Agudath Israel of America executive vice president Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel has called on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to reconsider whether the Palestinian Authority is entitled to aid it is receiving from the United States.
The Jewish leader called Secretary Clinton’s attention to the claim of affiliation with Fatah – the PA governing party – made by the Palestinian group that took “credit” for murdering 45-year-old Israeli father of seven Rabbi Meir Chai on December 24. That group, Imad Mughniyeh, identifies itself part of the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah’s military wing.
Rabbi Zwiebel also noted that while “when Rabbi Chai was killed in cold blood, Mr. Abbas neither disassociated Fatah from the murder, nor offered condolences to the Israeli’s family,” when three of Rabbi Chai’s suspected murderers resisted arrest and were killed by Israel’s security agency, “Mr. Abbas reacted by declaring the three deceased militants ‘shahids,’ or holy martyrs, and sending PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to pay condolence visits to their families.”
“There is something deeply wrong here,” wrote Rabbi Zwiebel to Secretary Clinton. The provisions of United States aid to the Palestinians, he pointed out, “require that it will only be transferred to a Palestinian government whose members accept the conditions of the international Quartet, including recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and accepting past agreements signed with the Jewish State.
“Mr. Abbas’ silence at the murder of Rabbi Chai by a group that claims affiliation with the military arm of Fatah, and his disturbing reaction to the killing of three of Rabbi Chai’s murderers, must lead us to reconsider whether Fatah meets these criteria.”
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5 Responses
As much respect I have for all of the askanus that the Agudah does, I think the White House is going to ignore Rabbi Zweibel’s letter.
I hope they don’t give up on this and they make sure they get a good response. !hatzlachah Agudah
The Torah commands us, that when a donkey is over burdened by packages on its back, we must not stand aside. We must try to alleviate the pain of the donkey.
The donkey is an ugly creature, that its sole purpose in life is to carry things. With this in mind, the Torah still telss us that we must not stand aside while the donkey cries out in pain.
How much more is it, when our brothers and sisters “Acheinu Beis Yisroel” is crying out in pain. How can we stand aside when people are shot dead just because they are Jewish. How can we stand aside silently while 7 children watched in horror as their father bled to death in front of their eyes?
Forget political sides, forget OU, YU, Young Israel, Agudath Israel, UJA, amd all other Jewish organizations. How is it that only Agudath Israel had the spunk to write a letter.
Why have we let these day-to-day occurrences just slide by and then fade away? Lets put away the “I tried part of us, and take out the “I did” part of us.
I commend Rabbi Zwiebel for standing up, and letting our secretary-of-state know, that this is not ok, and we stand by our brothers side.
Good for the Agudath! Arabs are always barking to do everything they can to make Israel a pariah.
Of course they dont deserve a penny. Even on paper, Israel is a sovereign nation VOTED into being by the United Nations. The PA are attacking like mindless rats (no offense to rats) gnawing away because that is just what they do for a living. They are violating international law. But since 99% of rhyme and reason is gone from the civilized world, the saga, tragically, continues.
With all the respect to Agudas Yisroel, I don’t see how causing the palestinians to live in even greater poverty is going to curb their terrorism.
There’s widespread evidence that the wealthier people are, the less likely they are to engage in terrorism (they might still sponsor it – if it’s taking place in a far location- but they wouldn’t do it themselves).
In the past few decades, the palestinians have become poorer and more radical. Is that a coincidence?
The US does not give $ to Hamas, only to the PA. Yes, both engage in terrorism, but there’s a huge difference between them. Believe me, we don’t want Hamas to take over Yehuda and Shomron too.