AJC to President Abbas: New Fatah Poster Negates Israel's Existence

Of course, the probability that the alleged "moderate" Mahmoud Abbas" or Fatah will stop inciting Palestinian Arabs is nil.

December 27, 2007 New York The American Jewish Committee has written to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to express concern about a new Fatah poster that employs imagery negating the existence of Israel and enshrining 'armed struggle' as the path to statehood. The poster is planned for release on the 43rd anniversary of the founding of Fatah in January.

The imagery employed in the planned anniversary poster endorses messages directly contrary to your statements at the Annapolis Conference last month, AJC President Richard J. Sideman and Executive Director David A. Harris wrote in their letter to President Abbas.

In the interest of all who are committed to advancing Palestinian-Israeli peace, we strongly urge Fatah to choose imagery in the spirit of peace and coexistence, rather than in the spirit of ongoing combat, to mark its anniversary, the AJC leaders wrote.

The full text of the AJC letter to President Abbas follows:

The Honorable Mahmoud Abbas
President
Palestinian Authority
Ramallah

Dear Mr. President:

We write as longtime supporters of a two-state solution to express our concern about reports that a poster Fatah plans to issue commemorating its 43rd anniversary employs imagery negating the existence of Israel and enshrining armed struggle as the path to statehood.

As pictured in a recent newspaper account, the poster depicts a stylized map of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza fully wrapped in a traditional Palestinian keffiyeh, alongside the silhouette of a semi-automatic rifle and a photograph of the late Yasser Arafat.

It is our view that the imagery employed in the planned anniversary poster endorses messages directly contrary to your statements at the Annapolis Conference last month denying, rather than acknowledging, Israel's existence; and perpetuating and celebrating, rather than abandoning and denouncing, the destructive course of violence.

If the commitments that the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel made at Annapolis are to have any meaning, it is incumbent on leaders and governing parties to pay particular care to the signals they send their respective constituencies and the signals they send to the constituencies of their negotiating partners. Imagery of negation and violence, we firmly believe, is out of step with the process that you, Prime Minister Olmert and President Bush launched at Annapolis, and can only heighten mistrust at a time when all sides, with significant international support, have pledged to rebuild trust.

In the interest of all who are committed to advancing Palestinian-Israeli peace, we strongly urge Fatah to choose imagery in the spirit of peace and coexistence, rather than in the spirit of ongoing combat, to mark its anniversary.

Respectfully,
Richard J. Sideman, President
David A. Harris, Executive Directo