July 1, 1997
A senior PLO official has admitted that the PLO police
force has hired at least 150 terrorists from Hamas and the Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine.
PLO Police Chief A’azi Aljabali told the Arab newspaper Al Hayat Al
Jedida (June 24, 1997) that “more than 150 members of Hamas and the Popular
Front are employed in key positions by the Palestinian police.”
The Zionist Organization of America pointed out that the Oslo
accords require the PLO to submit lists of potential police officers for
Israel’s approval prior to hiring them.
A March 1997 report by the Israeli Foreign Ministry found that more
than 10,000 PLO policemen have been hired without Israel’s approval. In
addition, an Israeli Government report on May 13, 1997, revealed that of
the 31 terrorists whom Israel has asked the PLO to extradite, 11 are
“either serving in the Palestinian police or are in the process of joining
its ranks.”
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein called the PLO’s constant
hiring of terrorists for its police force “a blatant violation of the Oslo
accords” which “sends a message to the Palestinian Arabs that those who
murder Jews will be rewarded with jobs in the PLO police force.” The ZOA
president said that the latest revelation about the PLO police hiring
terrorists “is yet another reason for Congress to suspend the $500-million
U.S. aid package to the PLO, to show Yasir Arafat that there will be
consequences for his pro-terrorism behavior.”
