[Peace-discuss] More Democrat betrayal
C. G. Estabrook
galliher at illinois.edu
Sat May 7 19:22:11 CDT 2011
29 senators: No U.S. aid for a Palestinian unity government
Posted: 06 May 2011 12:52 PM PDT
29 U.S. senators have asked President Barack Obama Friday to cut off aid to the
Palestinian government if it joins with Hamas, in a previously unreported letter
(PDF) obtained by The Cable.
"The decision of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to form a
unity government with Hamas - a designated terrorist group - threatens to derail
the Middle East peace effort for the foreseeable future and to undermine the
Palestinian Authority's relationship with the United States," begins the letter,
which was spearheaded by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Robert Casey (D-PA).
Menendez is the third ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
and Casey chairs SFRC's Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs subcommittee. The
letter was also signed by Democratic heavyweights Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), the
chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI),
who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The details of the deal between the PA and Hamas aren't entirely clear. Many of
the sticking points between the two Palestinian factions appear to remain
unresolved and the contents of the reconciliation deal's classified annex
remains unknown, but, as the senators' letter notes, Hamas foreign policy chief
Mahmoud al-Zahar has said that "our plan does not involve negotiations with
Israel or recognizing it."
Hamas also publicly condemned the May 1 killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S.
forces in Pakistan.
For all these reasons, the senators want Obama to make it clear that the PA will
forfeit U.S. foreign assistance if it goes through with the plan to join forces
with Hamas. The United States gave the PA about $550 million in aid in fiscal
2011, a mixture of project funding and direct cash to the government.
"As you are aware, U.S. law prohibits aid from being provided to a Palestinian
government that includes Hamas unless the government and all its members have
public committed to the Quartet principles," they wrote. "We urge you to conduct
a review of the current situation and suspend aid should Hamas refuse to comply
with Quartet conditions."
House Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) agrees.
"No taxpayer funds should go, they must not go" to the new Palestinian unity
government, she told the Washington Post May 4.
The Obama administration is currently examining the Palestinian reconciliation
deal, but officials have repeatedly said in recent days that any unity
government must reject Hamas's current policies.
"Any Palestinian government must renounce violence, it must abide by past
agreements and it must recognize Israel's right to exist," White House Chief of
Staff Bill Daley, told the American Jewish Committee on April 28.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner repeated Daley's message at Thursday's
press briefing, and implied that a government that includes Hamas would not be
able to work with the United States.
"We've said very clearly that we'll work with a Palestinian Authority government
that unambiguously and explicitly commits to nonviolence, recognition of the
state of Israel and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between
the parties. And that includes the road map," Toner said. "And our position on
Hamas has not changed. We still believe it's a foreign terrorist organization."
"The Obama Administration knows the law prohibits U.S. aid going to a
Palestinian government in which Hamas plays any role. That's why the
administration has said several times in the past week that the United States
will only deal with a Palestinian government that meets the Quartet conditions
-- renounces violence, recognizes Israel, and accepts all previous agreements,"
said former AIPAC spokesman Josh Block, now a partner at the consulting firm
Davis-Block LLC. "If Hamas wants to transform itself, surely that would be
welcome, but it's not likely."
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