The Blood of Abraham: Insights into the Middle East

Rating:
Summary: You gotta love Jimmy's Determination!
Review: Jimmy Carter begins his demystification of the political, religious, and ethnic turmoil in the Middle East with a comprehensive chronology of the history of the region, dating from circa 9000 BC to the publication date of the book (1985). His introduction elaborates on the historical timeline and then branches out into his main thesis, a concise and personal explanation of the interrelational conflict between the countries of the Middle East, including Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. The consummate southern gentleman, Carter recounts his experiences with the kind of well-mannered, even-tempered prose to which Americans have become accustomed. The author deconstructs the complex issues of the Middle East with an open-minded, balanced approach in which he portrays each country's paradigm as legitimate. Not only does Carter give validity to each country's concerns, he also believes that each religious affiliation -- Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- have legitimate claims in the various conflicts brewing in the Holy Land.

Former President Carter is one of the very few American statesmen whose words are taken in an unbiased manner by Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike, both in the Middle East and here at home. Perhaps this is why Carter was able to negotiate an Egyptian-Israeli peace deal between Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin. This moderate, cooperative persona of Carter can be seen patently throughout The Blood of Abraham.

Carter is known for having the tendency to be overly idealistic at times, but I found his approach in his book to be quite honest and forthcoming. Carter is not out to avoid hurting peoples' feelings, but does temper his criticisms by giving the benefit of the doubt to each sides ability to eventually reach a compromise. This is illustrated on page 47 of The Blood of Abraham where he calls the Israeli mindset intransigent, but then later in the same paragraph discusses how he believes most Israelis do long for a plurality that will be accommodating to both sides. Carter even hints that he believes the Israeli government relies far to casually on excessive military might which exacerbates the conflict. He also gently talks about how Israel's racist minority - or perhaps majority - must avoid treating the Palestinians as second-class citizens without rights. To Jimmy Carter, the most attractive option is granting autonomy and the right of self-determination to the Palestinians within most of the West Bank and Gaza areas, provided substantial demilitarization of the area occurs and there are adequate guarantees that Israel and Jordan's security will not be threatened.

Other neighboring countries viewpoints of the situation are also discussed. The general theme that Carter portrays of the near Arab countries is that Israel creates illogical reasons to expand it's scope of power. He believes local Arab countries have the viewpoint that Israel is a domineering country that continues to occupy new lands and sends excessive military power to reside in native, non-Judaic areas permanently to protect their Jewish minority. They believe that the blood shed by innocent Palestinians is not considered to have any value by the Israelis and the supporting American Government. Carter illustrates how the local Arab countries fear that Israel has become a pawn for the United States to dominate the Middle East for it's own economic gain and belief in it's own cultural superiority. Many Arabs must be appreciative of a former American president validating their strongest concerns and granting importance and concern for their struggles.

Jimmy Carter's writing shows strong Christian inflections. His deep, sincere belief in his faith is responsible for the connection he feels with the past and present events in the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Holy Land. In Christian tradition, a lasting peace must be achieved in Jerusalem before their savior, Jesus, returns in glory and creates a new heaven here on earth. Understanding Carter's deep religious convictions may help the reader understand how somebody like Carter who grew up far removed from the Middle East situation in Plains, Georgia could be so passionate and proactive about a lasting peace there.

As the title suggests, Carter believes this conflict originates all the way back to the biblical story of Abraham and Sarah. Sarah was supposedly not fertile and Abraham decided to have a child with his wife's servant Haggar. They had a child and his name was Ishmael. He was a wild sort according to the passages. Abraham later had another son with his wife Sarah when she become fertile again. Their son was called Isaac. Modern Arabs, according to some traditions, are descendants of Ishmael. Modern Jews, according to those same traditions, are descendants of Isaac. There is a prophecy in the holy scriptures which foretells that Ishmael and his descendants will always strike the heels of the descendants of Isaac. I believe the title shows that Carter takes this prophecy literally and wants to illustrate the interconnectedness of events in the Middle East, as a process that is under the control of God and his will. Although Carter's book begins with a historical timeline of the events, he never divides the history of the Holy Land into segments. He is more concerned with dividing the dissertation into near-timeless ideas represented by different countries and how to resolve them.

Because this is a personal account about Carter's ideas and experiences regarding the Middle East peace process, he doesn't often refer to secondary sources. In the appendix however, Carter includes many important documents, treaties, and speeches which are pertinent to what he discusses including Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and the Camp David accords of 1978 to create a lasting peace between Israel and Egypt.

This book is by no means complete in itself. It is only one man's view of the major problems and contentions the various ethnic groups in the area have and more specifically, the experiences that the author has had in trying to resolve them and what he has learned from them. The lasting impression one gets after reading The Blood of Abraham is the unflinching dedication of Jimmy Carter to the peace process, and his innocent, idealistic view on the capacity of the human nature to be cooperative even in the most competitive circumstances.

Rating:
Summary: Offers interested readers the unique perspectives
Review: Published in a new and affordable trade paperback edition by The University of Arkansas Press, The Blood Of Abraham: Insights Into The Middle East offers interested readers the unique perspectives and insights by former President Jimmy Carter into the political turmoil of the core Middle Eastern countries that are so much in the forefront of today's "War on Terrorism" international policy discussions. President Carter essentially demystifies and describes each nation's political, economic, and international expectations, their differing goals, and their principle socioeconomic and international concerns. President Carter is one of the very few American statesmen whose reasoning and encouragements are taken at face value by Jews, Muslims, and Christians both in the Middle East and here at home.

Rating:
Summary: Great Insights to MIddle East
Review: This book gives good insights and makes you under stand the middle east where the countries in the middle east are coming from. He examens Israel, Syria, Lebanon, The Palestinians, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia and tell what there interests are. If you want to understand the Middle East better or are just interested in polotics, or history I would Highly reommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Great Insights to MIddle East
Review: This book gives good insights and makes you under stand the middle east where the countries in the middle east are coming from. He examens Israel, Syria, Lebanon, The Palestinians, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia and tell what there interests are. If you want to understand the Middle East better or are just interested in polotics, or history I would Highly reommend this book.