NEW YORK – The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) —the oldest, and one of the largest pro-Israel organizations in the United States— has strongly praised the resolution by Israel’s Likud Party that “No Palestinian state will be established west of the Jordan River.”
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said: “The Likud’s resolution is consistent with President Bush’s pledge to put an end to terrorist states; establishing a Palestinian Arab state would mean creating a new terrorist state. At a time when Yasir Arafat and the Palestinian Authority are actively promoting the murder of Jews and harboring those who carry out the murders, any discussion of any Israeli concessions to Arafat would be a reward for his terrorism. For eight years, Arafat has presided over a dictatorship that orders, pays for, and harbors terrorists; is rife with corruption; and suppresses liberty and freedom. A full-fledged Palestinian state will be just as bad, or worse. This would be the only time in history that a state would be established not to provide a better life for its citizens, but to pursue the destruction of another state.”
A recent poll found 68% of Israeli Jews believe that “regardless of the size or strength of a Palestinian state, if one is established it will constitute a threat to the State of Israel”; and 64% of Israeli Jews believe the creation of a Palestinian Arab state would “increase the ability of the Arab states to threaten Israel.” Only 9% of Israeli Jews believe creating a Palestinian Arab state would reduce the Arab states’ threat to Israel. The poll was carried out on Nov.25-26, 2001 by the Smith Institute, Israel’s most prominent polling firm; it was co-sponsored by the ZOA and the Israeli news agency IMRA.)
The creation of a Palestinian Arab state will:
* Endanger America’s ally, Israel, by establishing a terrorist state that will station its forces just miles from Israel’s major cities—and leave Israel just nine miles wide at its vulnerable mid-section. A Palestinian state would share a Israel’s longest border, flanking the areas that contain 70% of Israel’s population, including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa—plenty of tempting targets for cross-border attacks by terrorists who would then take refuge in the Palestinian state.
* Undermine the fight against terrorism by giving the Palestinian Arab terrorists a reward for their violence.
* Boost Bin Laden’s allies —Osama Bin Laden’s terrorists are closely allied with the terrorists of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and Fatah, who are attacking Israel and who would control a future Palestinian Arab state.
* Endanger Jordan. Arafat’s forces could join with the Palestinian Arab residents of Jordan —where they are a majority of the population— to overthrow King Abdullah and create a single state that will stretch all the way to the Jordanian border with Iraq. Arafat already tried once (in 1969-1970) to take over Jordan; the PLO’s official ideology claims that all of Jordan should be part of “Palestine.”
* Create another anti-American dictatorship —Yasir Arafat’s Palestinian Authority is a brutal Muslim dictatorship which tortures dissidents, silences newspaper that deviate from Arafat’s line, and persecutes Christians. The official PA media actively incites hatred against America, and the Arafat maintains warm relations with the most anti-American regimes in the world, including Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, North Korea, and Cuba.
* Endanger Jewish religious rights —the Palestinian Authority has already destroyed one key Jewish religious site, the Tomb of Joseph, turning it into a mosque and barring Jews from the area. The ancient Shalom al-Yisrael synagogue in PA-controlled Jericho has also been burned down. PA officials have called for banning Jewish prayer from Jerusalem’s Western Wall and Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs, and PA police officers regularly carry out shooting attacks on the Tomb of Rachel, near Bethlehem. In an Arafat state, Jews will be prevented from access to their religious sites.
* Endanger Palestinian Arab Christians —Christian Arabs living in PA territory “are subjected to brutal and relentless persecution,” according to the Israeli government. Bethlehem, which once had a Christian majority, is now 80% Muslim; most of its Christian residents have left because of Muslim harassment. Christians are not allowed to build, or even renovate, churches in PA territory. American courts have granted asylum to Palestinian Christian Arabs on the grounds that they will be persecuted if they return to PA-controlled areas.
* Endanger Israel’s water supply. A significant portion of Israel’s water originates in Judea-Samaria. If Arafat has sovereignty, he could shut off the flow of that water. There would also be an increase danger of Palestinian Arab terrorists sabotaging the Israeli water supply.