September 9 ,1997
An official delegation of Yasir Arafat’s Palestinian
Authority held a “warm and friendly” meeting with Saddam Hussein’s son in
Baghdad last week, and the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is urging
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to protest the PLO-Iraq alliance in
her forthcoming meeting with Arafat.
The Palestinian Authority delegation met in Baghdad with Udai
Hussein, son of the Iraqi dictator, “in a warm and friendly atmosphere.” The
younger Hussein “said that Palestine is dear both to his father and himself, and
that the liberation of Jerusalem is one of his primary concerns, and is close to
the heart of the entire Iraqi people.” Hussein “added that Iraq is open to our
Palestinian brothers.” He also “reminded members of the Palestinian
delegation that the Iraqi military has participated in all of the wars which have
taken place in the struggle for Palestine.”
(Khaled Abu Taomeh, reporting in
the Jerusalem newspaper Yerushalayim, September 5, 1997)
Morton A. Klein, National President of the Zionist Organization of
America, said: “When Secretary of State Albright meets Arafat, she should
forcefully protest the PLO’s efforts to strengthen its friendship with one
of the most anti-American regimes in the world.”
Other pro-Iraq statements and actions by Arafat and the PLO:
- Earlier this summer, according to the official Iraqi News Agency, in
Baghdad (July 10, 1997), Arafat sent a message which “conveyed the
greetings of the Palestinian president to President
Saddam Hussein and reiterated the Palestinian people’s pride in their close
relations with the Iraqi people and in the principled and firm Iraqi
positions in the face of the challenges and conspiracies implemented by the enemies
of the Arab nation. Ramadan expressed on
behalf of President Saddam Hussein his thanks to his brother President Arafat…” -
The PLO’s Palestinian Legislative Council denounced the U.S. missile
strike in western Iraq (in response to Iraqi attacks on Kurds there last
year), as “American aggression against the sister state, Iraq.” The PA also
called upon the United Nations to take action to “end this arrogance,” and urged
Arab states to provide Iraq “any form of financial aid and moral
support…so that sister Iraq can recapture her natural place in the taking of the
national and pan-Arab responsibility.” (An Nahar, Sept. 5, 1996) -
Arafat visited Iraq in 1993, met with Saddam, and hailed “the
greatness of the Iraqi people and their leader.” (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 3,
1993) -
During the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf crisis, PLO chairman Yasir Arafat
was Saddam Hussein’s closest Arab ally. After the Iraqi occupation of
Kuwait, the PLO denounced America’s opposition to the occupation, accusing
Washington of “beathing the drums of a destructive war and raising tension toward a
complete explosion.” (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 14, 1990) -
According to the London Independent, “much of the logistical
planning for the Iraqi invasion was based on intelligence supplied by PLO
officials and supporters based in Kuwait.” (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 8, 1990)
