The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has released a new study making the case for a halt to America\'s $2.1-billion in aid to Egypt. Highlights of the report, entitled, \"Ten Good Reasons to Stop U.S. Aid to Egypt,\" follow:
* Egypt befriends America\'s enemies, pursuing friendly relations with Iraq, Libya, Iran, and North Korea. Egyptian government media incite hatred against America, including the recent publication of racist attacks against Secretary of State Colin Powell. During 1997-1998, Egypt sheltered Palestinian Arab terrorist Abu Nidal, who was responsible for the murders of numerous Americans and Israelis.
* Egypt persecutes Christians. The Coptic Christians are subjected to systematic discrimination by the Egyptian government as well as torture by Egyptian police officers.
* Egypt is preparing for war, spending much of its budget on massive amounts of offensive weaponry; there is a danger that U.S. weapons sent to Egypt will be used against America\'s ally, Israel. In defiance of the U.S.-brokered Israel-Egypt peace treaty, Egypt incites hatred against Israel, publishing a constant torrent of anti-Semitic articles, Holocaust-denial, and Nazi-like cartoons in its government-controlled media. Egypt urges a boycott of Israel, and refuses to have the normal trade, cultural, scientific, and diplomatic relations that the U.S.-brokered treaty requires. Egypt recalled its ambassador from Israel last year, and it has refused to accept the credentials of Israel\'s ambassador in Egypt.
* Egypt defends terrorist groups, including Hizbullah, which murdered 241 Americans in Beirut in 1983. Egypt tramples human rights, refusing to grant its citizens free speech, freedom of the press, or free elections; dissidents are routinely jailed and tortured.
Upon the release of the study, ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said that despite the above-mentioned points, \"The United States has given Egypt over $40 billion since 1979… It\'s time to stop U.S. aid to Egypt.\"
* Egypt befriends America\'s enemies, pursuing friendly relations with Iraq, Libya, Iran, and North Korea. Egyptian government media incite hatred against America, including the recent publication of racist attacks against Secretary of State Colin Powell. During 1997-1998, Egypt sheltered Palestinian Arab terrorist Abu Nidal, who was responsible for the murders of numerous Americans and Israelis.
* Egypt persecutes Christians. The Coptic Christians are subjected to systematic discrimination by the Egyptian government as well as torture by Egyptian police officers.
* Egypt is preparing for war, spending much of its budget on massive amounts of offensive weaponry; there is a danger that U.S. weapons sent to Egypt will be used against America\'s ally, Israel. In defiance of the U.S.-brokered Israel-Egypt peace treaty, Egypt incites hatred against Israel, publishing a constant torrent of anti-Semitic articles, Holocaust-denial, and Nazi-like cartoons in its government-controlled media. Egypt urges a boycott of Israel, and refuses to have the normal trade, cultural, scientific, and diplomatic relations that the U.S.-brokered treaty requires. Egypt recalled its ambassador from Israel last year, and it has refused to accept the credentials of Israel\'s ambassador in Egypt.
* Egypt defends terrorist groups, including Hizbullah, which murdered 241 Americans in Beirut in 1983. Egypt tramples human rights, refusing to grant its citizens free speech, freedom of the press, or free elections; dissidents are routinely jailed and tortured.
Upon the release of the study, ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said that despite the above-mentioned points, \"The United States has given Egypt over $40 billion since 1979… It\'s time to stop U.S. aid to Egypt.\"