http://www.imra.org.il
NEW YORK - The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has protested
the
Bush
administration's double standard of penalizing Israel for its construction
activity in Judea-Samaria and large parts of Jerusalem, while refraining
from penalizing the Palestinian Arabs for their illegal, and much
more
widespread, construction in those areas.
The Bush administration announced (N.Y. Times, Sept.17, 2003), that
it
will
be withholding part of the loan guarantees that it promised Israel,
to
punish Israel for building in areas beyond the 1967 border meaning
in
Judea-Samaria as well as many sections of Jerusalem, including the
Jewish
Quarter, French Hill, Ramat Eshkol, and the Mount Scopus area where
Hebrew
University and Hadassah Hospital are situated. Israeli construction
in
those
areas is not prohibited either by international law or by the Oslo
accords.
The Palestinian Arabs in the territories are building "at more than
ten
times" the rate of the Israelis, according to an Israeli government
spokesman. (Jerusalem Post, Nov. 21, 1996)
A Jerusalem Municipality official said recently: "Thousands of houses
have
been built [in eastern Jerusalem] without permits, sometimes with
the help
of the Palestinian Authority and some Arab countries." (Jerusalem
Post,
August 19, 2003) An internal Israeli government study (quoted in
the
Jerusalem Post, April 21, 1998) found that "Illegal Palestinian
construction" is "rampant" in the territories, and that the Palestinian
Authority is "encouraging illegal Palestinian construction in an
attempt
to
predetermine final status talks on the future of the territories."
Yet the Bush administration is going ahead with its plan to give
the
Palestinian Arabs $215-million in aid this year--more than double
last
year's amount, which was $100-million.
For a copy of the ZOA's new report, Palestinian Arab Construction
in
Jerusalem and Judea-Samaria, please call the ZOA at 212-481-1500.
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said: "To penalize Israeli
construction while turning a blind eye to the much larger issue of
illegal
Palestinian Arab construction, constitutes a deplorable double standard."
A poll carried out by John McLaughlin & Associates among a scientific
sample
of 1,000 American adults earlier this year, found:
* 61% Say Jewish Construction in Territories Should be Permitted:
Asked
if
both Jews and Arabs should be allowed to build in the territories,
as they
do now, or if Jews should be prevented from building there (as the
Road
Map
proposes), 61.5% said both Jews and Arabs should be allowed to build;
only
13.5% said that only Arabs should be allowed.
* 63% Say Jews Should Be Allowed to Live in Territories: Asked if
both
Jews
and Arabs should be allowed to live in the territories, as they do
now, or
if only Arabs should be allowed to live there, 63.3% said both Jews
and
Arabs should be allowed; only 9% said that only Arabs should be allowed.
* Only 10% Say "Settlements" Are Main Obstacle to Peace: Asked what
is the
"main obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs"
and
given
four choices --the ongoing Arab violence; Palestinian Arab non-recognition
of Israel; Israel's anti-terror tactics; and the existence of Jewish
communities in the territories-- only 10% blamed the Jewish communities
as
the main obstacle to peace.
* 64% Oppose Expelling Jews from the Territories: Asked if Jewish
residents
of the territories should be expelled (as the Palestinian Authority
and
the
Road Map propose), 64.1% said they "disagree" or "strongly disagree"
with
expulsion. Only 16.5% "somewhat agree" or "strongly agree" with the
idea
of
expelling them.
* Almost 2-1 Say Jews Have Strongest Historical Claim to Land: Asked
whether
the Jews or the Arabs have "the strongest historical claim" to
Judea-Samaria
and Gaza, 31.1% said the Jews; only 18.8% said the Arabs (the remainder
were
undecided or declined to answer).
* * *
The Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1897, is the oldest
pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to strengthen
U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and Congress
about the
dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-Israel bias in the media
and
on
college campuses. Its past presidents have included Supreme Court
Justice
Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver.
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website:http://www.imra.org.il
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