Jimmy Carter - Blood of Abraham: Insights Into the Middle East

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Copyright 1985, 1986, 1988, 1993, 2007 by Jimmy Carter

Reprinted by arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston
The University of Arkansas Press paperback edition published 1993
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
978-1-55728-862-2 (paper)
978-1-61075-075-2 (electronic)

23 22 21 20 19 5 4 3 2

Designed by John Coghlan and Gail Carter

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1984.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Carter, Jimmy, 1924
The blood of Abraham / Jimmy Carter. New ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-55728-293-5 (paper)
1. Jewish-Arab relations1949 I. Title.
DS119.7.C358 1993
954.04dc20

93-25863
CIP

For Joshua

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My partner in writing this book has been Kenneth Stein, associate professor of Near Eastern history at Emory University. In the spring of 1983, Ken joined my wife, Rosalynn, and me in an extensive journey to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, and Morocco, during which we interviewed many of the statesmen, scholars, and others who contributed greatly to our more current information about the region. He then helped arrange the first consultation at the new Carter Center of Emory University. It was held in November of that same year and was devoted to a definitive analysis of the political, social, and military situation in the Middle East.

Working with President Gerald Ford, my co-chairman in the consultation, Dr. Stein and I identified those persons from each country and from the Palestinian community who could describe most forcefully and accurately the widely varying perspectives on the Middle East. During the private and public sessions in Atlanta, we were able to let the many points of view be expressed without restraint, to encourage open debate and cross-examination, and to prevent any personal vituperation or angry walkouts among the participants.

In early 1984, Ken became director of The Carter Center, and he has devoted his energies and driving commitment to make it an academic focus for research, teaching, and public education. Throughout the writing of this volume, I have sought Kens advice and he has been generous with his contributions. He provided me with new material as the manuscript evolved and read the various drafts with a careful historians eye, for which I am most grateful.

My wife, Rosalynn, shared with me the four years in the White House, the thirteen days at Camp David with Begin and Sadat, and all my journeys to visit the people of the Middle East. It would be impossible to acknowledge adequately her support and valuable perceptions all along the way.

I am grateful to Nan A. Talese at Houghton Mifflin, who helped me take what was just an outline of recent events and expand it into a more complete story of the Middle Eastfrom its ancient past into the uncertain years ahead. She forced me to spend many additional hours of study and research in order to answer her penetrating questions.

William Brink, an editor who worked for ten years each with United Press, Newsweek, and the New York Daily News, spent a week with me in Plains going over every chapter with his fine editorial pencil and exacting from me additional personal insights. He helped to clarify many of the most confusing questions.

Professor Nadav Safran of Harvard University, a noted author and historian, read the manuscript and offered many suggestions that improved the accuracy and clarity of the text.

My research assistant, Steven Hochman, gave the manuscript its final reading in order to mimimize errors, contradictions, imprecisions, and redundancy.

I might add that some repetition is deliberate in order to indicate how the same event seldom has the same impact on the many people who are affected by it. The most unremitting conflicts of the Middle East are not on the battlefields but in the minds of the people who live there. Bred in the most ancient of times, these differences of conviction continue to cause bloodshed even among those who share one fundamental thing: a dream of peace and justice.

CHRONOLOGY

Events in the Middle East can best be understood if the history of the region is reviewed. Listed below are a few of the important events that have led up to the existing state of affairs.

c. 9000 B.C.	Human beings leave the first archaeological evidence of their presence at Jericho.
c. 3500 B.C.	Urban life develops in Syria-Palestine. Egypt begins its commerce and political involvement in the region.
c. 3000 B.C.	King Menes unifies Upper and Lower Egypt into one nation.
c. 2300 B.C.	Written records in Syria and Egypt describe the continuing struggles between Egypt and other powers and between nomadic tribes and city dwellers.
c. 1900 B.C.	Abraham journeys from Ur to Canaan.
c. 1200 B.C.	Moses leads the Israelites exodus from Egypt.
c. 1000 B.C.	Saul is anointed as the first king of the Israelites (1022). King David, his successor (1010970), unites the twelve tribes of Israel and wins control of the fertile lands on both sides of the Jordan River as well as portions of Syria. King Solomon, Davids son, builds the first temple in Jerusalem.
c. 930 B.C.	The Israelite nation divides into two weaker kingdoms, Israel (ten tribes in the north) and Judah (two tribes in the south). They survive frequent conflicts with their neighbors until Israel is progressively destroyed by the Assyrians (721715); Judah is destroyed in 587 B.C. by the Babylonians, who take many of the Jews captive. This marks the beginning of the Jewish Diaspora, or dispersion.
c. 538 B.C.	The Persian conquerors of Babylonia permit the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem.
332 B.C.	The Greeks, under Alexander, conquer the region. Hellenistic kingdoms in Egypt and Syria struggle for control. Under all their conquerors, the Jews fight to retain their religious freedom and to protect their holy places.
167 B.C.	The Jews revolt results in the establishment of an independent Judea.
63 B.C.	The Romans take Jerusalem and control Palestine but generally permit freedom of worship.
c. 4 B.C.	Jesus is born. He is crucified thirty-three years later, after a ministry of three years. Christian churches are established in Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, and Rome.
A.D. 70	The Jewish revolt against Rome is put down and the Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed.
135	Following further Jewish revolts, the Romans prevail and lay waste to Judea, killing or forcing almost all Jews into exile. The Romans name the province Syria-Palaestina.
313	With the Edict of Milan, the Roman Emperor Constantine establishes religious tolerance and, as a Christian, strengthens his own religion throughout the empire, which includes Syria and Palestine.
570	The Prophet Mohammed is born in Mecca. He establishes the faith of Islam and dies in 632. Within two decades, Moslem rule has spread throughout Syria-Palestine, Persia, Arabia, and Egypt. Some freedom of worship is permitted under Moslem leaders.
1099	The first Crusaders capture Jerusalem and establish Christian rule over Palestine.

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