JCPA PRAISES PRESIDENT BUSH’S ACTIONS AGAINST PALESTINIAN AL AQSA TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, CALLS FOR FURTHER EFFORTS TO TARGET TERRORISTS

NEW YORK - The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) today released the following statement in support of President Bush’s actions against the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – a Palestinian terrorist organization that is part of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement – that claimed responsibility for today’s horrific suicide attack against innocent Israeli civilians in the heart of Jerusalem:

"The Jewish Council for Public Affairs applauds President George W. Bush for his strong stance against international terrorism and for adding the Palestinian Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an arm of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction, to the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations targeted by the U.S. Government.

JCPA joins with over 200 members of Congress who recently wrote President Bush to urge him to add Arafat’s Tanzim and Force 17 security organizations to the list of terrorist organizations for the murder of innocent Israeli citizens. These two organizations and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades are responsible for Yasser Arafat’s party’s terrorist actions against the Israeli people.

JCPA expresses its deep appreciation to President Bush and his administration for showing strong and unyielding opposition to terrorism carried out by Palestinian terror organizations against Israel, America’s strongest ally. In his State of the Union address earlier this year, President Bush singled out Palestinian terrorist organizations for their reprehensible actions. Today’s actions by the Bush Administration reaffirm the President’s commitment to the safety of the Israeli people.

JCPA reiterates its pledge to stand side-by-side with President Bush in his mission to rid the world of the kinds of terrorists that carry out suicide attacks in New York, Washington, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. America and Israel stand united in the fight against global terrorism, which seeks to undermine democracy, freedom, and a commitment to seek genuine peace."

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JCPA, the public affairs arm of the organized Jewish community, serves as the national coordinating and advisory body for the 13 national and 123 local agencies comprising the field of Jewish community relations.