Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) called for a "bright spotlight" on anti-Semitic messages and calls to martyrdom directed at Palestinian children that "create a new generation of terrorists" in her address to the AIPAC policy conference Tuesday in Washington. Describing a hearing with a representative of the Palestinian Authority, Clinton said she told him, "Using children as pawns in a political process is tantamount to child abuse, and we must say it has to end now."
Clinton, a likely Democratic candidate for president in 2008, hailed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who also addressed the conference, for taking "an extraordinary stand" with his Gaza disengagement plan and forging ahead in peace negotiations. She added that Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president," must be held accountable" for success or failure in dismantling terrorist organizations.
While welcoming Clinton’s remarks, Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, said they "fall flat because none of the senators have proposed a consequence if there is no change. She should have proposed linking U.S. aid with ending incitement and terrorism."
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