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Editorial

Analyzing The Price For Supporting Terror

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New York jury ruled the
Palestinian Authority was
liable along with the umbrella
Palestine Liberation Organization for
six terrorist attacks in Israel that killed
or injured Americans between 2002 and
2004.
The historic ruling emasculates both
the P.A. and the PLO as mainline leader-
ship groups and establishes both as part
of the terrorist underworld.
The Feb. 23 verdict effectively ruled
the terrorists who killed 33 people and
injured 450 others did so with the bless-
ing, support and under the mantles of
the P.A. and PLO. The verdict targeted
the terrorist factions Hamas and Fatah's
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. It burst the
bubble floated by the Obama administra-
tion that Israeli-Palestinian peace could
yet be salvaged with current Palestinian
leadership.
Stalemated peace talks brokered by
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry may
never resume now; if they do, they'll be a
shadow of what they could have been.
The ruling struck at the heart of

The ruling struck at the heart of the culture of
hate of the supposedly moderate P.A.

the culture of hate of the supposedly
moderate P.A, which rules Palestinian-
controlled areas of the West Bank, but,
working through the PLO, entered into a
2014 unity agreement with Hamas, which
rules the Gaza Strip.
Supreme terrorist Yasser Arafat was
heading the P.A. and PLO during the con-
tested timeframe of the lawsuit. But his
successor, Mahmoud Abbas, continues to
promote a permeating anti-Israel culture
that intentionally or otherwise condi-
tions young, impressionable Palestinians
toward becoming terrorists.

Court Revelations

Nitsana Darshan Leitner, Israel counsel
to the terrorist victims' families in the
lawsuit, told the New York Jewish Week
the trial provided groundbreaking evi-

dence of the P.A.'s "policies and culture
of glorifying the suicide bombers and
terrorist masterminds. The defendants in
the end offered almost no evidence and
no reasonable explanation for their policy
of rewarding convicted terrorists, a policy
that continues to the present day"
Evidence revealed the P.A. has been
paying imprisoned terrorists and their
families $50 million a year. Suicide bomb-
ers and "martyred" gunmen long have
had the incentive of "earning" financial
help for beleaguered family members.
You don't have to speculate hard to con-
clude that some of the payout is derived
from the $500 million the U.S. gives
annually to the P.A.
The jury verdict followed six weeks
of testimony before Manhattan Federal
Judge George Daniels. It awarded 10

American families who filed suit $218
million in damages. The amount will be
tripled to $655 million through the Anti-
Terrorism Act, under which the suit was
brought 11 years ago. This was the first
trial to test parameters of the act, enacted
following the Achille Lauro cruise-ship
hijacking in 1985 off the coast of Egypt.
The P.A. and PLO vow to appeal. It may
be years before the victims or their fami-
lies collect anything.
The verdict may be symbolically sig-
nificant, but may prove financially hol-
low: It's unlikely Israel or the U.S. would
help the plaintiffs receive their judgment
for fear of forcing economic collapse of
the P.A.

Grim Aftermath

Meanwhile, the drumbeat of hate toward
Israel and Jews continues to be mani-
fested in Palestinian school textbooks,
music videos, news presentations, sports
activities and Friday sermons, let alone
political rallies.
The P.A. as a governmental unit and
Fatah as a governing party both promote

The Price on page 36

Guest Column

Anti-Semitism Manifested On Campus

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his morning, I read of yet
another act of anti-Semitism
at one of this country's abso-
lute jewels of public education, the
University of California at
Los Angeles.
During an interview on
Feb.10 for a seat on the
student judicial board, can-
didate Rachel Beyda was
asked: "Given that you're
a Jewish student and very
active in the Jewish com-
munity, how do you see
yourself being able to main-
tain an unbiased view?"
While the obvious bigotry
of this question offends me
deeply as a Jew, my deci-
sion to speak out goes far beyond this
not-so-subtle attack that manifests in
a variety of — and ever-increasing —
forms against Jews across campuses
throughout the nation (a recent Trinity
College study found that 54 percent
of Jewish college students have been
subject to or witnessed anti-Semitism
during a six-month period).

No, today, I am far more offended as
an American and as one who values
what this great country represents.
While this unabashed proclamation
of anti-Semitism exemplifies
a growing trend in what is
becoming socially accept-
able on today's campuses,
the student who posed the
question may — or may not
— issue the standard apol-
ogy to those "I may have
offended." Well, apologize
or not, you offended me, not
particularly as a Jew, but
more as an American.
For starters, these ques-
tions are a brazen violation
of the spirit, if not the very
text, of the U.S. Constitution (see First
Amendment guarantee of freedom of
religion), a document that embodies
the very principles of our progres-
sive democracy. To even entertain
this question as one appropriate for
a public body, student or otherwise,
demonstrates a deep ignorance of the
civic foundation on which this country

"I swore never to be silent whenever and
wherever human beings endure suffering
and humiliation. We must always take sides.
Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the
victim. Silence encourages the tormentor,
never the tormented."

— Elie Wiesel

was founded and, more importantly,
has evolved to expand the rights of
and protections for other Americans
as well.
While the question at hand targeted
the candidate's Jewish heritage and
community involvement, I am not the
only one that should fear the audacity
that the statement embodies.
If asking whether being a Jew would
cloud one's judgment, what about ask-
ing if they were a Christian? Muslim?

Buddhist? Atheist? Heck, why not ask
if other characteristics would influence
their perspective, like being black?
Latino? Asian? Native American? Even
white? How about whether they are
poor? Rich? Democrat? Republican?
Independent?
Substitute any of these classifica-
tions for Jew and you can get a sense
of what real bigotry looks like. There is

Anti-Semitism on page 36

March 19 • 2015

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