Abe Foxman's Wrath Ruth King The most recent atrocity in Jerusalem, followed the latest in Prime Minister Netanyahu's long list of concessions to Arab threats--namely, the halting of residential construction in Jerusalem on land owned by Jews for over a century. However, we have grown weary of expecting Israel's government to show resolve, and our purpose here is to examine the American Jewish response to the massacre. With the notable exceptions of Americans For a Safe Israel and the Zionist Organization of America, all the other organizations have responded with a craven request to "chairman" Arafat to put a halt to terror and get back to the "peace process." In blunt terms, they are willing to give the mortgage for Israeli security to the daddy of all Middle Eastern terrorism. What fools they are. It's like asking the late serial murderer Cunanan to provide security at a fashion show. Among journalists such as Steven Emerson, A.M.Rosenthal, Sidney Zion, Eric Breindel, Don Feder and Robert Pollack, to name a select few, the reaction has generally been tougher. They have clearly and loudly denounced Arafat, giving several examples of his

instigation and direct complicity in the continuing Arab terror against Israeli civilians. And, they are more reluctant than ever to wax nostalgic about the "prospects for peace." Of course, the good old New York Times, which, incidentally, when shredded, makes better organic mulch than rotted manure (must be the content), managed to apply the most politically correct and scrupulous moral equivalence between Jewish and Arab "extremists" and enemies of peace. Even among black-belt moralizers, pontificators, and outright liars, Thomas L. Friedman takes first prize. In his August 4 column, he does give Arafat a slap on the wrist, calling his leadership "foolhardy and self-defeating." But he then goes on to show how it is all really Netanyahu's fault for building in Har Homa and stripping Arafat of his leverage. Not a hint here of Arafat's encouragement and incitement of terrorism. Not a word about the PLO covenant; no mention of the unabated harassment and murder of Israelis. He saves his wrath for Netanyahu, accusing him of being devious, incompetent, unrealistic, fraudulent- and just driving the Palestinian Arabs to despair, "while he diddles them, or tosses them a concession only when it is politically cost-free." Although we acknowledge the fact that Friedman gets plenty of help from Israel's leftist media, he still distinguishes himself among Israel-bashers. We think its time for Abe Foxman and the ADL to give him another award.

Illegal Arab Building (Continued from p.6) first stage of the project includes 3,188 housing units to be inhabited by approximately 22,000 people. Its total cost is estimated at about $164 million. As for the second stage, it will include almost 3,000 housing units." Hamad expressed the hope that the implementation of the project can start in order to solidify the Palestinian presence in the holy city. This hope is expressed in a massive publicity campaign claiming that Israeli building in Jerusalem is a violation of the Oslo accords . The last remaining problem for the Palestinian Authority is the struggle to gain control of funding. Reports have surfaced of an internal problem that developed between Husseini and Yasir Arafat, and sources close to Husseini say the funding he is getting from the Saudi and Gulf Sheiks is contingent on him not giving it to Arafat due to reports of massive corruption in the PA. The Gulf donors understand that little happens in PA controlled areas without Arafat's approval and that Arafat's clique is not proof of the existence of a sense of religious nationalism, since it consists of individualists who are out only to achieve their own aims. And money is at the root of most PA efforts as highlighted by the PA's corruption report. Knowing full well that Gaza has the highest birthrate of any area in the world, and realizing that land values will soar with a sovereign Palestinian State, the corruption report compiled by the Palestinian Authority's [PA] General Oversight Committee [GOC] says, in the only mention of Arafat, that four plots of land of half a

dunam each were granted on orders from the Palestinian leader, and at the recommendation of the Minister of Housing, to three members of Fatah's Central Committee and Abdallah al-Hurani [once-PLO Executive Committee member]. Therefore, the Gulf donors are adamant on channeling their money through Faisal Husseini whom, they know, is determined to out-build Israel and expand the Arab population of Jerusalem as much and as quickly as possible. This is not to say that the PA is not directly involved in encouraging and facilitating the Arab illegal building in Jerusalem. Lamenting the Israeli demolition of his illegally built house, Mohammed Diab Faqieh acknowledged to Barton Gellman of the Washington Post, "Palestinian Laments Israel's Razing of His Home," August 10, 1997, that the PA encouraged him to build for nationalist reasons. Faqieh said, "The authority told me to build, it's no problem, we will come in soon and include your house in the plan. I spent everything I had, everything. I am at less than zero. The humiliation from Israel, the uselessness of the authority, I don't know where we are. Are we just going to stand here clapping and shouting and not doing anything?" Yet the Clinton Administration hypocritically claims that the "peace process" is threatened by the desire of an American Jew to build 70 housing units for Jews on privately-owned land that has been owned by Jews for more than a century, but ignores the illegal and flagrant building of thousands of housing units by Palestinian Arabs. Prof. Murray Kahl is editor and publisher of Israeli & Global News. Web site: http://www.cmep.com

September 1997               - 7 -               Outpost