Posted on 10/21/2003 10:23:41 AM PDT by yonif
Three Fatah leaders met with members of Congress and American Jewish officials in Washington on Monday to discuss Palestinian losses during the intifada and American perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Two members of the Palestine Legislative Council, Kadoura Fares and Hatem Abdel Kader, and Ahmed Ghnaim, another Fatah leader in the Jerusalem area, were scheduled to meet Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield Tuesday afternoon.
The trip was arranged by Dennis Ross, director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which will host the delegation in a public forum on Wednesday. Ross said Monday that he had been speaking with the three since a trip to the region in June.
"What impressed me was these are people who realize violence is wrong, that it is going to produce only ruin for the Palestinians. They believe in a two-state solution. They are people who have made very clear they want to see democracy in the Palestinian Authority," Ross told The Jerusalem Post.
"They are absolutely committed to the idea of building a civil society and they are largely unknown in the US and they need to hear what people feel here," he added.
Ross acknowledged that the three are members of Tanzim, Fatah's armed wing, but said they are not violent themselves.
Jess Hordes, Washington director of the Anti-Defamation League said after the meeting with Jewish leaders that the three "tried to present themselves as people genuinely interested in reform, who want to bring a democratic change, who recognize the second intifada was not leading anywhere," though he added, "I don't know to what extent they could have influence in the Palestinian political discussion."
The Fatah delegation was not the only group making the rounds in Washington this week.
On Monday, former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon and the PA's former representative on Jerusalem, Sari Nusseibeh, met with Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns and were to meet with the White House Middle East adviser Elliott Abrams.
On Tuesday, Ayalon and Nusseibeh are to meet with senators and congressmen on Capitol Hill in a visit sponsored by the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.
Speaking at the Washington Institute on Monday, Ayalon and Nusseibeh outlined a statement of principles for a two-state solution that has so far garnered 150,000 Israeli and Palestinian signatures.
The statement, a separate initiative from the so-called Geneva Initiative, calls for two states for two peoples, borders based on the June 4, 1967 lines, and for Israel and the Palestinian Authority to split sovereignty in Jerusalem. Ayalon and Nusseibeh have set up grass roots organizations to promote the initiative.
Ayalon said that Israel needs to withdraw from Judea and Samaria as a prelude to a national debate on what it means to be both a democracy and a Jewish state. "If we shall not withdraw from the territories, we will not be who we wish to be, which is a democracy and a safe home for the Jewish people," he said.
Nusseibeh said Israel's construction of a security wall would prevent progress toward a two-state solution. "Regardless of whether [the time] is ripe [for this plan]," Nusseibeh said, "It is necessary."
So they came over to get help with a little 'terrorist PR'? So much for the Bush doctrine of terrorists. These terrorists should not be allowed on our soil, much less meeting with our officials. God help us.
Then why doesn't Ross go over there to talk. Could it be they may try to blow him up? Insane.
Tanzim is a terror organization, and Ross is a Clinton fartcatcher. Why do the left in this country always side with the enemy??
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.