WASHINGTON — Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas encountered some blunt questions during his reception by Congress last week.
Congressional sources said at one meeting House and Senate members asked
Abbas probing questions regarding delays in reforming the PA security
services as well as anti-Israeli and anti-U.S. incitement in the official
media, Middle East Newsline reported. Other U.S. lawmakers cited anti-Semitic references in PA textbooks.
"The United States has provided $1.4 billion in aid to the Palestinian
people since 1993," Rep. Brad Sherman, a California Democrat, said.
"However, the U.S. cannot continue to support the Palestinian Authority,
whether directly or indirectly, if the education system does not create the
conditions necessary for peace."
[On Thursday, President George Bush announced that the United States
would relay $50 million to the PA. Officials said the announcement came
after White House negotiations with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and
other congressional Republicans who have objected to direct aid to the PA.]
Sherman met Abbas in Washington on May 25 and delivered a letter
expressing his concern over anti-Semitic portions of Palestinian textbooks
and a failure to promote peace in the region. Congressional sources said
Abbas was stunned by Sherman's allegations and PA aides later blamed Israel.
During the meeting, sources said, Sherman presented excerpts of a new
10th grade history text entitled "History of the Modern Contemporary Word."
On page 63, the book cites the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, as the basis
for what the text termed the Zionist goal for "world domination."
"More disturbing is that this may be indicative of the treatment that
Jews and Israel receive throughout the new Palestinian textbooks —
especially the universal failure in maps to note the existence of the State
of Israel or to refer to places in the area by the names now universally
recognized, such as Tel Aviv and Netanya," the Sherman letter said. "While
Israel and peace is mentioned once in connection with the Oslo Accords,
which is a commendable improvement, these concepts are mentioned nowhere
else. I am also informed that the discussions of religious tolerance in the
texts do not mention Jews specifically."
In 2004, the Bush administration allocated $200 million to the PA. But
Congress, citing concerns of PA corruption, ordered that much of the aid be
diverted to Israel and non-government organizations.
