Contradicts Bush Pledge
Not to Impose Solution
NEW YORK- The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) prepared a list of eight serious flaws in the Bush administration’s “Road Map” plan, which demonstrate that it is a road map to disaster—it will create a Palestinian Arab terrorist state that will endanger Israel and undermine America’s war against terrorism:
1. The “Road Map” Awards A State To The Palestinian Arabs—Even Before The Pa Has Met Bush’s Own Conditions For Statehood:
In his June 2002 Mideast speech, President Bush said that the U.S. would support creation of a Palestinian Arab state only if the PA stops its terrorism, dismantles other terrorist organizations, halts all anti-Jewish incitement, roots out corruption, embraces democracy and human rights, and elects new leaders who are “uncompromised by terror.” The PA has not met any of those conditions, yet the Bush administration has announced that it will nevertheless go ahead and formally adopt the Road Map, which promises creation of a Palestinian Arab state later this year.
2. The “Road Map” Is Anchored In The Leadership Of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), Who Supports Terrorism And Denies The Holocaust:
The Bush administration’s premise for proceeding with the Road Map is the appointment of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) as PA prime minister. Yet, far from representing new, moderate leadership, Mazen, in his first three weeks as PA Prime Minister, has been actively embracing the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists instead of fighting them. Abbas met with three leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad on March 30, 2003. Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi, who attended the meeting, “said the meeting was positive” and Abbas “made no demands.” Abbas also offered Hamas control of the Education Ministry in his regime. (N.Y. Times, March 31, 2003; Ha’aretz, March 31, 2003)) Furthermore, the Abbas regime has not seized any of the tens of thousands of illegal weapons in the hands of the terrorists; has not shut down any terrorist bomb factories; has not outlawed or punished any terrorist groups; and has not honored any of Israel’s 45 requests for the extradition of terrorists.
In an interview in the Arab newspaper Alsharq Al-Awsat (March 3, 2003), Abbas described his recent discussions with various Palestinian Arab terrorist groups about strategy. “We didn’t talk about a break in the armed struggle … It is our right to resist. The Intifada must continue and it is the right of the Palestinian People to resist and use all possible means in order to defend its presence and existence. The interviewer then asked: “Including using arms?” Abbas replied: “All means and arms as long as they are coming to your home, as this is the right to resist. The restriction applies only to ‘Shahada -Seeking’ [suicide] operations and going out to attack in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.”
Thus Abbas supports murdering all Jews in the territories, both soldiers and civilians whom he defines as “settlers”—that is, Jews who reside in (or happen to be visiting) Judea, Samaria, Gaza, the Golan, the Old City section of Jerusalem (where the Jewish Quarter, Western Wall and Temple Mount are situated), and Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Gilo, Ramat Eshkol, French Hill, and the Hebrew University campus. Every Jew praying at the Western Wall is a legitimate target, according to Abbas’s definition.
Abbas is the author of a 1983 book claiming that the Nazis murdered less than one million Jews (rather than six million) and that they were killed as a result of a conspiracy between Zionist leaders and the Nazis to kill Jews in order to gain international sympathy for Zionism. President Bush should treat Abbas as a pariah, just as other Holocaust-deniers around the world are treated as pariahs, not statesmen.
3. The “Road Map” Targets Israeli “Settlements”— But Makes No Mention Of Arab Settlements:
In his speech embracing the “Road Map,” President Bush said: “As progress is made toward peace, settlement activity in the occupied territories must end.”
Thus Israel is required to halt all Jewish construction in the territories as soon as “progress is made”—a vague term that could be defined by the State Department as consisting of slight reduction in the number of Arab murders of Israelis. Meanwhile, President Bush made no reference whatsoever to Arab construction activity—even though the Arabs in Judea-Samaria-Gaza are building at ten times the rate of the Jewish residents of those areas. The notion that Jews should be prevented from building in their ancient homeland, while Arabs continue to build there, smacks of racism.
Furthermore, the calls for preventing the natural growth of the Jewish communities in Judea-Samaria is frighteningly reminiscent of the policies used in Medieval Europe to prevent Jewish families and communities from growing.
4. Building A Palestinian Arab Army In The Guise Of “Reorganizing The Palestinian Security Services”:
According to the Israeli daily Ha’aretz (March 24, 2003), the Bush administration has established. a new unit of the CIA that will “reorganize the Palestinian security services.” Last September, the Bush administration initiated a program of training PA security force members under the supervision of U.S., Egyptian, and Jordanian security officials. Israel has protested the fact that at least 100 of the 150 PA security officers in the course “were involved in attacks on Israeli civilians.” (Middle East Newsline, Sept. 17, 2002) In the past, the CIA trained the PA security forces in sniper skills and other techniques that the PA has been using in its terrorism against Israel. Thus the Road Map plan, in its rush to create a Palestinian Arab state, would involve building a force that would be the same old PA security/terrorist forces under a new guise.
5. Anti-Israel Elements Such As The U.N., The E.U., And Russia To Have A Say In Determining Israel’s Security Needs:
The “Road Map” plan puts Israel’s security requirements in the hands of the “Quartet” despite the fact that the Quartet includes Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations, which have long records of anti-Israel bias.
6. The “Road Map” Imposes A Solution On Israel:
Bush administration officials have said that the “Road Map” is non-negotiable. (Washington Post, March 20, 2003) Yet during the 2000 election campaign, then-candidate George W. Bush pledged that he would never impose a solution on Israel. Speaking at the annual AIPAC Policy Conference in May 2000, Bush said: “In recent times, Washington has tried to make Israel conform to its own plans and timetables, but this is not the path to peace.” (Associated Press, May 22, 2000) Similarly, in August 2000, Condoleeza Rice, who was then Bush’s top foreign policy adviser, said in a speech at Tel Aviv University “that Bush believes the U.S. cannot force its foreign policy on other states and that it is up to Israel ‘to determine what risks it takes’ to reach peace.” (Jerusalem Post, August 15, 2000)
After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the White House on March 20, 2001, Bush told reporters, “I told him that our nation will not try to force peace.” And at the 2001 AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said: “We will propose solutions, we will not impose solutions.”
7. The “Road Map” Will Create A State That Will Endanger Israel:
The “Road Map” would create a Palestinian Arab state that would be a terrorist state and a brutal dictatorship. It would be established more or less along Israel’s pre-1967 borders, which are militarily indefensible. Israel would be reduced to nine miles wide at its mid-section, and have a mini-Iraq next door.
8. The “Road Map” Will Undermine America’s War Against Terrorism:
The creation of a Palestinian Arab state would, in effect, reward the PA for its ongoing terrorist war against Israel, and send a message to terrorists everywhere that their violence will reap political concessions.