White House won't condemn Palestinian terrorists, but it will fund them

(JNS) — Sadly, it is again time to mourn for more murdered innocent Jews and pray for the wounded in Israel. On April 7, a Palestinian Arab gunman from Samaria slipped through a hole in the security fence, traveled to Tel Aviv, murdered three Israeli Jews and injured another 11 people, several of whom are fighting for their lives. The three who diedwere were Barak Lufan, 35, a father of three, Olympic kayaker, Paralympics coach and head Olympic kayaking team coach; Tomer Morad, 27, a recently graduated mechanical engineer; and Tomer’s recently engaged childhood friend, Eytam Magini, 27, whose family attended Eytam’s funeral instead of his wedding.

In just two weeks, Palestinian Arabs and Islamist Israeli Arabs murdered 14 innocent victims —10 Jews, an Israeli Druze, an Israeli-Arab Christian and two Ukrainians—in shooting, car-ramming and knife-stabbing attacks.

Unfortunately, it’s also again time for more empty U.S. condemnation statements that fail to identify the victims as Jews or Israelis; fail to identify the perpetrators as Palestinian Arabs or Islamist Israeli Arabs; and fail to change U.S. policies that contribute to anti-Jewish terror, such as sending $500 million to Palestinian Arabs in the past year.

Remarkably, every statement by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides follows this same pattern. These officials have no problem falsely accusing Jewish “settlers” of provoking violence by building Jewish homes, as Blinken did on March 27—the same day that Palestinian Arab terrorists murdered two Israelis at a bus stop in Hadera. Similarly, on March 15, Nides immorally denounced Israelis building homes in and around Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria, as “stupid” and “infuriating.” But men studiously avoid accurately identifying actual terrorists: the Palestinian Arab murderers of innocent Jewish and Israeli victims.

When Palestinian Arabs murder Jews or Israelis, the “who” is always missing from the classic “who, what, where, when and how” needed to accurately inform readers.

This is the same pattern that the Obama-Biden administration adopted. In 2016, we documented that U.S. State Department condolence statements consistently omitted both the Jewish and/or Israeli identity of the victims, and the Palestinian Arab identity of the terrorists that perpetrated murderous attacks in Israel. Similarly, the Obama-Biden administration’s statements about terrorism in Nigeria omitted identifying that the terrorists were Islamists and that their innocent murdered victims were Christians. By contrast, that same administration identified those involved in terror attacks in other countries whenever doing so fit with the administration’s political agenda.

After the April 7 terror attack on Israeli Jews, Nides tweeted: “Horrified to see another cowardly terror attack on innocent civilians, this time in Tel Aviv. Praying for peace, and sending condolences to the victims and their families. This has to stop!”

Yes, this has to stop!

The Biden administration has to stop avoiding identifying Palestinian Arab terrorists, and ignoring innocent Jewish and Israeli victims.

And the Biden administration has to stop sending hundreds of millions of U.S. taxpayer funds to Palestinian Arabs, which frees up money for the Palestinian Authority to pay Arab terrorists “pay for slay” rewards of $400 million per year to murder Jews.

Unfortunately, at a press conference on March 27 — the same day that Palestinian Arab terrorists murdered two Israelis in Hadera — Blinken boasted about increasing U.S. assistance to Palestinian Arabs.

Also, on March 16, Nides tweeted: “Pleased to see lots for Palestinians in the budget just signed by @POTUS Biden: $144 million increase (now $219 million) for Economic Support Funds, $40 million for security forces training in the WBank, and $50 million for 2nd year of the Nita Lowey MEPPA Fund.”

This has to stop!

And the Biden administration has to put an end to the looming disastrous Iran nuclear deal and potential delisting of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Giving Iran more than $90 billion in sanctions relief will cause countless terror attacks against innocent Jews and against friendly Muslim nations across the Middle East.

The Biden administration also has to stop ignoring the P.A.’s repeated incitement to murder Jews and start actively opposing this horror.

The Palestinian Arab governor of Jenin, Akram Rajoub, just praised the Tel Aviv shooter as a “Fatah warrior” and not a terrorist. PMW documented an enormous increase in P.A. incitement leading to the recent terror attacks, including false accusations that Israel was sending “settler herds” to invade Al-Aqsa mosque and that Israel adopted a policy of “summary executions” against Palestinian Arabs. On April 3, the first day of Ramadan, P.A. Supreme Shari’ah Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash incited terror on official P.A. television, declaring that Ramadan is “a month of jihad, conquest and victory.”

This has to stop!

The Biden administration also has to stop its other demands that encourage more Palestinian Arab terror and lawlessness, including the administration’s calls for a Palestinian Arab state; encouragement of more work permits for residents of the Gaza Strip to enter Israel; and demand that Israel not enforce valid court orders against Arab squatters who failed to pay rent on Jewish-owned properties for many decades.

This has to stop!

Morton A. Klein is the national president of the Zionist Organization of America. Elizabeth A. Berney is ZOA’s director of special projects.