Israel Matzav

AIPAC promotes the myth of Fatah moderation

In a post about the proliferation of weapons in the Gaza Strip this morning, fellow blogger Debbie Schlussel came down very hard on AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the number one pro-Israel lobbying group in the United States):

Oh, and by the way, for those of you AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) blind supporters and donors who frequent this site, the impetus for that money is AIPAC. AIPAC lobbied for billions in foreign aid to the Palestinians, even to UNRWA--which finances HAMAS terrorist development in refugee camps, from cradle to 72-ugly-virgins martyrdom. And AIPAC continues to insist on no cuts in foreign aid--because, after all, the Palestinian Authority's aid is morally equivalent to, say, Israel's aid. Right?

If you think Debbie was exaggerating (I did!), I suggest you have a look at this AIPAC position paper that came out just yesterday. It's entitled "New Palestinian Government Taking Important Steps for Peace," and it perpetuates the myths of Fatah 'moderation' and willingness to live in 'peace' with a Jewish state in the Middle East. This is a small sample:

Abbas denounced Hamas in the harshest terms, describing the terrorist group’s violent takeover of Gaza as a “coup” that seeks to institute a “project of darkness,” and said he would have no dialogue with “those murderous terrorists.”

Abbas said Hamas seeks to undermine the Palestinian movement toward statehood, describing the struggle between the terrorist group and his Fatah Party as a battle “between those who are using assassination and killing to achieve their goals, and those who are using the rules of law.”

Abbas explicitly rejected the use of violence as a means of achieving political objectives, declaring his commitment to “the peace process and the signed agreements with the Israeli side,” to “renouncing violence and terror” and to recognizing Israel.

Fayyad told 800 Muslim clergy in the West Bank that the new government would not tolerate incitement coming from mosques and would collect weapons from armed groups.

Let's go over Abbas Abu Mazen's and Fayyad's four points. First, he "denounced Hamas in the harshest terms, describing the terrorist group’s violent takeover of Gaza as a “coup” that seeks to institute a “project of darkness,” and said he would have no dialogue with “those murderous terrorists.”" That has nothing to do with Israel and everything to do with Fatah's rivalry with Hamas. If Hamas had done the same acts in Sderot, God forbid, Abu Mazen would have been the first to applaud. Hamas' takeover of Gaza was a coup and a project of darkness because it ousted Abu Mazen and his murderous Gaza cronies Dahlan and Abu Shbak. That's not an 'important step for peace.'

Second, Abu Mazen accused Hamas of 'undermining the 'Palestinian' movement towards 'statehood' (reichlethood?) "describing the struggle between the terrorist group and his Fatah Party as a battle “between those who are using assassination and killing to achieve their goals, and those who are using the rules of law.”" The attempt to describe Fatah as anything but a terror group is odious - Fatah was the originator of modern terror and its 'armed wing,' the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, has participated in and taken credit for every suicide attack that took place in these parts in the last two years. But it isn't just Jews that Abu Mazen is willing to kill, He's also willing to kill fellow 'Palestinians' when they are defenseless enough. He wouldn't give an order to fight Hamas until it was too late, but he is more than willing to go after 'collaborators.' None of the killings linked above was carried out under anything remotely resembling the rule of law. In any event, this assertion has nothing to do with Israel.

Third, Abu Mazen "rejected the use of violence as a means of achieving political objectives, declaring his commitment to “the peace process and the signed agreements with the Israeli side,” to “renouncing violence and terror” and to recognizing Israel." This time at least it has something to do with Israel. Too bad he's never lived up to any of these commitments. Phase 1 in the 'Palestinian Authority'-endorsed road map is to disband the terror groups. Abu Mazen has never lifted a finger to do that and has explicitly said that he never will. His media and schools continue to incite 'Palestinians' - especially children and women - to 'martyrdom.' His Fatah group's charter states that

“The Israeli existence in Palestine is a Zionist invasion with a colonial expansive base, and it is a natural ally to colonialism and international imperialism” (Article 8); calls for the “Complete liberation of Palestine, and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence” (Article 12), and says that “Armed struggle [i.e., terrorism] is a strategy and not a tactic” (Article 19).

He himself is a Holocaust denier. And just six months ago, he announced that “We have a legitimate right to direct our guns against Israeli occupation ... Our rifles, all our rifles are aimed at The Occupation.” Nothing has changed since then.

Fourth, Fayyad told 800 Muslim 'clergymen' in the 'West Bank' that "the new government would not tolerate incitement coming from mosques and would collect weapons from armed groups." Sure. They won't tolerate incitement coming from mosques against Fatah. As to collecting weapons from armed groups, here's what Fatah's own 'armed wing' has to say about that:

"No one from Abbas' office ever asked us to disarm," Nasser Abu Aziz, the deputy commander of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the northern West Bank, told WND. "We will never disarm until all issues are settled, including a complete Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Jerusalem and the right of return for all Palestinian refugees."

Abu Yousuf, a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Ramallah, told WND Abbas' claims the Brigades will disarm "are more of a message meant for the Israelis, the Americans and the international community."

"No one (from Abbas' office) addressed a single member of the Brigades and asked us to turn in our weapons," he said.

Zacharias Zubeidi, leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, told WND the decree from Abbas' office for armed groups to be dismantled "has nothing to do with the Brigades. It's meant for Hamas. Abbas recognizes the Brigades as a legitimate source of resistance."

Together with the Islamic Jihad terror group, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades took responsibility for every suicide bombing in Israel the past two years. The Brigades regularly carries out shooting attacks and has taken credit for firing hundreds of rockets from the Gaza Strip aimed at nearby Jewish population centers.

But the most galling thing is that AIPAC is trying to convince the American people that Fatah and Hamas are not seeking the same goals and that they are enemies. They are seeking the same goals (they differ slightly on tactics) and they are not enemies. (Apologies to the person who sent me that link - I cannot find your email to give you a hat tip).

Article 27 of the Hamas charter states:

“The Palestinian Liberation Organization [PLO = Al Fatah] is the closest to the heart of the Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas]. It contains the father and the brother, the next of kin and the friend. The Moslem does not estrange himself from his father, brother, next of kin or friend. Our homeland is one, our situation is one, our fate is one and the enemy is a joint enemy to all of us.”

When asked right after the Oslo accords were signed whether his 'security forces' would suppress the terrorists in the Hamas organization, where his brother Nayef Rajoub is an important religious leader, then-security chief Jibril Rajoub said, “To think that Palestinians will attack Palestinians is a rotten idea.”

It's not a rotten idea, but it is reality:

The media has always represented Hamas and Fatah as great enemies, but this has always flown in the face of the facts (consider the love letter to the PLO contained in the Hamas Charter, at top). In the pages of the New York Times and other such publications Hamas and Fatah would snarl at each other but in the real world there was a dramatic contrast: leaders of Hamas would become leaders of Fatah and vice-versa, and they cooperated closely when it came to repressing the Arab civilian population of the West Bank and Gaza, and when it came to attacking Israel. We are told that Hamas is supported by Iran because they are ‘Islamist extremists,’ but not Fatah because they are ‘secular moderates.’ In fact, however, Fatah has a long tradition of advocating Islamism to its Arab audiences (though not to the Western press), and it also has a very long relationship with the Iranian mullahs who took over that country in 1979, because Al Fatah in fact actually helped put them in power. The truth is that, as this history would lead us to expect, Iran is supporting both Fatah and Hamas.

We need a lobbying group in the United States to support Israel, not to parrot the New York Times. If AIPAC is no longer willing to do the job (or is too afraid of George Soros to do the job), maybe we need to find someone else who will.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:24 PM