Tuesday, November 30, 2010
(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today condemned a report by a Palestinian Authority (PA) official that the Western Wall in Jerusalem is of no religious significance to Jews. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:
“This report is not an isolated incident. It’s a symptom of a deeper problem: The Palestinian leadership still does not accept the right of the Jewish people to a Jewish state in their historic homeland.
“So long as those in Ramallah continue to tell their own people to treat the presence of the Jews and their state as fundamentally illegitimate, or to look the other way in the face of extremism and incitement, they will not move past the bad old days of Arafat. There will not be a true, lasting peace.
“It’s long past time for Washington, in keeping with U.S. law, to hold Palestinian leaders accountable.”
BACKGROUND: Ros-Lehtinen authored the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-446), which conditioned U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority on, among other requirements, the PA “publicly acknowledge[ing] the Jewish state of Israel’s right to exist.”
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Brad Goehner, (202) 226-8467
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