The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to former US President Jimmy Carter honors a man of peace at a time when making peace is not, in certain quarters at least, a fashionable occupation. However, it is an award the man richly deserves. Since quitting the White House 21 years ago, Carter has been involved in 18 different peace missions. However, his greatest achievement was the cutting of the Gordian knot by bringing Egypt and Israel together. President Anwar Sadat’s handshake with Prime Minister Menachem Begin on the White House lawn was the moment when men of good will could finally get some sort of negotiating purchase on an issue that was considered intractable.
The Israelis went to Camp David in 1978 because they calculated correctly that Egypt’s recognition of their existence would eventually lead to the recognition of the wider Arab world. That Israel thereafter conducted, with constant US support, a masterful campaign to extract ever more concessions in return for as little as possible from their own side is not relevant in evaluating Carter’s contribution. Israel’s ability to scheme and Washington’s willingness to play along do not reduce his credibility as a man honestly committed to peace.
Peace is much more of mirage in the Middle East today than it was during his presidency. Carter, the architect of the first most difficult step toward peace, is now the holder of the pre-eminent award for a peacemaker. He could win a greater reward if he could return to the Palestinian question now. Bush could give Carter this opportunity. The Mitchell initiative is on ice and the Oslo Agreement is in shreds. US regional policy does not seem to have anything to offer other than appealing to Sharon to please consider the consequences of shooting down Palestinian civilians. Jimmy Carter has the stature to lead a new, independent peace initiative. It would be hard for Ariel Sharon to ignore the man whose intervention gave Israel so much for so little. The Palestinian leadership meanwhile knows that bombs are never going to drive the Israelis away. It will only be by negotiation and if that fails, more negotiation.
Armed with his Nobel Peace Prize, Carter’s qualifications to return to the Palestinian issue are complete. Though a liberal, who is no friend of the Bush Republican White House. He knows how the US levers of power work, because he once pulled them himself. He also knows a lot about Zionism. He saw the US Zionist machine working flat out before, during and after the Camp David Accord, to extract the last drop of advantage from the deal, while belittling every contribution of the Egyptians. And he knows a lot about injustice, because his postpresidential mission has taken him to some of the most wretched regions on earth. He will recognize the desperate plight of the Palestinians. He will know their bitter anger and the extremity of their frustration.
So, if Carter, now in the evening of his life, were offered and was prepared to take on the onerous leadership of a Palestinian-Israeli peace mission, with the support of all parties including the United States, his quiet and patient diplomacy and considerable authority might win for him, and all participants, one of the greatest prizes of peace in modern history.
