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Shutting Down the PLO
(Wall Street Journal) Editorial - The Palestine Liberation Organization was allowed to open an office in Washington in 1994 after the Oslo accords produced hope for a new era of reconciliation between the PLO and Israel. That hope has never been fulfilled, notably since Yasser Arafat began the second intifada after walking away from the generous Israeli peace offer brokered by Bill Clinton in 2000. Long-term indulgence of the PLO's recalcitrance has allowed a toxic and reflexive anti-Israel sentiment to build in international institutions and on U.S. campuses. The U.S. Congress said in 2015 - before Donald Trump became President - that the Secretary of State was required to certify that the PLO wasn't trying to use the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israel. Last November, PA President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking at the UN, called for the investigation and prosecution of Israeli officials by the ICC. The point of recent U.S. moves and funding cuts isn't to be vindictive but to show Abbas and the PLO that they can't continue to underwrite anti-Semitic textbooks and anti-Israel terrorism without consequences. If the Palestinians want to be treated with the respect of a peace partner, they have to first show a desire for peace.