Gives $25,000 to
Families of Suicide Bombers
NEW YORK – The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is urging Vice President Dick Cheney to refrain from meeting Yasir Arafat, since such a meeting would, in effect, reward Arafat’s ongoing policy of ordering his terrorist forces to murder Jews.
In a telegram to Vice President Cheney, ZOA National President Morton A. Klein wrote: “Just as you would not meet with Osama Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein, you should not meet with Yasir Arafat. Terrorist dictators should be treated as pariahs by the international community, not rewarded with the honor and prestige of a meeting with the Vice President of the United States.”
ZOA President Klein added:
“Mr. Vice President, your administration has already offered concession after concession to Arafat, all to no avail. The administration has called for the creation of an independent Palestinian Arab state; continued giving the Palestinian Arabs $100-million each year; pressured Israel to refrain from taking serious military action against Palestinian Arab terrorists; and supported the Palestinian Arab cause at the United Nations.
“Yet despite all this, Arafat continues his terrorism. The majority of the attacks are carried out by Arafat’s own Fatah, Force 17, and Palestinian Authority security forces. A leader of Fatah’s Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade openly admitted to USA Today on March 14, 2002 that he is ‘following the orders of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.’
“Even while you were in Israel, Arafat continued to send his terrorists to carry out shooting attacks and suicide bombings. His campaign to murder Jews and destroy the Jewish State rages on without interruption. Any ‘cease-fire’ to which he agrees will be violated by him within days, if not hours. He refuses to fulfill his Oslo obligations to disarm and outlaw terrorist groups, and to surrender terrorists to Israel for prosecution. His Palestinian Authority channels $25,000 Iraqi grants to families of suicide bombers. President Bush is right to refrain to meet with him, and you should refrain from meeting with him as well. Terrorist dictators must suffer consequences for their actions—otherwise they will never have any incentive to stop their terrorism.”