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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Martin Raffel, Associate Executive Vice Chair November 9, 2000 | 202-547-3577 Jewish Community’s Public Affairs Arm Urges President Clinton to Press Arafat to End Violence, Immediately Implement Peace Accords with Israel NEW YORK-- President Clinton should press Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to end his encouragement of violence and immediately implement peace agreements with Israel, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs said today in a letter to President Clinton. "Chairman Arafat's flouting of agreements and encouragement of violence has led to heartbreaking injury and death," JCPA Chairman Leonard A. Cole and Executive Vice Chair Hannah Rosenthal said in the letter. "His actions in recent weeks have caused enormous pain, and many of us who have strongly supported the peace process have come to wonder if Mr. Arafat can still be considered a partner for peace," said Cole and Rosenthal. JCPA, the public affairs arm of the organized Jewish community that serves as the national coordinating and advisory body for the 13 national and 122 local agencies comprising the field of Jewish community relations, praised Clinton, saying, "we thank you for your devoted support of Israel and for your ongoing efforts to achieve peace between Israel and its neighbors." President Clinton met with Chairman Arafat Thursday, November 9, and is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday. The full text of the letter follows.
November 9, 2000 William Jefferson Clinton Dear President Clinton: On behalf of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), we thank you for your devoted support of Israel and for your ongoing efforts to achieve peace between Israel and its neighbors. We appreciate your recognition of the profound interests shared by the United States and Israel, from commitment to democratic and moral values to common strategic objectives. We are confident that your meeting today with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat will reflect your long-standing appreciation of these interests. Chairman Arafat's flouting of agreements and encouragement of violence has led to heartbreaking injury and death. We deplore the repeated rioting prompted by the Palestinian Authority, the shootings by Fatah militia (the so-called Tanzim), the lynching of Israeli soldiers, and the purposeful destruction of Jewish holy places. But most of all, we are appalled by the Palestinian Authority's use of children, at times as "human shields," in other situations to hurl rocks and firebombs at Israelis, and consequently to be placed at risk as Israelis seek to defend themselves. Why, day after day, children have been encouraged to initiate violence rather than be kept in school or at home is a moral question that should disturb the conscience of every decent human being. The mayhem prompted by the Palestinian Authority seems especially unfathomable in view of recent efforts by Prime Minister Ehud Barak to achieve a permanent agreement with the Palestinians. Last July, at Camp David, Prime Minister Barak was prepared to consider remarkably far-reaching compromises on the issues of territory, rule in Jerusalem, and the Palestinian refugees. Chairman Arafat did not respond in kind at the time, and then later turned to violence. He was wrong then, he was wrong later, and we trust that you will tell him so again. His actions in recent weeks have caused enormous pain, and many of us who have strongly supported the peace process have come to wonder if Mr. Arafat can still be considered a partner for peace. The answer to the current situation is not sending international troops into the region, as Chairman Arafat reportedly will request at a special meeting at the United Nations tomorrow. Rather it is the fulfillment by Palestinian leaders of all their commitments in the Oslo Accords and other agreements with Israel. Finally, we urge you to share with Chairman Arafat our outrage at the kidnapping by Hezbollah of three Israeli soldiers from Israeli territory. Their abduction occurred in the atmosphere of conflict promoted by Palestinian actions even after Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in accordance with the United Nations-endorsed agreement. The prisoners should be released unconditionally, although we hope that as a humanitarian gesture you and Chairman Arafat would help facilitate an immediate visit by the International Red Cross. Sincerely, Leonard A. Cole Hannah Rosenthal Chair Executive Vice Chair
# # # The Jewish Council for Public Affairs is the public affairs arm of the organized Jewish community and serves as the national coordinating and advisory body for the 13 national and 122 local agencies comprising the field of Jewish community relations. |
