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Essay
Editorial
Abbas' Antics Are
Act Of Treachery
ISIS Strengthening
Terrorist Coalition
I
n a deceptive scheme to blur the
Devious Maneuver
Palestinian Authority practice of pay-
Abbas ordered the Ministry of Prisoners'
ing salaries to terrorists imprisoned
Affairs, under the P.A. government, changed
in Israel, the salaries will still be paid, but
to the Supreme National Authority of
by a renamed agency under a different
Prisoners' Affairs, under the PLO. In so
Palestinian umbrella.
doing, he created a new channel to make
Clearly, President
payments to families of imprisoned ter-
Mahmoud Abbas hopes his rorists. Abbas thinks that because the PLO
ploy provides political and
doesn't receive E.U. and U.S. funding, inter-
legal cover to keep interna- national donors to the P.A. won't question
tional donor dollars flow-
the new arrangement. But since June, Israel-
ing into the cash-strapped
based Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has
P.A.
kept the world clued in to the charade.
We hope donor coun-
Given Abbas, who is also PLO chairman,
0
Mahmoud
tries sustain the pressure
retains control of the prisoner payouts, noth-
Abbas
on this smoke-and-mirrors ing has changed under the new Authority.
strategy, which shifts
The same "services:' meaning payouts and
payouts to the jurisdiction of the Palestine
other benefits to imprisoned terrorists, will
Liberation Organization (PLO).
continue. Even the head of the
International donors are impor-
Authority, Issa Karake, is former
tant to the payouts; last year, the
head of the old Authority oversee-
P.A. paid out more than $100
ing prisoners' salaries, according
million. The United States and
to PMW.
the European Union (E.U.) have
International donors should
condemned paying terrorists
rebuke Abbas' chicanery by
with P.A. funds.
threatening to end P.A. support
The P.A. has long glorified ter-
unless there's unadulterated
rorist acts against Israelis, believ-
evidence that no representation
Robert Sklar
ing they bring honor for Allah in
of Palestinian leadership pays
Contri buting
the struggle to resist what Abbas
salaries to imprisoned terrorists.
Ed i for
conveniently calls "the colonial,
The U.S. Congress is consider-
racist, Israeli occupation:' The
ing proposals 1) to slash support
P.A. views imprisoned terrorists as "martyrs:' for the P.A. until President Barack Obama
not murderers.
can certify the P.A. no longer incites hatred
In his Sept. 26 address to the United
toward Israel or the U.S. and shows a com-
Nations General Assembly, Abbas ridiculed
mitment toward real peace or 2) to deduct
Israel for what he called "genocidal crimes"
the same amount the P.A. pays to terrorists
against the Gaza Strip in this summer's
from Obama's P.A. funding request.
Israeli-Hamas war, the third in five years.
"It is inconceivable he said, "that some
Truth Resonates
are unable to characterize this situation in
Minister Karake said in a radio interview
real terms and that they suffice with simply
publicized by PMW that the Palestinians
would never abandon its "freedom fighter"
declaring their support for Israel's right to
self-defense without regard for the fate of the prisoners. He called the effort a "matter of
freedom" — "a matter of a national libera-
thousands of victims of our people, ignoring
tion movement"
a simple fact that we remind them of today:
"If we abandon this issue he said, "we
that the life of a Palestinian is as precious as
abandon the identity of the national struggle,
the life of any other human being:'
which is represented by and embodied by
That's an odd claim given llamas
the prisoners in the occupation prisons, who
freely hides its weapons amid civilians to
fought this occupation and resisted it for the
deter Israeli airstrikes and openly praises
liberty of their land:'
Palestinian suicide bombers as resistance
fighters worthy of martyrdom.
In fiscal year 2013, the U.S. gave $440 mil-
Israeli aggression, Abbas said, is the cause
lion to the P.A. About 4,500 Palestinians are
of rising extremism in the world and "why
imprisoned in Israel; most have a terrorism-
the culture of peace is losing ground and why related conviction. The prisoners receive
the efforts to achieve it are collapsing:'
$500 to $3,500 monthly, depending on the
It didn't make it into Abbas' speech that
toll exacted by their "freedom fighting" act.
