Background:
On June 24, 2002, President Bush set forth the conditions that the Palestinian Arabs must fulfill in order to merit U.S. support for the creation of a Palestinian Arab state. Among the major obligations are that the Palestinian Arabs must “dismantle the terrorist infrastructure,” “end incitement,” “elect new leaders not compromised by terror,” and unequivocally embrace democracy and free market economics. None of those conditions were fulfilled.
In March 2003, Yasir Arafat chose Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), the number two man in the PLO since the 1960s, as the new prime minister of the Palestinian Authority. Mazen took office on April 29, 2003. Less than a day later, the Bush administration unveiled its “Road Map” plan, which set forth conditions that the Palestinian Arabs must fulfill prior to the creation of a Palestinian Arab state.
On September 6, 2003, Abbas resigned; the next day, Arafat named his replacement Ahmed Qurei, speaker of the PA’s Legislative Council and number three man in the PLO. On October 6, 2003, Qurei was officially named prime minister of the PA.
The Road Map requires the Palestinian Arabs to undertake concrete steps to combat terrorist groups and democratize Palestinian Arab society. Those obligations, which are quoted below, were supposed to have been fulfilled during Phase 1 of the Road Map, which concluded at the end of May 2003, but they were not.
This report analyzes Palestinian Arab violations of those obligations during the 56th week following the unveiling of the Road Map plan, May 18 – May 24, 2004.
I. “Cease All Violence”
What They Are Required to Do: The Road Map states: “In Phase 1 [May 2003], the Palestinians immediately undertake an unconditional cessation of violence.” They did not do so.
What They Did During Week #56: During week #56, May 18 – May 24, 2004, there were at least 16 terrorist attacks or attempted attacks, in which 4 people were wounded.
(During the first 56 weeks since the Road Map was issued, there have been a total of at least 1,258 Palestinian Arab terrorist attacks or attempted attacks, in which 196 people were murdered and 932 wounded.)
The PA’s official “Palestine Media Center” reported on January 15, 2004 that PA Foreign Minister Nabil Sha’ath (see www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=1177) said the PA “is capable to stop all anti-Israeli attacks provided the Israelis reciprocate in kind.” In fact, the Road Map requires the PA to stop all attacks regardless of Israeli “reciprocation.” Despite that requirement, attacks continued:
May 18: Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in Rafiah section of Gaza.
May 19: Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in Tel Sultan section of Gaza.
May 20: Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in Rafiah section of Gaza … Two rocket attacks on Kibbutz Yad Mordechai … Rocket attack on Sderot.
May 21: Rocket attack on Sderot … Rocket attack on Jewish neighborhoods in Gush Katif … Mortar rocket fired at Neve Dekalim … Attack on motorists near Beit Omar … Mortar rockets fired at Jewish neighborhoods in northern Gaza.
May 22: Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in Rafiah section of Gaza … Firebomb attack on Israeli soldiers at the Shdema Junction near Bethlehem.
May 23: Suicide bombing at the Beka’ot checkpoint; four people wounded … Shooting attack on an Israeli Army position in Psagot.
May 24: Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in Rafiah section of Gaza.
II. “Call for Recognizing Israel and Ending Violence”
What They Are Required to Do: The Road Map obligates the Palestinian Arabs to “issue an unequivocal statement reiterating Israel’s right to exist in peace and security and calling for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire to end armed activity and all acts of violence against Israelis anywhere.”
What They Did During Week #56: No such statement was issued.
III. “Arrest, Disrupt, and Restrain Terrorists”
What They Are Required to Do: The Road Map obligates the Palestinian Arabs to “undertake visible efforts on the ground to arrest, disrupt and restrain individuals and groups conducting and planning violent attacks on Israelis anywhere.”
What They Did During Week #56: No such steps were taken.
IV. “Confiscate Terrorists’ Weapons”
What They Are Required to Do: The Road Map obligates the Palestinian Arabs to “commence confiscation of illegal weapons.”
What They Did During Week #56: No such steps were taken.
