Abu Mazen Openly Says He
Won’t Dismantle Terror Groups
NEW YORK – Israel’s Foreign Minister has said that Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is no different from Yasir Arafat when it comes to cracking down on terror groups—like Arafat, he refuses to do it, even though the Bush Road Map requires him to do so.
According to the PA’s own official web site, Abu Mazen said in Cairo on July 23, 2003: “Cracking down on Hamas, Jihad and the Palestinian organizations is not an option at all.” (www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=936)
Ha’aretz reports (July 24, 2003) that Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said of Abu Mazen’s refusal to dismantle the terrorist groups: “He’s acting on this issue [dismantling terror groups] the same way that Arafat acted in the last 10 years, when he committed himself time after time in all the agreements that were signed. Abu Mazen has not yet internalized the need to do this.”
Shalom pointed out again that the Road Map requires the PA to undertake “dismantling the terrorist infrastructure, collecting weapons and stopping incitement.”
The report said that senior Israeli Army officers and officials of the Shin Bet (Israel’s CIA) “are becoming increasingly critical of the Palestinian government’s apparent refusal to act against terrorist organizations in the territories” and are urging Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to refrain from making any “goodwill gestures until the Palestinians prove their intentions are serious.” They say “there are no signs the PA intends to disarm terror groups or arrest key militants.”
Furthermore, “A senior officer at IDF General Headquarters said lifting the restrictions on Palestinian movement along the main north-south road in the Gaza Strip had been exploited by terror groups preparing for a renewal of hostilities. The groups, the officer said, were training in the use of rockets, bomb- making and infantry combat, and were moving wanted men between the two parts of the Strip and exchanging know-how. The sources say Hamas men conducted an experimental launch of two rockets this week, apparently to test their range. They are trying to extend the rockets’ range to 12-13 kilometers, compared to the current 8-km range.”
Morton A. Klein, National President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), said: “The only difference between Abu Mazen and Yasir Arafat is that he wears a suit and shaves. The so-called “cease-fire” is not a step towards peace—it is allowing the Palestinian Arabs to prepare the next steps for their continuing terrorist war. The Bush administration should insist that the PA fulfill President Bush’s Road Map requirement that it immediately ‘dismantle terrorist capabilities and infrastructure’.”