Palestinian Aid
fter weeks of Palestinian violence, Congress
is starting to think harder about American
aid to Yassir Arafat's Palestinian Author-
ity.
But a series of recent letters and reso-
lutions is just a prelude to the real action
when Congress decides whether to ex-
tend the Middle East Peace Facilitation
Act, the law allowing American aid to
Mr. Arafat's minions. And early signs
suggest that despite the recent rhetoric, the
MEPFA decision will depend mostly on the
condition of the peace process when Congress
actually gets to the issue in June.
Last week, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and
Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) were collecting sig-
natures on a letter to President Clinton ask-
ing him to hold up aid until there's proof of
better performance by the Palestinians in the
battle against terrorism and in fulfilling oth-
er requirements of the Oslo accords.
Rep. Jon Fox (R-Pa.) was expected to in-
troduce a resolution putting the House on
record supporting the ideas in the Engel-Sax-
ton letter.
According to Capitol Hill sources, the Amer-
ican Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-
Israel lobby, was actively promoting Mr.
\
Engel's missive — a change from AIPAC's re-
cent reluctance to rock the MEPFA boat, but
which reflects the Netanyahu government's
greater emphasis on compliance.
But the Engel-Saxton letter has been slow
to gather signatures. That is largely because
legislators, including many who have been
highly critical of the Palestinians in the past,
are reluctant to sign anything that might be
interpreted as endangering the peace process.
Americans for Peace Now added to their
angst with a recent letter to members warn-
ing that "anybody who signs the letter cur-
rently circulating becomes a party to an effort
to weaken the peace process. We
urge you to support, not endanger,
the search for a comprehensive
peace in the Middle East."
Mr. Engel stressed that he
doesn't oppose the concept of aid to
the Palestinians, but wants to see
better performance from the Pales-
tinians to keep the peace process
from falling apart.
"It's important that moderates
on the peace process send a mes-
sage that we are very dissatisfied
with Arafat and with the Palestin-
ian Authority's recent record in
combating terrorism," Mr. Engel
said in an interview.
But he agreed that it's been
tough going among his colleagues.
`There's a feeling that if we hang
back and hope for the best, some-
how the peace process will be put
back on track," he said. "I hope
that's true, but I just don't think we
can sit tight; we really need to put
maximum pressure on the Pales-
tinians to adhere to their agree-
ments."
Middle East
events have
the U.S. Congress
rethinking aid
to the Palestinians.
JAMES D. BESSER
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
Palestinian police try to aid an injured man and restrain stonethrowers during a clash in Hebron on April 8.