-Israel propaganda and to deceive the reading public instead of presenting accurate information as advertised,” according to the press release out yesterday.
The lawsuit, Unterberg et al v. Jimmy Carter et al, alleges that President Carter and his publisher violated New York consumer protection laws in which it is “unlawful to engage in deceptive acts in the course of conducting business.” This is the first time a former president and a publishing house have been sued for violating consumer protection laws.
Since its release in late 2006, Peace not Apartheid has faced widespread criticism for its obvious anti-Israel tone and litany of false statements about the country. In January 2007, 14 board members of the Carter Center resigned in protest, saying that they could “no longer in good conscience continue to serve.”
President Carter’s book is, in fact, full of factual errors that betrays his personal bias. It has added to the de-legitimization campaign against Israel’s right to exist in recent years.
