Activism for all ages

UCI CAMPUS — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter urged college students to work for peace in the Middle East at a campus speech Thursday, saying youthful activism could help support a cause that many politicians avoided.

The 39th president, who appeared as a guest of the campus’ Center for the Study of Democracy, spoke to a packed crowd in the Bren Events Center about his book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” and the ongoing turmoil between Israelis and Palestinians. Toward the end, in response to a question about how America could forge better relations in the Middle East, Carter said students could campaign for Palestinian rights.

“I think the main problem with college students is indifference — a lack of deep commitment to help in changing things around the world that you deplore,” he said.

During the event, Carter — who visited UCI free of charge — touched on a number of points in his book, which some have praised while others have accused it of being inaccurate and unfair to Israel. The former president said he believed in a two-state solution for the region and that Israel could speed the peace process by withdrawing from Palestinian territories.

Carter’s speech drew warm applause in the Bren Events Center, but some audience members expressed opposition to it afterward. Karin Kahen, co-president of Anteaters for Israel, said she disagreed with Carter’s views and questioned whether UCI would endorse a speaker who took Israel’s side. She said her group had invited Alan Dershowitz, author of “The Case for Israel,” to speak on campus and was waiting to hear back from him.

“We’re hoping that if we find a speaker to present our side, the administration will support us,” Kahen said. “If they don’t, it just shows they come from a biased standpoint and they’re not willing to support both sides.”

Kristen Dunning, a first-year Spanish major, said she didn’t know much about the facts Carter presented but enjoyed his speech and was intrigued to learn more.

“It was a new kind of opinion,” she said. “Most of the presidential candidates don’t really talk about their views on the Middle East, and it was good to hear a view that wasn’t affected by wanting to get elected.”

Carter, whom many pundits criticized for using the word “apartheid” in his book’s title, defended the choice during his speech, saying that even South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela had used the term in reference to Palestine. He added, though, that both Israel and Palestine had legitimate grievances against one another and would have to work together to bury the past.

“I’ve spent a great deal of my adult life trying to bring peace to Israel and its neighbors,” Carter said.