Mahmoud Abbas is neither a moderate nor a peacemaker, and so is undeserving of American support. Abbas has done precisely nothing to fulfill Palestinian Arab commitments under the signed Oslo agreements and the 2003 Roadmap peace plan. He has not jailed terrorists, confiscated illegal weapons, or closed the bomb factories. He has not ended the incitement to hatred and murder in the PA-controlled media, mosques, schools and youth camps that feed terrorism. Just last week, in a February 28th interview in the Jordanian daily al-Dustur, Abbas stated:
“At this present juncture, I am opposed to the armed struggle because we can’t succeed in it, but maybe in the future things will be different.”
Daniel Pollak and Joshua London of ZOA’s Division of Government Relations in Washington, DC said: “We commend the efforts by Representatives Lowey and Ros-Lehtinen. Any action that halts the disbursement of funds to the PA is welcome. Historically, money gifted to the PA has often been stolen outright or ended up in the hands of terrorists. Corruption and incompetence along with continuing terrorism, is endemic to the Palestinian Authority. The ZOA opposes all forms of funding to the unrepentant and unreformed PA.”
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “Funding the Palestinian Authority while it continues to disregard its obligations under multiple agreements is not constructive. The official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper has honored the killer of the eight high school students gunned down this week with the status of Shahid – Holy Islamic Martyr (Al Hayat Al Jadida, March 8). Mahmoud Abbas recently bragged of his personal, and his Fatah party’s, terrorist credentials in an interview with a Jordanian newspaper: “We (Fatah) had the honor of leading the resistance and we taught resistance to everyone, including Hizbullah, who trained in our military camps” (al-Dustur, February 28, 2008). Further, Abbas’ PA observed a three day period of official mourning for the death of the founder and former leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) George Habash. Abbas also praised Habash as an “historic leader” and ordered PA flags to fly at half- mast (USA Today, January 26, 2008). Habash and Hizbullah were and are enemies of the United States. Aid to Abbas and the PA is clearly not in America’s interest.
When one adds to this Fatah’s recent 43rd anniversary poster showing Israel to be Palestine and Abbas’ repeated refusal to accept Israel as a Jewish state, there can simply be no doubt that Abbas is not a moderate or a peacemaker.”