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No Aid to PA Without Performance

[Jerusalem Post] Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Shelley Berkley - Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly pledged to stop terrorism without making good on his word. Meanwhile, foreign aid to Abbas has entered Hamas' coffers. The U.S. has spent, and continues to spend, millions of dollars to help Abbas implement reforms aimed at eradicating incitement, providing security assistance to Palestinian entities, and promoting accountability and transparency of government institutions. Despite these efforts, Abbas and his corrupt Fatah party failed miserably at curbing terrorism and implementing government reforms. Yet, the U.S. counsels patience and offers further aid. This only encourages a culture of victimhood and unaccountability among the Palestinians, a culture feeding terror and perpetuating and deepening the present conflict. Therefore, the Administration's recent proposal to hand Abbas hundreds of millions in additional funding is simply wrong. Instead of disbursing millions to Palestinian leaders in the hope they will change their ways, we must link each disbursement of funds to tangible progress, consistent with the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act, in purging from its security services individuals with ties to terrorism, dismantling all terrorist infrastructure within its jurisdiction, and fully cooperating with Israel's security services. The writers are U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.).
2007-11-15 01:00:00
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