Overall I found that the book was helpful but as with most of Carter's books, it became slow at times. I did find valuable information and I continue to respect Carter's character, intelligence, and Christ centered motives. The highlights of this important book are the descriptions of the real people being torn apart by politics and the personal stories of Carter's involvement through the years. He would have done better to concentrate on the former.

The most frequent complaint against this book is the word "apartheid" in the title which has a subtle connection to the racist policies of the old South Africa. That may be an overstatement, but overstatement hardly adds up to the claims of anti-Semitism generated by Carter's critics. I think the criticism largely comes from people that won’t bother to read the book and that are not really looking for solutions in the Middle East outside their own self interest. Apartheid literally means "separateness" and I don’t see that this is a stretch for describing Palestine. A 30 foot wall separating a community of Christians from their own church and roads that are off limits to a particular segment of the population are at a minimum "hints" of apartheid.

The biggest mistake the critics make is that they don’t bother to realize that Carter is not judging Israel or announcing a categorization on their actions. Instead, he is suggesting that there is a choice for the future of Palestine - either peace or apartheid. It seems evident that both options are still on the table and signs of apartheid are clearly visible but peace is still possible.

Carter has the most important gift needed to negotiate for peace. He is able to look at the big picture without getting emotionally attached to one side or the other. People that are only able to see things from their own view can never negotiate successfully. Critics also charge that Carter isn't fair in this book. He does focus mainly one side but that is intentional because it is the view which rarely gets any attention in the US. Why do the critics think Carter needs to waste our time restating the common position in depth? He makes it clear that he is attempting to publicize information that has not been given a wide audience yet - the Palestinian point of view. For this reason the book may seem skewed. The book is not an acquisition. It is a prophetic call for honest examination and quality decisions.

Any one that thinks Carter is being anti-Semitic is short sighted. He has dedicated much of his life to helping Israel live in peace even when it did great harm to his own career. I hope that Israel chooses peace and it is obvious that Carter has the same feelings.