Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter defended his harsh criticism of Israeli policy in his latest book, saying he hopes to erode the "impenetrable wall" that blocks the U.S. public from seeing the plight of Palestinians.The top-selling book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," has been criticized by pro-Israel groups and led to the resignation, announced this week, of Kenneth Stein, a Carter Center fellow and a longtime Carter adviser.Carter said Friday he intended the book to provoke debate on Israeli policy that has been stifled by the news media and others, who have been "almost unanimously silent.""It's almost a universal silence concerning anything that might be critical of current policies of the Israeli government," he said.Carter's words have led to an outcry among Jewish groups, who have launched petitions criticizing his use of the word "apartheid" - the system of legal racial separation once used in South Africa - to describe Israel's treatment of Palestinians.Carter, though, said he stands by his use of the word and cited the sprawling complex of fences, electric sensors and concrete slabs that Israel built along the West Bank of the Jordan River as an example of the divide.

Video providers : , and this video is stored with all copyright by