The Zionist Organization of America is “concerned and deeply disappointed” regarding the views expressed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her recent trip to the Middle East.
In an interview on a Palestinian Authority (PA) TV teen show, Clinton “accepted the false premise of her teenage interviewer that Palestinians live under Israeli occupation without freedom and liberty, thereby helping to legitimize a false basis of Palestinian incitement to hate Israel,” according to a statement from the ZOA, which was founded in 1897 and has more than 30,000 members in the U.S.
Clinton was asked, “What would you do if your daughter was unfortunate enough to have been born under occupation, born deprived of freedom and liberty?”
The ZOA said: “Secretary Clinton legitimized the question’s false premise and actually helped incite hatred against Israel by not refuting it and ignoring the fact that 98 percent of Palestinians actually live under the PA or Hamas, not Israeli control.
“Instead, Clinton responded, ‘Well, I would do what so many parents here in the West Bank and in Gaza do. I would love her … I would get the best education I could for her … I would never give up on the dream of a Palestinian state.’
“That an alarming number of Palestinian parents have encouraged their children to become suicide bombers was somehow lost from Secretary Clinton’s response.”
The ZOA statement noted that as a senator, Clinton was “strongly vocal about the need to put an end to the culture of Palestinian incitement to hatred and murder in the PA-controlled TV and radio, mosques, schools and youth camps.”
The ZOA cited a statement Hillary made in October 2003: “How can you think about building a better future, no matter what your political views, if you indoctrinate your children to a culture of death?”
And Clinton said in February 2007: “We must stop the propaganda to which Palestinian children are being exposed . . . I have been speaking out against the incitement of hate and violence in Palestinian textbooks for years.”
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said: “We are concerned and deeply disappointed that Secretary Clinton has uttered not a word about the issue of incitement to hatred and murder she herself once emphasized was a priority, and indeed the key to bringing about an Arab-Israeli peace.
“In this PA TV interview, Secretary Clinton had a real opportunity to confront the vital issue of incitement to hatred against Israel with a huge Palestinian audience. This could have been an excellent and rare opportunity to place the issue she once claimed was paramount on the international agenda by speaking directly to the next generation of Palestinians.