"...when I proposed this title, by the way the title doesn’t have any punctuation in it. We intended it to be Palestinian Peace Not Apartheid [sic], but erroneously people have put a colon there. But anyhow, I can see then and now that it could precipitate some hard feelings or some obstacles that might prevent the negotiation of a peace agreement and equity or fairness of treatment for the Palestinians. And the Palestinians are horribly treated, and their treatment is not known at all or minimally in this country. So I chose that title knowing that it would be provocative. But I think in the long run, it has precipitated at least discussion. There has been a lot of positive discussion, and I believe that it has brought the issue of a lack of progress on peace for Israel and a lack of progress on the end of Palestinian suffering to the forefront of the American consciousness much more than it was had the book not been written. I am deeply concerned about the tensions that might have arisen. That was not my intention at all. And I’ve been hurt and so has my family by some of the reaction. I’ve been through political campaigns for state senate and for governor and for president, and I’ve been stigmatized and condemned by my political opponents and their stories. But this is the first time that I’ve ever been called a liar and a bigot and an anti-Semite and a coward and a plagiarist. This has hurt me. I can take it. But I think that that group of people who have made those statements—sometimes in full-page ads in the New York Times—I think they are an extreme minority. I’m not complaining. I’m willing to face the accusations. I think that, for instance, this weekend I was with Justice Steven Breyer [sic], who spent a weekend with me, my wife, and others. I was with Stu Eizenstadt, one of the directors of Brandeis. I was with Rick Hertzberg, who was my speechwriter in the White House, and others. I don’t think that any of them would agree with any of those personal epithets, and the fact that the debate has deteriorated into add hominem attacks on my character, I think has probably been a greater obstacle to progress than the fact that I chose a particular word in the title. --Jimmy Carter, Brandeis University, January 23, 2007"