Palestine Center Denounces Passage of H.R. 4681

Palestine Center Denounces Passage of H.R. 4681

For Immediate Release
Contact: Samar Assad
(202) 338-1290

Washington, DC (23 May 2006) - The Palestine Center strongly deplores today's passage of House Resolution 4681, the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006, in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The central provision of this resolution prohibits the United States from providing direct assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) unless the U.S. President certifies that it has fulfilled a long list of subjective and ambiguous conditions. Current law already prohibits the United States from providing direct assistance to the PA unless the President signs a national security waiver.

However, H.R. 4681 goes far beyond reiterating the current U.S. ban on direct assistance to the PA; it also calls for provisions that punish and isolate the Palestinian people for exercising their right to vote by restricting humanitarian aid, prohibiting official Palestinian diplomacy or representation in the United States, and even denying Palestinians the ability to receive assistance through international financial institutions.

Although the resolution was introduced after the election of Hamas in the January 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, its ramifications, if signed into law, reach far beyond Hamas.

The resolution, as passed, does not only target officials from the current ruling party. It derails any diplomatic contact with those who seek an end to conflict and a two-state solution based on mutual security and recognition.

The resolution targets the Palestinian people, NGOs and Palestinian civil society as a whole by naming the Palestinian Territory and the Palestinian Authority as a terrorist entity and by severely restricting aid and civil support for Palestinians and Palestinian institutions.

Contrary to the arguments of its supporters, such broad overreaching bans limit the U.S. administration's efforts to realize the two-state solution and bring about a negotiated settlement to the conflict, which, if not secured, will damage U.S. national security interests.

Supporters of the resolution must be aware that as passed, the resolution puts the Palestinian territory and the Palestinian Authority, regardless of whom is in power, in a state of political, economic and social instability that will ripple throughout the region and only further affect U.S. allies in the region, including the very state the resolution purports to protect: Israel.

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