In response to U.S. President George Bush's latest call on Wednesday night for a Palestinian state - he said it must "abandon forever the use of terror" - the ZOA says that such a concept is unrealizable. The Zionist Organization of America says that the ongoing terrorist war waged by the PA Arabs against Israel, as well as "their culture of anti-Jewish hatred and violence," indicate that a PA state will not be "peaceful and democratic," but rather a terrorist entity. "President Bush promised to end terrorist states, not create new ones," ZOA President Morton Klein said.
The ZOA has long been tracking how the PA has "consistently violated the conditions that President Bush spelled out last year: they have not disarmed, dismantled, or outlawed terrorist groups; they have not arrested or extradited terrorists; they have not halted their anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, and anti-America incitement; they have not replaced their terrorist leadership; they have not embraced democracy and human rights."
For instance, the PA's official television station - "Voice of Palestine," based in Ramallah - broadcast a 31-minute live sermon from the Sheikh Ijlin Mosque in Gaza this past Friday, in which Sheikh Ibrahim al-Mudayris said: "The United States is the primary enemy of the people of Palestine and the Arab and Islamic nation." He urged Arabs to engage in "jihad against Allah's enemies." The same day, the PA's official radio station broadcast a 25-minute live sermon from Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, during which PA-appointed Mufti Sheikh Ikrimah Sabri praised the recent worldwide demonstrations against war in Iraq, saying that the demonstrations "will weaken the U.S. position."
ZOA President Klein noted with consternation that Bush is supporting "a 'road map' that will create a Palestinian Arab state in the very near future, when the Palestinian Arabs have ruthlessly violated all the conditions he himself said had to be met before he would support the creation of such a state... President Bush promised to end terrorist states, not create new ones."
The ZOA also took issue with Bush's claim that "the passing of Saddam Hussein's regime will deprive terrorist networks of a wealthy patron that pays for terrorist training and offers rewards to families of suicide bombers." The organization was "surprised," however, that Bush did not acknowledge that the Palestinian Authority itself "provides monetary rewards for the families of suicide bombers, pays salaries to imprisoned terrorists, provides scholarships to the children of terrorists who are killed while murdering Jews, names streets and parks after terrorists, including terrorists who have murdered American citizens, glorifies terrorists through the PA-controlled media, and harbors terrorists who have murdered Israelis and Americans."
Bush's speech also included demands upon Israel, including helping the "creation of a viable Palestinian state" and ending "settlement activity in the occupied territories." The ZOA notes that Jewish life in Yesha is not the issue:
"Before 1967, there were no Jewish 'settlements,' yet there were three Arab wars against Israel and constant Palestinian Arab terrorism. Furthermore, Arab settlement activity in the territories has been proceeding at ten times the pace of Jewish construction in those regions. It is surprising that President Bush mentions only Jewish construction, but says nothing about Arab construction, which is illegal, violates the Oslo accords, and is far more widespread than Jewish construction."
The ZOA has long been tracking how the PA has "consistently violated the conditions that President Bush spelled out last year: they have not disarmed, dismantled, or outlawed terrorist groups; they have not arrested or extradited terrorists; they have not halted their anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, and anti-America incitement; they have not replaced their terrorist leadership; they have not embraced democracy and human rights."
For instance, the PA's official television station - "Voice of Palestine," based in Ramallah - broadcast a 31-minute live sermon from the Sheikh Ijlin Mosque in Gaza this past Friday, in which Sheikh Ibrahim al-Mudayris said: "The United States is the primary enemy of the people of Palestine and the Arab and Islamic nation." He urged Arabs to engage in "jihad against Allah's enemies." The same day, the PA's official radio station broadcast a 25-minute live sermon from Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, during which PA-appointed Mufti Sheikh Ikrimah Sabri praised the recent worldwide demonstrations against war in Iraq, saying that the demonstrations "will weaken the U.S. position."
ZOA President Klein noted with consternation that Bush is supporting "a 'road map' that will create a Palestinian Arab state in the very near future, when the Palestinian Arabs have ruthlessly violated all the conditions he himself said had to be met before he would support the creation of such a state... President Bush promised to end terrorist states, not create new ones."
The ZOA also took issue with Bush's claim that "the passing of Saddam Hussein's regime will deprive terrorist networks of a wealthy patron that pays for terrorist training and offers rewards to families of suicide bombers." The organization was "surprised," however, that Bush did not acknowledge that the Palestinian Authority itself "provides monetary rewards for the families of suicide bombers, pays salaries to imprisoned terrorists, provides scholarships to the children of terrorists who are killed while murdering Jews, names streets and parks after terrorists, including terrorists who have murdered American citizens, glorifies terrorists through the PA-controlled media, and harbors terrorists who have murdered Israelis and Americans."
Bush's speech also included demands upon Israel, including helping the "creation of a viable Palestinian state" and ending "settlement activity in the occupied territories." The ZOA notes that Jewish life in Yesha is not the issue:
"Before 1967, there were no Jewish 'settlements,' yet there were three Arab wars against Israel and constant Palestinian Arab terrorism. Furthermore, Arab settlement activity in the territories has been proceeding at ten times the pace of Jewish construction in those regions. It is surprising that President Bush mentions only Jewish construction, but says nothing about Arab construction, which is illegal, violates the Oslo accords, and is far more widespread than Jewish construction."