Are the Palestinian Arabs Fulfilling President Bush's Conditions for
Statehood?

A Survey of Week #23: November 26 - December 2, 2002

THE BUSH PLAN:

On June 24, 2002, President Bush set forth the conditions that the
Palestinian Arabs must fulfill in order to merit U.S. support for the
creation of a Palestinian Arab state. Among the major obligations are that
the Palestinian Arabs must "dismantle the terrorist infrastructure," "end
incitement," "elect new leaders not compromised by terror," and
unequivocally embrace democracy and free market economics.

This report analyzes Palestinian Arab actions during the 23rd week following
President Bush's speech, November 26-December 2, 2002.

I. "Dismantle the Terrorist Infrastructure"

What They Must Do: President Bush said that the Palestinian Arabs must
"engage in a sustained fight against the terrorists and dismantle their
infrastructure." Those terms were previously defined in the Oslo and Wye
accords as including arresting and imprisoning terrorists; shutting down
bomb factories; seizing terrorists' weapons; extraditing terrorists to
Israel; punishing factions of the PLO that engage in terrorism; and
outlawing terrorist groups.

The Bush administration has also said that in rebuilding its police and
security forces, the PA must reform them so that they fight against
terrorists instead of taking part in terrorism. The training, under the
supervision of U.S., Egyptian, and Jordanian security officials, began on
September 19, 2002; however, Israel has protested the fact that at least 100
of the 150 PA security officers participating in the course "were involved
in attacks on Israeli civilians."1

What They Did During Week #23:

A. No Terrorists Arrested: There were no reports of terrorists being
arrested or imprisoned.

B. No Terrorists Extradited: The PA continued to ignore Israel's 45 requests
for the extradition of terrorists.

C. No Terror Groups Outlawed: The PA did not outlaw Hamas, Islamic Jihad,
Fatah, or any other terrorist groups.

D. No Terrorists' Weapons Seized: There were no reports of the PA seizing
terrorists' weapons. By contrast, Israeli forces raided homes of Fatah
terrorists in Kalil, east of Shechem (Nablus), and uncovered a cache of
explosives.

E. No Closing of Bomb Factories: There were no reports of the PA shutting
down any bomb factories. Moreover, secret Palestinian Authority documents
captured by the Israeli Army (and quoted in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz on
Nov.24, 2002) revealed that "The PA's Preventive Security Organization in
the Gaza Strip has set up a factory for producing large quantities of nitric
acid, the most important chemical in making explosives...It appears that the
factory was set up to bypass the obstacles facing militant organizations in
producing or acquiring explosives. Most of the chemicals used by the
Palestinians to produce homemade explosives are acquired from Israel.
However, in recent weeks the Palestinians have managed to produce explosives
with an efficiency near that of military-grade materials...A document was
seized in the Preventive Security Organization's headquarters in Tel
al-Hiweh describing the setting up of the factory as a "strategic project'."

F. No Punishing of PLO Terror Factions: There were no reports of the PLO
leadership punishing PLO factions that are engaged in terrorism, such as the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic
Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).

G. New Terrorist Attacks: Throughout Week #23, Israeli forces were engaged
in "Operation Determined Stand," resulting in a sharp decrease in terrorist
attacks. Nevertheless, during Nov.16-Dec.1, 2002, there were at least 48
terrorist attacks or attempted attacks, in which 17 people were murdered and
93 wounded:

November 26: Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in central Gaza ...
Shooting attack on an Israeli Army ambulance near Neve Dekalim ... Firebomb
attack on an Israeli bus near Chomesh ... Shooting attack on Israeli
soldiers in Neve Dekalim ... Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in southern
Gaza ... Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in Shechem (Nablus) ...
Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in Jenin.

November 27: Two terrorists preparing a bomb in Jenin were killed when it
exploded prematurely ... A car-bomb exploded on its way to an attack near an
Israeli Army position in northern Gaza ... Five mortar attacks on Israeli
Army outposts near Neve Dekalim ... Two shooting attacks on Israeli soldiers
in southern Gaza ... A terrorist tried to infiltrate the town of Rafiah Yam
... A terrorist was captured in Shechem (Nablus) on his way to carry out a
suicide attack ...

November 28: Fatah terrorists carried out a shooting attack in Beit She'an;
six murdered, 30 wounded ... Car-bomb attack on an Israeli hotel in Mombasa,
Kenya; ten murdered, 48 wounded ... Missiles fired at an Israeli plane
taking off from Kenya ... Bomb dismantled near Kfar Aza ... Bomb dismantled
in southern Gaza ... Shooting attack against a school bus carrying children
in Gush Katif ... Shooting attack on an Israeli Army vehicle near Morag.

