JPost: AIPAC, Peace Now, Israel Policy Forum,
Arab-American Institute support U.S. aid to PA
New York — A major increase to a total of approximately $400 million in American funding for the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its president, Mahmoud Abbas, has been proposed by the Bush Administration. The Jerusalem Post has reported that this proposal has received support from the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), as well as Americans for Peace Now, the Israel Policy Forum and the Arab-American Institute. When questioned about the new aid request, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice replied that the Bush Administration was “seeking funds to support the government of Salaam Fayyad and Mahmoud Abbas because we believe that this [represents] the best chance for moderate Palestinian government” ( Jerusalem Post, October 25, 2007).
The ZOA strongly opposes this aid to the PA and is on Capitol Hill making this clear to lawmakers. The ZOA firmly believes that trying to induce moderation from the PA by rewarding it, instead of demanding the implementation of agreements and reforms before offering any rewards and concessions, will only reinforce the PA’s resistance to moderation and peace-making. Why would Abbas and Fatah fulfill any agreements or make any genuine moves towards peace if they have had it proved to them, time and again over 14 years, that they will receive praise, support and funds from America without fulfilling a single one of their obligations under signed agreements ?
The ZOA will be urging the Bush Administration to make this funding contingent on Abbas and the PA fulfilling all of their commitments that they made with the Oslo I, Oslo II, Hebron, Wye and Roadmap agreements. The PA should not receive an additional penny until this is done, otherwise, a clear message is sent that we in the U.S. are not truly serious about the PA fulfilling signed commitments to fight terror and end incitement.”
The PA remains a terror-supporting entity that has not fulfilled its 14 year old obligations to jail terrorists and confiscate illegal weaponry and end the incitement to hatred and murder in the PA-controlled media, mosques, schools and youth camps that feeds terrorism and fosters a culture of suicide terrorism and ‘martyrdom.’ Abbas himself has failed to condemn terrorism against Israel but has on the contrary praised terrorists; and the Fatah Constitution to this day calls for the “demolition” of Israel (Article 12); the use of terrorism as an indispensable part in the strategy to obtain that goal (Article 19); condemns Zionism as racist (Article 7); calls on countries to prevent Jews from moving to Israel (Article 25); and opposes any political solution whatsoever (Article 22). Since September 2000, Fatah has been responsible for as many murders of Israelis as Hamas: the terror groups having murdered nearly 500 Israelis each since that date in scores of suicide bombings, hundreds of roadside bombs, and thousands of shootings.
Mahmoud Abbas in his own words:
- On recognizing Israel:” It is not required of Hamas, or of Fatah, or of the Popular Front to recognize Israel” (Al-Arabiya [Dubai] and PA TV, October 3, 2006).
- Fighting Israel: “We have a legitimate right to direct our guns against Israeli occupation … Our rifles, all our rifles are aimed at The Occupation” ( Jerusalem Post, January 11, 2007; Independent Media & Review Analysis, January 12, 2007).
- On Jews: “The sons of Israel are corrupting humanity on earth” (World Net Daily, January 11, 2007).
- On Israel: “the Zionist enemy” (Associated Press, January 4, 2005; CNN.com, January 7, 2005).
- On suicide bombers: “Allah loves the martyr” (Wall Street Journal, January 5, 2005).
- On wanted Palestinian terrorists: “heroes fighting for freedom” (Age [Melbourne], January 3, 2005); “Israel calls them murderers, we call them strugglers” ( Jerusalem Post, December 25, 2004).
- On Palestinian terrorist leaders Yasser Arafat, Hamas’ Ahmad Yasin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Fathi Shikaki: “martyrs” (Palestinian Media Center , September 9, 2005)
- On Hamas: “We must unite the Hamas and Fatah blood in the struggle against Israel as we did at the beginning of the intifada. We want a political partnership with Hamas” ( Jerusalem Post, February 5, 2007).
- On Yasser Arafat: “It is our duty to implement the principles of Yasser Arafat” ( Haaretz, January 3, 2005); “We will continue in the path of the late president until we fulfill all his dreams” (Agence France-Presse, November 11, 2005); “The Palestinian leadership won’t stray from Arafat’s path” (Yediot Ahronot, November 11, 2006)
- On disarming Palestinian terrorists: a “red line” that must not be crossed (Washington Times, January 3, 2005)
- On jailed Palestinian terrorists: “our heroes.” (Israel National News, May 26, 2006).
- On the so-called ‘right of return’ of Palestinian refugees and their millions of descendants which, if implemented would end Israel as a Jewish state: “The issue of the refugees is non-negotiable” ( Jerusalem Post, January 11, 2007).
- On the Lebanese terrorist group Hizballah: A source of pride and sets an example for the “Arab resistance” (Jerusalem Post, August 6, 2006).
- Saddam Hussein: ” Saddam Hussein has entered history as a symbol of Pan-Arab nationalism” (Independent Media Review and Analysis , December 31, 2006).
Mahmoud Abbas’ acts:
Holocaust denial: He wrote a PhD thesis and published a book denying the Holocaust.
- Terrorist group Fatah: He co-founded with arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat the terrorist group Fatah, whose Constitution to this day calls for the destruction of Israel (Article 12) and the use of terrorism against Israelis as an indispensable part of the struggle to achieve that goal (Article 19).
- Funding terrorism: as senior PLO official, he funded the Munich massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes in 1972.
- Terror & incitement to violence: He has refused to implement the signed Oslo agreements and the 2003 Roadmap peace plan which requires him to fight, arrest, extradite and jail terrorists and confiscate their weaponry and end the incitement to hatred and murder in the PA-controlled media, mosques, schools and youth camps that feeds it.
- Terrorists’ plan for more violence: In May 2006, he endorsed the so-called ‘Prisoners’ Plan’, a document produced by jailed Palestinian terrorists, that endorses continued terrorism against Israel, legitimizes the murder of Jews, does not accept Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, abrogates Palestinian obligations under the signed Oslo agreements and the 2003 Roadmap peace plan, and insists on the ‘right of return.’
Money for suicide bombers’ families: In December 2005, he approved legislation mandating financial benefits to be paid to families of killed Palestinian terrorists.
* * *
Center for Law & Justice
We work to educate the American public and Congress about legal issues in order to advance the interests of Israel and the Jewish people.
We assist American victims of terrorism in vindicating their rights under the law, and seek to hold terrorists and sponsors of terrorism accountable for their actions.
We fight anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias in the media and on college campuses.
We strive to enforce existing law and also to create new law in order to safeguard the rights of the Jewish people in the United States and Israel.
Trending Z
News October 26, 2007
“J Street” Has Moved Outside the Pale | Israel National News
Uncategorized October 26, 2007
Atty General Nominee Pam Bondi on Handling Pro-Hamas Students on Campus