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Posted on 10/02/2002 9:18:24 AM PDT by Bella_Bru
AMMAN Arabs lashed out at the United States on Wednesday, saying legislation signed by US President George W. Bush that urges recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital would turn the world's 1 billion Muslims into Washington's enemies.
Bush said he plans to ignore clauses in the spending bill that could cut funds to the US consulate in Jerusalem and would disallow Congress from spending money on official documents listing Israel without citing Jerusalem as its capital. The clauses, he said, interfere with his constitutional authority to set US foreign policy.
Still, former Jordanian Information Minister Saleh Qallab said the legislation will "turn the world's 1 billion Muslims into enemies of the United States."
Syria's state-run al-Thawra newspaper said the law would "negatively impact US interests and would further undermine its relations with the Arabs."
"Though the legislation is unbinding to the US administration, it is a dangerous and provocative step that harms Arab and Muslim feelings and denies their political and historical rights in this holy city," Al-Thawra said in an editorial.
Jerusalem is revered by Muslims, Jews and Christians alike because it houses shrines holy to the three monotheistic religions. Though Israel regards Jerusalem as its capital, most nations including the United States keep their embassies in Tel Aviv. The United States officially considers Jerusalem, part of which the Palestinians seek for a future capital, an issue to be negotiated by Israelis and Palestinians.
In the West Bank, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called the new law "a catastrophe" and said "We can't stay silent. ... It can't be accepted at all, for the Christians and for all the Muslims."
Three Damascus-based Palestinian opposition groups, including the militant Hamas, which is on Washington's list of terror groups, also denounced the legislation, saying it was a provocation for Muslim feelings and yet another "evidence of the flagrant US bias in favor of Israel."
In Lebanon, which has a large Palestinian refugee population, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah said America will pay "a heavy political price" for the legislation. But the senior Shiite Muslim cleric urged Muslims to refrain from "acts of violence against American institutions in or outside America...because this will not serve any cause."
In Bahrain, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa expressed concern about the bill, but welcomed White House assurances that the fate of Jerusalem will be determined in negotiations. On Tuesday, the Saudi-based Organization of the Islamic Conference also said it was "deeply concerned" Bush had signed the law.
A Saudi official quoted by the state-run news agency said the law gave the wrong message to Israel, "encouraging it to be more rigid and extremist in its policy toward the Palestinians."
Hani Khasawneh, another former Jordanian information minister, branded the bill "shocking to Arabs, Muslims and the whole world," and called it part of "a policy influenced by the Jewish and Zionist lobby within the US administration."
In a column titled "the American 'Knesset'," a reference to Israel's parliament, Rashad Abu-Daoud wrote in the Jordanian ad-Dustour newspaper that Washington "is jumping into an ocean of blood and fire without realizing its size, limits and who may get burned by its fire." Condemnation also was heard in Muslim countries beyond the Arab world.
Iranian deputy Ali Akbar Mohtashemi said the bill was "dangerous" and underscored Washington's "full partnership with the Zionist enemy in all aspects of terrorism exercised against the Palestinian people." In Malaysia, Abdul Hadi Awang, president of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, said Bush's signing of the bill was an insult to justice and human rights. "This is a step by Bush to attract attention from the American people for the next election," he said.
Is that a threat, punk?
Gosh, all the way from where they are now, that is, as our ever-lovin' buds, committed to world peace?
HF
Gotta be the quote of the day. ROTFLMAO about that one.
Not in their made up world.
So what's new?
Half of the worlds Muslims have hated the US for years and most of the other half are indifferent. The lack of condemnation from the Islamic community since the heinous 9-11 attacks, should remind all American's who we need to keep an eye on. While violent radicals and fundamentalist Muslim's may be the active segment of Arab society, intent on killing American's, while disrupting and destroying our way of life, its also become abundantly clear, many average citizens in the Arab world support and condone any anti-American activity.
There are other means of persuasion other than, killing and threatening to kill.
You mean, they aren't already?
In the West Bank, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called the new law "a catastrophe" and said "We can't stay silent. ... It can't be accepted at all, for the Christians and for all the Muslims."
I would much rather see Jerusalem in the capable hands of the Israelis, than in the destructive hands of the muslims.
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