Congress to Kerry: Close PLO's Washington office
Providing pay to terrorists 'blatantly unacceptable'
Published: 11 hours ago
Enough is enough, say members of Congress who have written to Secretary of State John Kerry telling him to close down the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s office in Washington.
The letter, signed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Rep. Mark Meadowes, R-N.C., and dozens more said while the United States is in the midst of a massive war on terror worldwide, special privileges are being granted to the PLO in Washington even as it incentivizes terror by paying salaries to terrorists in Israeli jails.
“This fall, both the House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously passed resolutions condemning Palestinian incitement,” the letter said. “The United States government has an obligation to publicly denounce the PLO’s actions and should immediately revoke its waiver. Allowing the PLO to maintain an office in Washington, D.C., provides no benefit to the United States or the peace process.”
The waiver grants an exemption to the PLO from the requirements of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 in which Congress forbade the PLO from establishing or maintaining an office in the United States.
The waiver has been granted each year since 1994, but now as Islamic terror strikes more often and more stridently, including the recent attack in San Bernardino, California, where a radicalized husband and wife shot and killed 14 and injured nearly two dozen more, the issue is getting attention again.
Cruz, in a statement that was released to the public, said the issue arose because of the report from the Palestinian Media Watch that the PLO funds terrorism by paying “salaries” to Palestinians in Israeli jails as a way of “rewarding and incentivizing terror attacks.”
“Our close ally, Israel, is enduring another wave of Palestinian terrorism in the form of car-ramming, rock-throwing, and brutal knife attacks,” Cruz said. “These horrific acts of terrorism are due to the continued incitement and glorification of violence by Palestinian leadership. Just last week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the recent attacks a ‘justified popular uprising’ following his remarks in September, in which he said, ‘We welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem.’ It is long past time for the United States to hold the PLO and its leaders accountable for engaging in such rampant incitement, for celebrating the murder of Jews, and for providing payment to Palestinian terrorists jailed in Israel and their families. We must make it clear such actions are blatantly unacceptable and close the PLO office in Washington, D.C.”
WND reported only a week ago on the campaign to encourage stabbing attacks in the Middle East.
The Palestinian Media Watch said then that use of images of knives, blades, blood and carnage is surging.
“The current Palestinian terror wave is an excellent example of how the Palestinian population has responded to the leadership’s message,” the new report explains. “Mahmoud Abbas and other PA leaders sparked the current terror and violence by frequently reiterating the PA libel that Israel is planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and they called on Palestinians to ‘defend it,’ ‘bless[ed] every drop of blood spilled’ for it, ‘congratulated’ the murderers and much more.
“Responding to the call, and following the praise and support from PA and Fatah leaders, among them Abbas, who referred to stabbings as ‘peaceful popular uprising,’ Palestinians are – independent of the leadership – inciting to murder on social media, including encouraging people to slit the throats of Jews, and committing murder themselves,” the report said.
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The blades are all over. In one video, a tiny girl waves a foot-long knife and shouts, “Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!” to the question of what she would tell Palestinians in the West Bank.
PMW reports that another Facebook feature in the Palestinian community shows a staged stabbing of two Jews.
The video portrays two "Jews" harassing several children playing in the streets, and "in revenge, a young Palestinian ambushes them, stabs one and slits the throw of the other, killing them both."
See the images:
Another includes video clips of real – and violent – stabbing attacks on Jews.
The music video's lyrics include, "Let fear come down on them, and let death come for them in a flash. Children of Zion, tell of the swords that were openly plunged in you."
See that: (Ed's Note: Graphic images present)
The social media pages are littered with images of children wielding knives, PMW said, as well as poetry and other words.
There even have been videos of toddlers waving blades and demanding to stab a Jew.
"For too long the PLO has not just tolerated acts of terrorism against the Israeli people – but incited others to commit acts of violence in the name of jihad," Meadows said. "It goes against everything we stand for as an American people to allow the PLO to retain an office in our nation’s capital, considering its long and well-documented history of encouraging violence and terror against our Israeli allies. It's time we send a clear signal that the United States does not tolerate extremism and demonstrate our unwavering support for our allies in Israel by revoking this waiver."
The letter to Kerry cited the "dramatic increase in deadly attacks" in recent months.
"The spike in violence in Israel is directly connected to the Palestinian government’s teaching of hate and glorification of terrorism," the letter said.
It noted the funding to terrorists in jail and said, "The longer the term, the higher the salary. Each year, the PLO provides about $150 million to terrorists imprisoned in Israel and families of deceased terrorists."
The solution, said the congressional delegation including nearly three-dozen members of Congress, is for the State Department to revoke the PLO's permission to operate in Washington.
Read more at
http://www.wnd.com/2015/12/congress-to-kerry-close-plos-washington-office/#sJSRFjCihJO3mJLf.99
