September 11, 2002 Contact: (212) 481-1500 Attn: NEWS EDITOR

36 Americans Murdered by Palestinian Arabs Since Sept.'93

KILLER OF 3 AMERICANS SHELTERED IN ARAFAT'S COMPOUND; WHY IS BUSH
ADMINISTRATION SILENT?

NEW YORK - A Palestinian Arab terrorist who is responsible for murdering
three American citizens and wounding five others is being sheltered in Yasir
Arafat's compound in Ramallah, and the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)
is urging the Bush administration to demand that Arafat surrender him for
extradition to the United States.

Ha'aretz reports (Sept.11, 2002) that at least 25 fugitive terrorists are
being sheltered in Arafat's compound, including "the Force 17 commander in
Ramallah and his deputy."

The commander of Force 17 in Ramallah is Mahmoud Damra. In early 2001, a
group of Force 17 terrorists captured by Israel confessed to a series of
attacks, including the October 30, 2000 murder of U.S. citizen Esh-Kodesh
Gilmore (whose parents are from Ohio and New Jersey) and the December 31,
2000 attack in which U.S. citizens Binyamin and Talia Kahane (from New York)
were murdered, and five of their children were wounded. The terrorists said
they operated under the direct command of Mahmoud Damra. (Jerusalem Post,
Jan. 28, 2001, March 16, 2001 & April 24, 2001)

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said: "If a murderer of Americans was
being sheltered in the offices of any other foreign leader, the Bush
administration would demand that the murderer be handed over--and it might
well send in FBI agents to apprehend him, if necessary. Why is the
administration silent when Arafat shelters murderers of Americans?"

The ZOA notes that President Bush said on September 11, 2001: "We will make
no distinction between terrorists and those who harbor them." Despite this
statement, the Bush administration ignores Arafat's harboring of murderers
of Americans and continues sending $100-million each year to the Palestinian
Arabs.

* A total of 36 American citizens have been murdered by Palestinian Arab
terrorists since the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993, 24 of them since
the Palestinian Authority launched the current wave of violence against
Israel in September 2000.

* In addition, 69 Americans have been wounded since 1993, 44 of them since
September 2000.

* At least 103 Americans have been murdered by Palestinian Arab terrorists,
and 120 wounded, since 1968.

NOTE: For a free copy of the ZOA's important new publication, The Forgotten
Victims: American Citizens Murdered by Palestinian Arab Terrorists, please
call the ZOA at 212-481-1500.

* * *

The Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1897, is the oldest
pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to strengthen
U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and Congress about the
dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-Israel bias in the media and on
college campuses. Its past presidents have included Supreme Court Justice
Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver.