Jimmy Carter: Battling against apartheid

On 29 December, 2024, Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, passed away at the age of 100. A leader who dedicated his life to diplomacy, democracy and humanitarian causes, Carter’s legacy is marked by his efforts for Arab-Israeli peace and his later advocacy for Palestinian rights. Though heralded as a peacemaker, Carter’s role in shaping the Middle East’s geopolitical landscape remains the subject of both admiration and critique.

Born in Plains, Georgia, his presidency from 1977 to 1981 was defined by a commitment to human rights and international diplomacy. Nowhere was this more evident than in his attempt at mediating the 1978 Camp David Accords.

In September 1978, Carter brought Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin together for secret negotiations at Camp David, which led to the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty – the first normalisation deal between an Arab state and Israel. Sadat and Begin signed the accords under Carter’s guidance, ending decades of war between their nations.

The resulting accords included two frameworks: one addressing Egyptian-Israeli peace and another proposing limited autonomy for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. However, the Palestinian framework was deeply flawed. It was formulated without Palestinian representation and fell short of recognising their rights to self-determination, national independence and the return of refugees.

Former President Jimmy Carter died Sunday at the age of 100, making him the longest-lived president in US history ( Nuray Yüksel – Anadolu Agency )

The Camp David Accords’ provisions for Palestinian autonomy were widely criticised as inadequate. The United Nations rejected the framework for failing to comply with international law and for excluding the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), then recognised as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Carter’s exclusion of Palestinian voices set a troubling precedent that would continue to undermine peace efforts for decades.

While the accords ended hostilities between Egypt and Israel, they fractured Arab solidarity on the Palestinian cause. Egypt’s recognition of Israel isolated it from the Arab world and signaled a shift toward prioritising bilateral normalisation deals over collective action for Palestinian rights.

After leaving office, Carter’s views on the Middle East evolved significantly. Disillusioned by Israel’s persistent occupation of Palestinian territories and the stagnation of peace efforts, he became an outspoken critic of Israeli policies. In 2006, he published ‘Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid’, a controversial book that drew parallels between Israeli practices in the occupied territories and South Africa’s apartheid regime.

Carter’s use of the term “apartheid” was groundbreaking for an American political figure. He condemned the systematic segregation and oppression of Palestinians, arguing that Israel’s settlement expansion and control over Palestinian life violated fundamental human rights. His stance earned him widespread praise among human rights advocates but also provoked a fierce backlash from pro-Israel groups and political leaders in the US.

Through the Carter Centre, he championed peace rooted in justice and equality. Carter engaged directly with Palestinian leaders and monitored elections in the region, emphasising the importance of fair representation and genuine autonomy. Unlike many of his peers, he consistently highlighted the need to address the core issues fuelling the illegal occupation, including settlement expansion, unequal access to resources and the denial of Palestinian sovereignty.

Carter’s death comes at a time when his warnings about the Middle East seem more prescient than ever. The Camp David Accords may have brought peace between Egypt and Israel, but they failed to address the Palestinian struggle for self-determination. Instead, they paved the way for decades of US-backed normalisation deals that sidelined Palestinian rights.

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