Jewish leaders stress Palestinians' support
of attacks By Melissa
Radler
NEW YORK (September 13) - Lashing out at Palestinians who celebrated
Tuesday's carnage and skyrocketing death toll in New York, American Jewish
Congress president Jack Rosen urged the international community to "reign
in terror and demand justice for these vicious attacks."
"I don't
think Palestinians celebrating the death of thousands of Americans should
go unchallenged," said Rosen, after images of Palestinians on the streets
of Nablus and Jerusalem rejoicing and handing out candy after the attacks
were broadcast around the world.
The celebrations were quickly
followed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's official
condemnation of the attack.
As recently as Tuesday, however,
Palestinian Media Watch reported that suicide bombers were being lauded in
a variety of PA-controlled newspapers. In its September 11 edition, the
Gaza daily Al-Hayat al-Jadida called suicide bombers "the salt of the
earth, the engines of history... They are the most honorable [people]
among us." The statement was documented by Palestinian Media Watch in a
special report released yesterday.
"I think we need to go beyond
identifying terrorists and the usual list of rogue states and get to the
root of the problem. Arafat has got to be put in a position of arresting
terrorists. There need to be consequences to their actions," said Rosen.
Rosen also called on Arab countries considered moderate by the US,
including Jordan and Egypt, to stand firm against terror, and he called on
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to take action against nations
sheltering terrorists.
"Those states that harbor [terrorists] and
finance them, leaders who promote or permit terrorists to exist, those
states need to stop funding them. I think it's time for our friends around
the world to demand that this kind of activity end or we're going to stop
doing business and take action," said Rosen.
At the Simon
Wiesenthal Center, Rabbi Marvin Hier also urged Americans to take notice
of those celebrating Tuesday's attack. "Make no mistake about it, those
people who find joy amidst our suffering are the cheerleaders who keep
international terrorism alive," Hier said in a release.
Contacted
Tuesday afternoon in Paris, the chairman of the Conference of Presidents
of Major American Organizations, Mortimer Zuckerman, expressed shock at
film he saw of Palestinian children dancing in the streets after hearing
of the horrible attacks.
"It brings home again that this is not an
Arab-Israeli conflict. It is a conflict that has been widened to include
Western civilization and culture," said Zuckerman.
Miriam Shaviv
adds from Jerusalem:
The Associated Press yesterday refused to
comment on reports that it had refrained from broadcasting film of
Palestinians celebrating the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center
and Pentagon on Tuesday following pressure from the PA.
"I have
nothing to say about this matter at this time," said AP Israel bureau
chief Dan Perry.
A foreign correspondent, however, told The
Jerusalem Post that PA cabinet secretary Abdel Ahmed Rahman had threatened
the AP producers that if they broadcast their pictures, "they would not be
able to guarantee their safety." Rahman was not available for comment.
The film showed Palestinian policemen celebrating and shooting
into the air, in addition to civilians dancing, senior Israeli sources
said.
The film was reportedly shot in the West Bank town of
Nablus, where more than 3,000 demonstrators took to the streets, and in
the Balata refugee camp.
Pictures broadcast by other foreign media
outlets of Palestinians celebrating the terror attacks were mostly from
east Jerusalem. No foreign crew captured on film other parades of
celebration reported to have taken place in Bethlehem, Tulkarm, or the
Gaza Strip.
The PA made threats to stop foreign press from
broadcasting scenes it felt reflect poorly on the Palestinians before,
when Italian TV correspondent Riccardo Cristiano captured on film the
lynching of two reserve soldiers by a mob of Palestinian rioters in
Ramallah in October 2000. Riccardo lost both his GPO press card and his
Jerusalem posting after sending a letter to the Al-Hayat al-Jadida in
which he denied that the film had been shot by his own station.
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