PLO VIOLATIONS (Continued from p.8) provision by maintaining offices such as the Orient House in Jerusalem. The PA Ministry of Religious Affairs and the PA Office of the Mufti are both located in Jerusalem, and several other PA offices operate in other sections of the city. In addition, Palestinian policemen operate in Jerusalem, in contravention of the agreements. They have been involved in activities such as kidnapping, torturing, and killing human-rights activists, journalists and suspected collaborators with Israel and punishing perpetrators of "moral crimes." 7. RECRUITING TERRORISTS TO SERVE IN THE PALESTINIAN POLICE The PA is required to submit a list of all potential police recruits to Israel for approval (Annex I, Article IV(4)) to forestall the possibility that members of terrorist groups will join the PA security services. The PA has consistently failed to provide comprehensive listings of potential recruits to Israel and has proceeded to recruit policemen without prior Israeli consent. In several instances, the PA has drafted wanted terrorists to serve in the security forces. Abd al-Majid Doudin, who helped plan the suicide bombing in Jerusalem on August 21, 1995, was convicted and sentenced by a PA court to 12 years imprisonment, but was subsequently freed and hired by the Palestinian police in Jericho. Similarly, Rajah and Amr Abu-Sita, who murdered Uri Megidish on March 8, 1993 and whose extradition was requested by Israel, were drafted to serve in the PA police in Gaza, (Yediot Ahronot, June 24, 1994). Such steps by the PA endanger the prospects for cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian security forces and pose a security threat by providing terrorists with access to weapons and intelligence

information. 8. EXCEEDING THE LIMIT ON THE NUMBER OF PALESTINIAN POLICE Under the Gaza-Jericho accord of May 1994, the PA was permitted to deploy a total of 9,000 policemen (Annex I, Article III(3)), but in actuality the number of Palestinian policemen was nearly 20,000. Under Oslo 2, the PA may deploy up to 24,000 policemen in Areas A and B, including Gaza, (Annex I, Article IV(3)), yet they have exceeded this figure by at least 10,000. Reports in late September 1996 suggest that the PA security forces may exceed 50,000 men. 9. ABUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE RULE OF LAW The PA is obligated to conduct its affairs "with due regard to internationally-accepted norms and principles of human rights and the rule of law" (Article XIX). As various international human rights groups, such as Amnesty and Middle East Watch have pointed out, the PA security forces have systematically utilized arbitrary arrests, detention and torture. Human rights activists, such as Bassam Eid, have been abducted by PA security agents, and freedom of the press has been virtually eliminated, with no criticism of the regime tolerated in the Palestinian media. 10. CONDUCT OF FOREIGN RELATIONS The agreements explicitly forbid the PA from conducting foreign relations, allowing instead the PLO to conduct relations on the PA's behalf for a limited set of purposes, such as concluding economic and cultural agreements (Article IX). Nevertheless, the PA has violated this provision and engaged repeatedly in diplomacy on the bilateral, multilateral (i.e. Arab League) and international (i.e. United Nations) levels.

HARSH REALITY OF THE MOSLEM WORLD Ruth King The word "moderate" is so liberally used to describe Arab rulers that one could almost overlook the harsh reality of life under Moslem rule. While much of the Western world is experiencing a growing secularism, Arab nations are witnessing resurgence of Moslem fundamentalism--a religious fanaticism that endangers the local populations as well as Israel. Recently, the New York Times featured an account of savage behavior by the fanatic Moslems of Afghanistan--the stoning to death of an adulterous couple --carried out in accordance with Moslem law. The "culprits" were buried in sand up to their shoulders, and the local population was told to stone them--an act which they continued until both were dead.

Another barbaric religious custom--beating oneself and male children until blood is drawn--is routinely carried out after the Ramadan holiday period among Shi'ite Moslems. One has to wonder where the "children's" specialists and all the feminists and human rights groupies are when it comes to these savage acts. Where is the intellectual outrage when every single Moslem nation continues to accept the fatwah--a death sentence--against the writer Salman Rushdie? Why are many American friends of Israel so unwilling to confront the fact that justice and human rights among Moslem nations are receding rather than progressing? And, if Arabs can tolerate and even encourage this fanatic interpretation of Islamic law as applied to their own citizens, what must they have in mind for the Jews of Israel? Ruth King is a member of the executive committee of Americans For a Safe Israel.

November 1996               - 11 -               Outpost