AIPAC-Controlled US Senate Follows the House in Blindly Supporting Israeli Occupation Policies Towards the Palestinian People By Hassan El-Najjar

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AIPAC-Controlled US Senate Follows the House in Blindly Supporting Israeli Occupation Policies Towards the Palestinian People

Al-Jazeerah readers are alerted to pay attention to the language used in the US Senate's resolution. It's the same conflict terminology used by the Israeli occupation government and its Zionist supporters.

1. Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation is referred to as terrorism.

2. Palestinians are required to recognize, not only Israeli occupation government but also recognize Israel as a "Jewish" state. This means that Palestinian Christians and Muslims have to concede their right to live in their own homeland.

3. The Palestinian government is required to engage in civil war against Palestinian resistance organizations (referred to by the resolution authors as terror infrastructure).

4. The Palestinian government should stop "incitement" against the Israeli occupation government, which means that Palestinians should accept the Israeli occupation.

5. The President of the US should report to Congress that "Democracy" is established in the occupied Palestinian territories before aid is resumed. This is the most laughable requirement, as the whole world saw that Hamas was elected democratically to lead the Palestinian government. Neither the US government nor even the Israeli government criticized the Palestinian parliamentary elections, which brought Hamas to power.

Thus, for the Senate to include this issue in its AIPAC-imposed conditions made itself even more laughable at, or I would say more pitiful than the House, in its version of the bill on May 24.

The only benefit I can see to the American people and the cause of peace in the world is that this law comes as another proof of the degree of the AIPAC domination of the US Congress, which explains to students and observers why the US has been blindly siding with the Israeli occupation government.

Palestinian National Authority Criticizes US Senate Bar of Aid to the Palestinian People

PNA Presidency flayed the resolution unanimously approved in Senate Friday prevents American government from transferring aid to Palestinians as "it never contributes to international efforts to move the peace process forward."

Nabil Abu Rudaina, spokesperson of the Palestinian Presidency said that the decision is useless and has nothing to do with the international efforts to advance peace forward in order to put the peace process back on track in the Middle East.

"The US Congress decision, which that approved a bill aiming to prevent the American administration to enlist direct or indirect aid to PNA - dooes not help uplifting the siege on the Palestinian people," Abu Rudaina said.

The new law enables humanitarian aid transfer to the Palestinians, but places strict limits on the money transfers. Likewise, the law limits the movement of Palestinian diplomats in the US.

The law rules that the PNA will not be the recipient of any aid money until the president declares that the following conditions have been fulfilled by the Palestinians:

1. No governmental office or agency in the PNA is governed by a "terror" organization, and no representative of any terror organization serves in any governmental or non-governmental office.

2. The Palestinian National Authority under the leadership of Hamas is demanded to recognize Israel's right to exist as a "Jewish" state, it must commit to all agreements signed between the sides thus far and the understandings reached in the framework of the road map.

3. The PNA has advanced moves proving that they are purifying the Palestinian security forces of "terrorists," dismantling "terror infrastructure" and cooperating with Israel's security establishment.

The new law categorically forbids giving any direct aid to the Palestinian National Authority, with the exception of aid money to help fund the system of democratic elections, which will be given to the Election Committee, if the US president can prove to Congress that its members do not belong to or are funded by any "terror" organization. Another exception is financial aid to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' office and his personal security detail.

The new legislation obligates the president to sign a special concession every six months so the Palestinians can continue operating their representation in the United Nations in New York. Palestinian diplomats are limited to movement in a radius of 40 kilometers from the UN building in New York.

On 24 May, 2006, US House of Representatives voted a bill, which also aims to bar U.S. direct and indirect aid to the Palestinian National Authority.

The legislation called "the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act", which passed easily with 361 votes in favor, 37 opposed, and 9 abstained, synchronized with day the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmart met with the American President George Bush in the oval office in Washington.