The suit is the first time a former President and a publishing house have
been sued for violating consumer protection laws by knowingly publishing
inaccurate information while promoting a book as factual.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 2, 2011
FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER NAMED IN CLASS ACTION SUIT FILED IN NEW YORK
COURT ALLEGING DECEPTIONS AND FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATIONS IN BOOK
ATTACKING ISRAEL
An historic class action suit has been filed against former President Jimmy
Carter and the Simon & Schuster publishing company alleging that Carter’s
book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, contained numerous false and knowingly
misleading statements intended to promote the author’s agenda of anti-Israel
propaganda and to deceive the reading public instead of presenting accurate
information as advertised. The suit, captioned Unterberg et al. v. Jimmy
Carter et.al (11 cv 0720), filed in the United States District Court for
the Southern District of New York, seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
The plaintiffs, who hope to have the case certified as a class action, are
members of the reading public who purchased Carter’s book expecting that
they were buying an accurate and factual record of historic events
concerning Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. The lawsuit contends that
Carter, who holds himself out as a Middle-East expert, and his publisher,
intentionally presented untrue and inaccurate information and sought to
capitalize on the author’s status as a former President to mislead
unsuspecting members of the public. The complaint alleges that the
defendants’ misrepresentations, all highly critical of Israel, violate New
York consumer protection laws, specifically New York General Business Law §
349, which makes it unlawful to engage in deceptive acts in the course of
conducting business. While acknowledging Carter’s right to publish his
personal views, the plaintiffs assert that the defendants violated the law
and, thus, harmed those who purchased the book.
The suit is the first time a former President and a publishing house have
been sued for violating consumer protection laws by knowingly publishing
inaccurate information while promoting a book as factual.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorney David Schoen, Esq. of
Montgomery, Alabama and attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Esq. of Tel-Aviv,
Israel.
The complaint notes that after the book’s publication some of Carter’s
closest aides, including distinguished public officials and scholars
personally involved in the events described, condemned the book as
untruthful. Despite being presented with irrefutable proof that many of
representations in the book are false, the defendants have refused to make
any corrections.
Attorney Darshan-Leitner stated that: “The lawsuit will expose all the
falsehoods and misrepresentations in Carter's book and prove that his hatred
of Israel has led him to commit this fraud on the public. He is entitled to
his opinions but deceptions and lies have no place in works of history.”
Attorney Schoen stated that: "It is, indeed, a sad day for all of us as
Americans, when a former President demeans the dignity of his office by
intentionally misstating critically important facts concerning events of
great historic significance and public interest, simply to advance a
personal anti-Israel animus and to foster the agenda of the enemies of
Israel who pump so much money into the Center which bears his name."
A copy of the complaint is available here:
http://israellawcenter.org//uploadimages/image/Jimmy%20Carter%20Complaint.pdf
For more information please contact:
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner (516) 684-9983, 011-972-3-7514175
Email: nitsanad@zahav.net.il
David Schoen: (334) 395-6611
Email: David@Schoenlawfirm.com
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