Date: Monday, December 9, 2019
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Gary L. Bauer, Director

Palestinian Incitement

Palestinian incitement against the state of Israel and its Jewish citizens continues to be one of the major impediments to peace. As we noted Friday, the International Criminal Court has issued a report suggesting that the Palestinian Authority's "pay-to-slay" scheme, which subsidizes terrorism against innocent Israelis, is a potential war crime.

Here's another example of the routine incitement against Israel. A Bethlehem high school recently erected a plaque honoring Ayyat Al-Akhras. She was a Palestinian homicide bomber who murdered two Israelis and wounded 28 others during the Second Intifada.

This plaque praising a terrorist was posted at the direction of the Palestinian Ministry of Education presumably so that other young women might be "inspired" by Ayyat al-Akhras's example. How does that promote reconciliation or inspire Palestinians to live side-by-side with their Israeli neighbors in peace?

The incitement that goes on in Palestinian schools is so bad that Norway's governing coalition announced last week that it will "reduce or withhold financial support to the Palestinian Authority" unless classroom materials are quickly purged of references to "violence, martyrdom and terror."

The coalition declared that such "destructive values" were "devastating to the peace process and the development of democracy in the region."

That certainly seems obvious, and CUFI Action Fund applauds Norway's ruling coalition for taking this important step. Hopefully, every country that provides funding to the Palestinian Authority and which truly cares about peace will take similar action in the days ahead.

Europe's Patience Waning?

Europe's patience with Iran's continued violations of the 2015 nuclear deal finally shows signs of waning. Last week we reported that Britain, France and Germany had warned U.N. leaders that Tehran's continued ballistic missile development was in violation of Security Council resolutions.

The Wall Street Journal adds that the three nations are also indicating that they are prepared to "trigger a dispute-settlement mechanism" if the ayatollah's regime continues violating the nuclear deal. Doing so could result in the U.N. Security Council "re-imposing international sanctions on Iran's economy, banks and some top officials within two months."

If the report is accurate, this is welcome news. The Trump Administration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz, have repeatedly called on European leaders to take a more aggressive stand against Tehran's aggression.