Emory profs protest Carter speech

Emory University professors protested plans for former President Carter to speak at the school. Carter has been criticized for his new book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” a look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that critics say omits key facts and distorts history in order to pin blame on the Jewish state. CampusJ.com reported that the letter ran Feb. 16 in the Emory student newspaper. Carter says his book aims to spur debate on the Mideast, but the letter notes Carter’s recent appearance at Brandeis University, where he refused to debate Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz. “When it became known that Carter was anxious to speak at Emory, the administration consulted a group of faculty and was advised… to have Carter appear with someone who could engage in a productive interchange and discussion on the topic,” continued the letter, whose 11 signatories include Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt. The faculty nominated former Ambassador Dennis Ross, “but Carter pointedly refused to appear with him or with any other expert.” The professors wrote that they will not attend Carter’s lecture because it “will be more a political opportunity for Carter to air his biases than an open exchange of ideas.”