They persecute minorities, abuse women, torture and lynch their opponents, demand ethnically-segregated neighborhoods, and would like to replace democracy with religious fundamentalism.
Sounds like the Ku Klux Klan or one of those neo-Nazi militia groups?
Try Yasir Arafat and the Palestinian Authority.
Some progressives have mistakenly seen the Palestinian Arabs fighting Israel as mistreated underdogs striving for freedom. In fact, they are violent, racist, chauvinist reactionaries whom every progressive should denounce.
Muslim extremist fundamentalism is the dominant ideology in the territories controlled by Arafat and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Christians are systematically persecuted by the PA; U.S. courts have even granted asylum to Palestinian Christian refugees on the grounds that they would be oppressed if they return to the PA areas. Jewish holy sites have been destroyed by the PA; mobs aided by PA policemen burned down the Tomb of Joseph last October and then rebuilt it as a mosque; a few days later, they burned down the ancient Shalom al-Yisrael synagogue in Jericho, and prevented Israeli fire trucks from reaching the scene.
The treatment of Palestinian Arab women is appalling. Women suspected of violating some aspect of Muslim fundamentalism's moral code are often murdered by relatives seeking to avenge their "shame"--and "in areas under Palestinian control, judges usually look for 'justifiable excuses'" to go easy on the "wronged" man, according to criminologist Shalhoub Kevorkian, who took part in a recent UNICEF study of the "honor killings" phenomenon. " 'Honor kilings' of women are regarded with leniency by the law" in the PA areas, agrees Daoud Kuttab, a prominent Palestinian Arab journalist.
The Palestinian Arab newspaper Jerusalem Times recently reported that sexual harassment of women in the PA territories is worse than in many other parts of the world because of "the wide spread of the phenomenon, the lack of laws against it, and the feebleness with which laws that do exist are implemented." And a leading Israeli newspaper, Ma'ariv reported on March 24, 1995, that there had been a series of brutal rapes by PA policemen in Jericho which Arafat refused to investigate, claiming that in each case, "she consented." One wonders how many other such assaults go unreported.
Torture and other forms of savagery are favored methods of dealing with the Palestinian Authority's targets. At least 16 Palestinian Arab dissidents have been tortured to death by the PA police, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Two young Israeli men who accidentally took a wrong turn into the PA-ruled city of Ramallah last autumn were lynched and dragged to death, West Texas-style, by a mob which included PA policemen.
The one election that the PA sponsored, in early 1996, was so corrupt that it made Florida's butterfly ballots and other irregularities seem like a model election. Peace Watch, a non-partisan group that monitored the PA election, found that Arafat's men used death threats to keep challengers out of the race (his one remaining opponent was an elderly grandmother); that Arafat's armed Fatah goons were posted at polling stations to intimidate voters; and that large numbers of ballot boxes mysteriously disappeared from areas where dissidents were believed to have support. Not surprisingly, no elections have been held since 1996 and none are scheduled.
Critics of the regime are silenced-- Prof. Fathi Subil suggested to his university students in Gaza that they write papers about corruption in the PA regime; the next day, PA policemen broke his legs. Opposition newspapers are quickly shut down if they fail to toe Arafat's line. Striking teachers have been arrested en masse.
Arafat's demand for ethnic segregation should likewise appall every progressive person. Arafat demands that every Jew be evicted from Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and large sections of Jerusalem. He refuses to accept the idea of Jews living in the same neighborhood --even the same city-- as Arabs. If someone demanded that all African-Americans be evicted from a mostly-white neighborhood for the sake of "peace," would we call him a moderate and give him a Nobel Peace Prize, as Arafat received? Or would we call him a racist and treat him as a pariah? (Ironically, while Arafat is demanding an end to all Jewish housing construction in the territories, nobody is saying anything about the Arab housing construction there, which is proceeding at ten times the rate of the Jews'.)
Anti-Jewish racism is the theme of the culture of hatred and violence that is promoted in Arafat's official media, school text books, summer camps, speeches by PA officials, and sermons by PA-appointed clergymen. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, leader of Reform Judaism, recently denounced the PA's "neo-Nazi language" and warned that the PA is raising an entire generation of children to hate and murder Jews.
Why should Americans take an interest in this issue?
First, because the U.S. government sends the Palestinian Arabs $100-million in aid each year, and the CIA provides training and equipment to the PA police and security forces--forces that now engage in the torture and murder of innocent people.
Second, because eighteen American citizens have been murdered by Palestinian Arab terrorists since the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993, and Arafat is sheltering the killers.
And third, because every decent person should be concerned when minorities are persecuted, women are abused, innocent people are tortured and lynched, and religious fundamentalism pushes aside democracy--whether such behavior occurs in the Midwest or the Mideast.