November 29: Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers near Neve Dekalim; two
Israelis wounded ... A terrorist infiltrated the Bedolach hothouses in Gush
Katif, and shot and wounded two workers and an Israeli soldier ... Firebomb
attack on Israeli soldiers in Balata, near Shechem (Nablus) ... Shooting
attack on Israeli soldiers near Gan Or.

November 30: Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in Gaza.

December 1: Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers near Netzarim; one wounded
... Mortar attack on a Jewish town in northern Gaza ... Shooting attack on
the community of Sa-Nur ... Shooting attack on an Israeli vehicle traveling
south of Sa-Nur ... Two firebomb attacks on Israeli soldiers near Bethlehem
... Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in Jabalya ... Shooting attack on
Israeli soldiers in Beit Lahiya.

December 2: Mortar attack in the northern Gaza industrial zone; one
murdered, 9 wounded ... Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in Tulkarm ...
Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in Jenin ... Attempted attack on an
Israeli Army vehicle in Jenin ... Two mortar attacks on Israeli towns in
Gaza ... Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers near Netzarim ... Shooting
attack on surveyors working on the Trans-Israel Highway ... Attack on a bus
southwest of Yitzhar ... Attack on an Israeli vehicle traveling northeast of
Beit Shemesh.

II. "End Incitement"

What They Must Do: President Bush stated that the Palestinian Arabs must
"end incitement to violence in official media and

publicly denounce homicide bombings."

What They Did During Week #23:

The PA's official newspapers, television, and radio continued to broadcast a
steady stream of anti-Israel, anti-American, and pro-violence incitement,
and PA officials continued to make inciting statements.

For example, PA legislator Nahed Munir Alrayis, writing in his regular
column in the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on Nov. 25, 2002,
threatened that U.S. policy toward the Arab world will leave the Arabs no
choice but to resort to "suicide attacks against the United States, its
armed forces and its navy."

He accuseed President Bush of "attempting to isolate them [the Arabs] so
that they will have no hope of an ally in integrity and justice, to incite
others against them so much that they will lose their trust in what is
called 'world public opinion' and 'human rights' and to close off all the
political and diplomatic avenues which nurture hope, then they will have
nothing left, in this position, except suicide missions [lit: Death for
Allah missions, Arabic -"Istishhad"] against the United States, its armed
forces and its navy." (Translation courtesy of Palestinian Media Watch)

III. "Elect New Leaders Not Compromised by Terror"

What They Must Do: President Bush stated that the Palestinian Arabs must
hold "fair multiparty elections by the end of the year, with national
elections to follow," in which they "elect new leaders, leaders not
compromised by terror."

What They Did During Week #23: The PA has announced that it will hold
elections for chairman of the PA and members of the Palestinian Legislative
Council on January 20, 2003, if Israel withdraws from various parts of
Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.2 It remains to be seen whether those elections, if
held, will be free and fair, as President Bush has urged, or will be marred
by ballot-stuffing and intimidation of voters and potential non-PLO
candidates, as were the last PA elections, in 1996.

IV. "Build Democracy Based on Tolerance and Liberty"

What They Must Do: President Bush said that the Palestinian Arabs must
"build a practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty," with "a new
constitution" and "a truly independent judiciary. He said they must
"confront corruption," and "the Palestinian parliament should have the full
authority of a legislative body." They must implement "market economics,"
and create "a vibrant economy where honest enterprise is encouraged by
honest government." In addition, there must be "an externally supervised
effort to rebuild and reform the Palestinian security services" with "clear
lines of authority and accountability and a unified chain of command."

What They Did During Week #23:

The PA continues to claim that it is in the process of implementing what it
describes as its "reform plan," but experts doubt that the reforms will be
genuine. Robert Satloff of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy
said of the plan: "While it offers promising elements of change, the plan is
only likely to strengthen the unacceptable status quo."3 On October 29,
2002, Arafat announced the appointment of a new cabinet; however, 16 of the
19 cabinet members had likewise been members of the outgoing cabinet.4

Furthermore, on October 29, 2002, the PA announced it had condemned to death
an Arab human-rights worker (Heidar Mahmoud Hussein Ghanim, an employee of
the leftwing Israeli group Btselem) for "spying for Israel."

* * *

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.

1 Middle East Newsline, September 17, 2002.
2 New York Times, June 27, 2002.
3 Middle East Newsline, July 9, 2002.
4 New York Times, October 30, 2002.