U.S. Attorney, David Schoen, and the Israel Law Center have brought a $5 million lawsuit, on behalf of five plaintiffs, against former President Jimmy Carter and publisher Simon & Schuster for allegedly deceiving the reading public by publishing false information about Israel in the 2006 book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. According to the five individuals named in the complaint, Carter’s book is, “in fact demonstrably false, misleading, and deceptive”. Mepeace.org has a good piece by Byron DeLear on the extraordinary claim that the public have been harmed by the book, listing ‘3 points’ of why the lawsuit is a ‘non-starter’. DeLear concludes that “Until attorney David Schoen and the Israel Law Center address these three points directly—Federal Supremacy, Freedom of Speech vs. Commercial Speech, and Proportionality—by citing precedent and specific rulings, this harassment case holds no water, and should be thrown out of court.”
I am no lawyer, but one only has to look at the false, misleading and harmful material posted on the website of the Israel Law Centre, to see that those bringing the suit devote the greater part of their energies to defending violations of international humanitarian law and international law. The Centre is currently advertising “An Israeli Adventure of a Lifetime: The Ultimate Mission to Israel, May 16-23, 2011”, which includes: “Briefings by Mossad officials and commanders of the Shin Bet”, an “Inside tour of the controversial Security Fence and secret intelligence bases, and yet another ‘inside’ tour of “the IAF unit who carries out targeted killings.” These grisly outings culminate in a “small airplane tour of the Galilee, Jeep rides in the Golan heights, water activities on Lake Kinneret, a cook-out barbecue and a Shabbat enjoying the rich religious and historic wonders of Jerusalem’s Old City.” Yet, this Centre claims to be a civil right organization.
David Schoen has stated in his press release: “It is, indeed, a sad day for all of us as Americans, when a former President demeans the dignity of his office by intentionally misstating critically important facts concerning events of great historic significance and public interest”. On matters of great historic significance, such as the ongoing illegal annexation of Palestinian land in the occupied territory by the state of Israel and its collective punishment of the Palestinian people – whose historical narrative of dispossession is denied to this day, one might ask: Who is misleading whom?
