July 31, 1997
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has praised
the United States House of Representatives for passing an amendment
suspending U.S. aid to the PLO/Palestinian Authority for the next three
months. The amendment was sponsored by U.S. Congressmen Jim Saxton (R-NJ),
Eliot Engel (D-NY), Jon Fox (R-PA), and Michael Forbes (R-NY).
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said: “The House of
Representatives has sent an important message to Yasir Arafat, that the
U.S. will not give aid to the PLO so long as the PLO refuses to disarm or
outlaw terrorist groups, extradite to terrorists to Israel, or change the
PLO Covenant, continues using maps showing all of Israel as ‘Palestine’,
and Arafat continues making speeches praising the murders of Jews as
‘heroes’ and ‘martyrs’. Congressmen Saxton, Engel, Fox, and Forbes have
been working for several years to expose Arafat’s pro-terror behavior and
use U.S. aid as leverage to pressure Arafat to change his behavior. Now
the House of Representatives has recognized their foresight and wisdom.”
A similar amendment, sponsored by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), was
recently passed by the U.S. Senate.
The Congressional action blocking U.S. aid to the PLO follows a
three and a half-year effort by the ZOA to educate Members of Congress
about the PLO’s violations of the Oslo accords. The ZOA provides Members
of Congress with a biweekly, detailed list of the latest PLO violations.
The ZOA also initiated the creation of Peace Accord Monitoring (PAM) groups
in the House and Senate, to which 56 U.S.Senators and Representatives (28
Democrats and 28 Republicans) currently belong. The PAM groups monitor and
challenge PLO violations.
