A letter circulating in the Senate calls on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to detail steps the U.S. is taking to end Palestinian incitement against Israeli civilians. The letter is in response to Friday’s stabbing massacre of five members of a Jeiwsh family in the West Bank settlement of Itamar.
“Palestinian incitement includes the glorification of terrorists and jihad, and anti-Semitic stereotypes in the Palestinian media,” reads the letter written by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL). A copy of the letter was obtained by The Jewish Week.
The letter details examples of incitement listed by the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, including a March 9 speech by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor, Sabri Saidam.
“Saidam reportedly demanded that the Palestinian people be attentive to the living conditions of martyrs’ families and said that the anniversary of the death of Dalal Mughrabi (one of the perpetrators of a 1978 coastal highway massacre) should be marked by inaugurating a square in her name in the city of El-Bireh,” wrote the senators.
They also noted reports that on Feb. 9, the PA-controlled television station broadcast a clip from a campaign entitled "Women as Exemplars," in which Mughrabi was extolled. In another example cited, he governor of Jenin on January 24 issued a $2,000 grant to the family of a Khaldoun Samoudi, who was killed while trying to detonate two bombs against Israeli soldiers at the Beka’ot Crossing.
“Although President Abbas has expressed his sorrow over the Itamar massacre, the Palestinian Authority must take unequivocal steps to condemn the incident and stop allowing the incitement that leads to such crimes,” wrote Gillibrand and Kirk. “Educating people toward peace is critical to establishing the conditions to a secure and lasting peace.
They also called on Clinton to consider promoting “training and educational programs in the West Bank and Gaza that promote peaceful coexistence with Israel. “
Last month Gillibrand and Kirk co-sponsored the Iran Transparency and Accountability Act to require companies to disclose any sanctionable investments in Iran in their quarterly and annual reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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