Sounds like the Ku Klux Klan or one of those neo-Nazi militia groups?
Try Yasir Arafat and the Palestinian Authority.
Some progressives have mistakenly seen the Palestinian Arabs fighting Israel as mistreated underdogs striving for freedom. In fact, they are violent, racist, chauvinist reactionaries whom every progressive should denounce.
Muslim extremist fundamentalism is the dominant ideology in the territories controlled by Arafat and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Christians are systematically persecuted by the PA; U.S. courts have even granted asylum to Palestinian Christian refugees on the grounds that they would be oppressed if they return to the PA areas. Jewish holy sites have been destroyed by the PA; mobs aided by PA policemen burned down the Tomb of Joseph last October and then rebuilt it as a mosque; a few days later, they burned down the ancient Shalom al-Yisrael synagogue in Jericho, and prevented Israeli fire trucks from reaching the scene.
The treatment of Palestinian Arab women is appalling. Women suspected of violating some aspect of Muslim fundamentalism's moral code are often murdered by relatives seeking to avenge their "shame"--and "in areas under Palestinian control, judges usually look for 'justifiable excuses'" to go easy on the "wronged" man, according to criminologist Shalhoub Kevorkian, who took part in a recent UNICEF study of the "honor killings" phenomenon. " 'Honor kilings' of women are regarded with leniency by the law" in the PA areas, agrees Daoud Kuttab, a prominent Palestinian Arab journalist.
The Palestinian Arab newspaper Jerusalem Times recently reported that sexual harassment of women in the PA territories is worse than in many other parts of the world because of "the wide spread of the phenomenon, the lack of laws against it, and the feebleness with which laws that do exist are implemented." And a leading Israeli newspaper, Ma'ariv reported on March 24, 1995, that there had been a series of brutal rapes by PA policemen in Jericho which Arafat refused to investigate, claiming that in each case, "she consented." One wonders how many other such assaults go unreported.
Torture and other forms of savagery are favored methods of dealing with the Palestinian Authority's targets. At least 16 Palestinian Arab dissidents have been tortured to death by the PA police, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Two young Israeli men who accidentally took a wrong turn into the PA-ruled city of Ramallah last autumn were lynched and dragged to death, West Texas-style, by a mob which included PA policemen.
The one election that the PA sponsored, in early 1996, was so corrupt that it made Florida's butterfly ballots and other irregularities seem like a model election. Peace Watch, a non-partisan group that monitored the PA election, found that Arafat's men used death threats to keep challengers out of the race (his one remaining opponent was an elderly grandmother); that Arafat's armed Fatah goons were posted at polling stations to intimidate voters; and that large numbers of ballot boxes mysteriously disappeared from areas where dissidents were believed to have support. Not surprisingly, no elections have been held since 1996 and none are scheduled.
Critics of the regime are silenced-- Prof. Fathi Subil suggested to his university students in Gaza that they write papers about corruption in the PA regime; the next day, PA policemen broke his legs. Opposition newspapers are quickly shut down if they fail to toe Arafat's line. Striking teachers have been arrested en masse.
Arafat's demand for ethnic segregation should likewise appall every progressive person. Arafat demands that every Jew be evicted from Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and large sections of Jerusalem. He refuses to accept the idea of Jews living in the same neighborhood --even the same city-- as Arabs. If someone demanded that all African-Americans be evicted from a mostly-white neighborhood for the sake of "peace," would we call him a moderate and give him a Nobel Peace Prize, as Arafat received? Or would we call him a racist and treat him as a pariah? (Ironically, while Arafat is demanding an end to all Jewish housing construction in the territories, nobody is saying anything about the Arab housing construction there, which is proceeding at ten times the rate of the Jews'.)
Anti-Jewish racism is the theme of the culture of hatred and violence that is promoted in Arafat's official media, school text books, summer camps, speeches by PA officials, and sermons by PA-appointed clergymen. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, leader of Reform Judaism, recently denounced the PA's "neo-Nazi language" and warned that the PA is raising an entire generation of children to hate and murder Jews.
Why should Americans take an interest in this issue?
First, because the U.S. government sends the Palestinian Arabs $100-million in aid each year, and the CIA provides training and equipment to the PA police and security forces--forces that now engage in the torture and murder of innocent people.
Second, because eighteen American citizens have been murdered by Palestinian Arab terrorists since the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993, and Arafat is sheltering the killers.
And third, because every decent person should be concerned when minorities are persecuted, women are abused, innocent people are tortured and lynched, and religious fundamentalism pushes aside democracy--whether such behavior occurs in the Midwest or the Mideast.