V. “Dismantle the Terrorist Infrastructure”
What They Are Required to Do: The Road Map obligates the Palestinian Arabs to carry out the “dismantlement of terrorist capabilities and infrastructure.”
What They Did During Week #56: The PA did not outlaw Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, or any other terrorist groups; there were no reports of the PA shutting down any bomb factories or terrorists’ training camps; the PA continued to ignore Israel’s 45 requests for the extradition of terrorists; there were no reports of the PLO leadership punishing PLO factions that are engaged in terrorism, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).
VI. “End All Incitement”
What They Are Required to Do: The Road Map requires that “all official Palestinian institutions end incitement against Israel.”
What They Did During Week #56: The PA’s official newspapers, television, and radio continued to broadcast a steady stream of anti-Israel, anti-American, and pro-violence incitement, and PA officials continued to make inciting statements. In addition, there was no change in the PA’s policy of inciting support for terror by publicly praising terrorists, naming streets after them, and paying salaries to imprisoned terrorists and their families.
For example, a film prepared by Palestinian Media Watch in May 2004 shows a recent PA Television program in which a little girl shown singing:
I have finished practicing with the sub-machine gun/ and I have trained my friends among the youth and children/ We have vowed to take revenge on our enemies/ For our wounded and dead/ We will get on a loaded ship that will take us to Jaffa…
The PMW film continues with an excerpt from a “scholarly” PA Television program in which one expert remarks: “The name ‘Israel’ that was given to the neighboring Israeli state – Israelis, Hebrews, or the Hebrew state – is exaggerated, inaccurate and has no truth… Regarding the ‘people of Israel,’ they too were Arab tribes, and among the purest of them. By Allah, believe me, in my blood there is more of the ancient Israelites and the Hebrews, our forefathers – and even if the religion of some of them was Jewish – than in the blood of Sharon and Binyamin Netanyahu… There is no connection at all between the Jews of today, despite their groundless claims, to the ancient Jews of the past.”
The PMW film also shows a portion of a PA Television show featuring two 11 year-old girls. One is asked, “What is better: Peace with full rights for the Palestinian nation, or shehada [martyrydom]?” The girl responds without hesitating, “Shehada. I will earn my rights after I become a martyr – for we won’t remain children forever.” The moderator turns to the other girl, and asks, “Do you agree with these things?” She replies: “It’s clear that shehada is a good (sweet) thing. For we don’t need This World, but rather the World to Come… and so, the Palestinian youth are not like all the other youth; they [we] have hot blood, and they certainly prefer shehada, because they are Palestinians… The children of Palestine adopted this idea of shehada, and [the understanding] that dying by shehada is something very good. Every Palestinian child, let’s say a boy of 12, says, ‘O God, grant me shehada’…”
VII. “End Arab States’ Support for Terror”
What They Are Required to Do: The Road Map states that during May 2003, “Arab states cut off public and private funding and all other forms of support for groups supporting and engaging in violence and terror.”
What They Did During Week #56: There were no reports of any Arab states cutting off their support for Palestinian Arab terrorist groups.
VIII. “Consolidate Security Forces”
What They Are Required to Do: The Road Map obligates the Palestinian Arabs to undertake “consolidation of security authority, free of association with terror and corruption”; and “all Palestinian security organizations are consolidated into three services reporting to an empowered interior minister.”
What They Did During Week #56: Five different PA security organizations, including Force 17 and the General Intelligence, remain under Arafat’s direct command. Military Intelligence, the National Security Forces, and the naval forces are also under Arafat’s control. Only the remaining two security agencies are under the Interior Minister.
IX. “Institute Democratic Reforms”
What They Are Required to Do: The Road Map requires the Palestinian Arabs to undertake a number of steps to transform their brutal, corrupt dictatorial regime into a full-fledged democracy, including “action on a credible process to draft constitution for Palestinian statehood”; the holding of “free, open, and fair elections”; and “steps to achieve genuine separation of powers, including any necessary Palestinian legal reforms for this purpose.”
What They Did During Week #56: No such steps were taken.