13 years after Oslo & major
Israeli concessions
Four Palestinian polls during September have shown consistent Palestinian support for terrorism against Israeli civilians and for the Lebanese Islamist terrorist group Hizballah and its methods. A Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) poll (September 14-16) showed that more than two-thirds of Palestinian Arabs (67%) oppose Hamas recognizing Israel. Another poll, conducted by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the PCPSR found that 57% of Palestinian Arabs support terrorist attacks upon Israeli civilians, three-quarters of Palestinian Arabs support the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers in a bid to obtain the release of jailed Palestinians terrorists and 63% are inspired by the Lebanese Islamist terror group Hizballah and seek to emulate it ( Jerusalem Post, September 26). A further poll produced by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC) (September 19-22) showed that nearly half of all Palestinian Arabs (48%) support suicide bombings against Israeli civilians and 59.3% support copying Hizballah’s tactics. Yet a further poll, conducted by Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies at An-Najah University (September 7-9), found that 61.3% of Palestinian Arab s support terrorist attacks upon Israeli civilians and 52.5% support rocket attacks upon Israeli population centers.
Despite these poll results, the Bush Administration persists in describing Palestinian Arabs as favoring peace and a Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel. Only last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated, “I know the commitment of the Palestinian people to a better future. I know firsthand the commitment of … moderate Palestinians to that future … Let us find new and more determined ways to realize our shared vision of two states, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace and security.” Rice also compared the PLO/Palestinian movement and its leaders to the American Revolution and the founding fathers. This implied a comparison of Yasser Arafat and Hamas leaders to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, irrespective of the fact that the American Revolution did not seek the destruction of England or the killing of Britons, whereas the Palestinian movement is dedicated to Israel’s destruction and the killing of Jews. Despite this, Rice also claimed that there “could be no greater legacy for America than to help to bring into being a Palestinian state” (State Department, October 11).
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “It is crystal clear from these polls and a great deal of other data that Palestinian Arab society clearly opposes acceptance of Israel as a Jewish state and consistently supports terrorism against Israeli civilians in an attempt to undermine Israel’s survival as a Jewish state. In fact, such poll results have been consistent over many years. Under these circumstances, it is simply untrue for Secretary Rice to say that Palestinians are committed to a peaceful future and seek only statehood alongside Israel. By stating the opposite of what the facts warrant, Rice is misleading the American public and pursuing a policy which lacks any factual basis. When consistent majorities of Palestinian Arabs are shown to support terrorism and non-acceptance of Israel, it is clear that there can at present be no peace process with such a society and its like-minded leadership. Under these circumstances, there should be no discussion of a Palestinian state. Rather than giving unmerited praise to Palestinian Arabs for moderation, the Bush Administration should fearlessly state the truth and make it clear that there will be no concessions, no negotiations and no American funds until the PA fights, arrests, extradites and jails terrorists and confiscates their weaponry and ends the incitement to hatred and murder in the PA-controlled media, mosques, schools and youth camps that feeds it. All of these promises were made by the Palestinian Arabs in the Oslo I, Oslo II, Hebron and Wye Agreements as well as the Roadmap, yet not a single one has been fulfilled.”