President Carter to speak at UC Irvine

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is scheduled to visit UC Irvine on Thursday to talk about his controversial book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” and other political issues in the Middle East.

Carter, the 39th president, will speak at the Bren Events Center at 10:30 a.m.

He will be the third president to visit UCI, following Lyndon Johnson, who attended the campus’ dedication while in office in 1964, and Gerald Ford, who spoke on campus in the late 1980s.

“This is wonderful,” said social science professor William Schonfeld, the director of UCI’s Center for the Study of Democracy. “UCI does not have many former presidents of the United States visiting it. This is an extraordinary event for the university and one that is very positive.”

UCI spokeswoman Christine Byrd said the free event would be open only to UCI students, staff and alumni, but that members of the public could watch the speech online. Students planning to attend the event may submit questions for Carter on the university website. During the speech, a panel of students and faculty will ask some of the questions of Carter.

The Center for the Study of Democracy, which arranged Carter’s visit to campus, will host the event along with the student-led Model United Nations and other campus groups. Byrd said the former president would also receive UCI’s Citizen Peacebuilding Award, which honors campus visitors who have campaigned for peace around the world.

Carter, who was president from 1977 to 1981, presided over the Camp David accords that brought peace between Egypt and Israel.

Since leaving the Oval Office, he has been one of the most active ex-presidents, founding the Carter Center to monitor elections in developing countries and writing a number of books. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

His most recent book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” criticizes Israel for its treatment of Palestinians and states that the government’s “control and colonization” is the main barrier to peace in the region.

The book has drawn sharply mixed reactions, with some supporting Carter’s views and others accusing him of being biased against Israel and distorting facts.

Alex Chazen, the president of UCI’s Jewish Student Union, said he had read Carter’s book and considered it unfair and inaccurate. He would not be able to attend Thursday’s event, he added, but was considering submitting a question.

“To compare what is currently going on in the Middle East to South African apartheid is not only unfair to Israelis and the Israeli government, but also unfair to people who unfortunately had to go through apartheid in South Africa,” Chazen said. “It’s almost making light of their situation.”

He added, though, that he was pleased that UCI will host a former president.

“I think that any school should be very honored to have an ex-president come and speak on campus,” he said. “It just so happens that, personally, my organization doesn’t happen to agree with his politics or the message he sends.”