The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has called on the Obama Administration to condemn and penalize Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA) for its international campaign to prevent Israel joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Israel became a member of the OECD this week after the 31 OECD member states voted for Israel’s accession. However, prior to the vote on Monday, pro-Palestinian groups protested at the OECD’s Paris base; PA prime minister Salam Fayyad worked to block Israel’s entry, contacting several OECD governments for this purpose; and the PA sent a letter to OECD nations asking them to postpone Israel’s membership bid (‘PM celebrates Israel’s OECD accession,’ Jerusalem Post, May 5, 2010).

In a letter to the OECD, PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki called for the vote on Israel’s accession to be delayed, alleging that Israel infringes on Palestinians’ human rights and therefore violates OECD values.  Israel’s Industry, Trade and Labor Minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, said that “Fayyad’s efforts to thwart Israel’s participation in the organization are extremely grave, and even more so during a time when Israel wants to begin proximity talks in order to reach an agreement and a reconciliation between the nations” (Barak Ravid, ‘Israel fights to keep Palestinians from sabotaging its admittance into OECD,’ Haaretz, May 5, 2010).

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “The actions of the PA in attempting to derail Israel’s accession to the OECD expose the surreal quality of the so-called peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. In any normal peace process, there are good-faith negotiations, fulfillment of agreements, reconciliation and normalization of relations. Only in the case of the Palestinians do none of these things occur – no negotiations; no fulfillment of signed obligations to end terrorism and the incitement to hatred and murder that feeds it; no acceptance of Jewish statehood, no normalization of relations.

“Specifically, the PA, supposedly so interested in peace and in obtaining a peaceful state alongside Israel – and being therefore an entity that should be working closely with Israel for mutual advantage – openly and actively works to harm Israel abroad. Far from working for peace and harmony with Israel, Abbas’ PA works for Israel’s international isolation and ostracism.

 “This is a negation of peace. The Obama Administration should publicly condemn the PA for this genuinely anti-peace act and condition future U.S. aid to the P.A. on it fulfilling its obligations to end terrorism and incitement and start contributing to peace, rather than working against it.”