Hamas is sworn by charter to destroy Israel
That's better pay than Israel's younger teach-
or that the P.A. president's party, Fatah,
ers and social workers.
boasts a terrorist wing, the Al Aqsa Martyrs
U.S. taxpayers must be protected from
Brigades — or that Israel is threatened by
funding such outrage. Let your Washington
Islamist terror-mongers on multiple fronts.
lawmakers know how you feel.
❑
34 October 16 • 2014
S
peaking before the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spotlighted the threat posed
by Islamic State, which controls large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
Islamic State's sights have turned to more land grabs in hopes of creating
an Islamic caliphate.
Netanyahu sagely reminded his audience just how
dangerous Islamic State is, not just in Iraq and Syria, but
also to surrounding Middle East lands and, most trou-
blingly, to the West, the origination for more than 1,000
Islamic State converts to Islamism – a political radical
haven for Islamists (not to be confused with peaceful
followers of Islam, the religion).
Netanyahu quoted Islamic State's self-declared caliph,
1P°. ■
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, as saying this summer: "A day
Benjamin
will soon come when the Muslim will walk everywhere
Netanyahu
as a martyr. The Muslims will cause the world to hear
and understand the meaning of terrorism and destroy the idol of democ-
racy."
Islamic State cut its spurs under Al Qaida, once the chief archi-
tect of world terror. Now, as Netanyahu pointed out, heavily armed
Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is helping inspire Islamist groups in
Nigeria, Somalia, Syria and Iraq, Al Qaida branches in Yemen, Libya, the
Philippines and India, and, of course, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in
the Gaza Strip.
Said Netanyahu Sept. 29 at the U.N.: "Some are radical Sunnis; some
are radical Shiites; some want to restore a pre-medieval caliphate from
the seventh century. Others want to trigger the apocalyptic return of
an imam from the ninth century. They operate in different lands; they
target different victims; and they even kill each other in their battle for
supremacy. But they share a fanatic ideology. They all seek to create
ever-expanding enclaves of militant Islam where there is no freedom and
no tolerance, where women are treated as chattel, Christians are deci-
mated and minorities are subjugated, sometimes given the stark choice
– convert or die. For them, anyone can be considered an infidel, includ-
ing fellow Muslims."
A Master Force
In response to the notion it's mad to think a single entity would plot to
overtake the world, Netanyahu recalled Nazi Germany's belief in a mas-
ter race. Militant Islamists, he said, believe in a master faith with the top
question being who among them would be master of this master faith.
Netanyahu then turned his attention to where such a master could
arise: Iran. The Persian state not only has an Islamist pedigree rooted in
past leader Ayatollah Khomeini and today's ruling clerics, but also has
the power (the Revolutionary Guards Corps) and the potential (nuclear
arms ambitions). Iran cloaked its pursuit of the global mission of Islamic
Revolution imagined by Khomeini in a reconciler-with-the-West wannabe
approach. Iran's real intent is to get Western sanctions lifted, improve its
capacity to enrich uranium and ultimately develop a nuclear bomb.
Driven By Hatred
We know how dangerous Iran would be with a nuclear bomb. A diplomatic
push led by U.S. President Barack Obama staunched much of Syria's
chemical weapons capability, but what if ISIS somehow locked on to any
of the residue and replenished it? As for Hamas, make no mistake: Iran
and its strategic partner, Syria, have supplied the Palestinian terrorist
group with conventional arms to coax Israel into war. Hamas wants to
build an Islamic state that not only encompasses the Palestinian territo-
ries and east Jerusalem, but also all of the State of Israel.
ISIS, Iran, Hamas and other Islamist factions boast varying capability
levels, but all seek dominance over infidels – any disbelievers.
A Western plan to confront Islamism must be multilayered and sophis-
ticated if it's going to target the divergent levels of this growing terror-
ist alliance of hate – each component seemingly regenerative and thus
frustratingly hard to stymie.
❑