Eighty-seven of the 100 U.S. Senators have sent a letter to President George W. Bush requesting that he not invite PA leader Yasser Arafat, at least until after the White House completes a reassessment of its relationship with the Palestinian Authority. The letter, initiated by Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Joseph Biden (D-DE), urges the Bush Administration to consider putting Arafat\'s Fatah Tanzim and Force 17 on the official U.S. list of terrorist organizations. A similar letter is circulating in the U.S. House of Representatives, initiated by Reps. Henry Hyde (R-IL), Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, and Ben Gilman (R-NY), Chairman of that Committee\'s Middle East Subcommittee.
The Brownback-Biden letter notes that \"many of the attacks [against Israel] are well-planned operations involving the highest levels of the Palestinian security forces, openly led by the PLO\'s own militia, the Tanzim.\" The letter also points out that \"Arafat\'s release from detention since July of over 130 members of the most radical anti-Israel groups directly involved in attacks against Israelis has resulted in the commission of many acts of terror… It is time that the leadership of the Palestinian Authority speak and act against the continuing violence and terrorism, or face a significant change in our relations with them.\"
The Zionist Organization of American reports that many leading Israeli figures have said recently that the PA is \"a terrorist body\" - most notably including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, quoted in The New York Times on March 28. Arafat himself has often called for the continuation of the Jihad and the like.