The Zionist Organization of America points out Olmert’s inconsistency:
New York — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in his speech before a joint session of the United States Congress yesterday that, “we will not surrender to terror, we will not yield to terror”¦we will never capitulate to terrorists or terrorism.”
But then Olmert stated, “we will remove most of the settlements which are not part of the major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria.”
Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein said, “We are a little perplexed. How can Israel claim on the one hand that they will never surrender to terror, then on the other hand announce the unilateral surrender of over 90% of Judea & Samaria to the Hamas terror regime while forcibly removing at least 60,000 Jewish men, women, and children from their homes and schools. Isn’t surrendering all this land to the terrorist Hamas/Palestinian Authority nothing less than capitulation and surrender. Would Olmert be doing this if there were no Palestinian Arab terrorism. Of course not. Olmert is rewarding terror, and making clear that terrorism pays and pays well. This policy also harms the international war against Islamic terrorism. And Olmert’s demographic argument simply doesn’t make sense. The 42% of Judea and Samaria and 100% of Gaza already given away by Israel is where 98% of all Palestinian Arabs live. The 58% of the land still under Israeli control is virtually free of Palestinian Arabs. Also, if there really is going to be peace, why can’t Jews live under Palestinian rule. One million Arabs live peacefully under Israeli rule.”…
Meanwhile, Bush also wants to reward terror. “Bush Promises To Back Israel, Yet Stated No Deal Without Agreement By Palestinians,” again from the ZOA:
President Bush said, “We reaffirm the deep and abiding ties between Israel and the US, which include growing trade and economic relationships”¦Israel is a close friend and ally of the US, and in the event of any attack on Israel, the US will come to Israel’s aid. The US is strongly committed and I’m strongly committed to the security of Israel as a vibrant Jewish state.”
Nevertheless, ZOA is concerned about a report in Agence France-Presse (5-22-06) that said, “Israel and the US are locked in disagreement over the warplane of the future after Washington refused to let Israel upgrade the aircraft with its own technology. The US is refusing to allow Israel to install any more advanced systems in their batch of the F-35 planes – no navigation, sighting or fire control systems, or Israel-developed missiles”¦This could diminish the qualitative advantage of the (Israeli) air force over its regional rivals.”
The ZOA was also concerned that despite Israel’s apparent goal of retaining a small portion of Judea and Samaria while forcibly evacuating tens of thousands of innocent Jewish men, women and children, President Bush stated that “no party should prejudice the outcome of negotiating on a final status agreement.” And that “agreement will be only achieved on the basis of mutually agreed changes, “meaning that President Bush will not be supporting even this final huge Israeli concession unless Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) support the Israeli policy of keeping only minimal parts of Judea and Samaria.”
President Bush also stated that “Hamas must accept all previous agreements between the PA and Israel.”
But, the ZOA pointed out, this implies that Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas accepted and fulfilled their agreements with Israel. The fact is that Arafat and Abbas fulfilled none of their Oslo or Wye or Road Map agreements. Bush should be demanding a full and complete fulfillment of all the agreements by the PA, before there can be any negotiations or concessions by Israel.
Another statement by President Bush was not accurate. He stated that “the Palestinians want to live in peace.” and that “our beef is not with Palestinian people but with the government.” We must understand that the Palestinians knew that Hamas was a terrorist group devoted to Israel’s destruction when they voted them into power. If the people really wanted peace with Israel, they never would have voted for Hamas. It’s like saying all the white people who voted for David Duke in Louisiana several years ago have nothing against black people. In addition, polls show that 75% of the Palestinians support acts of terror against Israel, while 65% of Palestinians support al-Quaeda attacks against Europe and the US.
Another recent poll by Bir Zeit Palestinian University showed that 85% of Palestinians said they would want conflict against Israel to continue even if a Palestinian State was created with Israel as its capitol as long as Israel still existed in any form. In addition, different polls show that between 45% to 80% of Palestinians don’t support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish State. (Source: Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, FAFO Norwegian polls)
ZOA President Morton A. Klein said, “Clearly, the Palestinian people are not much better than their Hamas terrorist government and must be held accountable for their votes and their views, and do not deserve President Bush’s praise.”