House Dem. Whip Steny Hoyer: "Security is an absolute precondition for peace"
August 18, 2003

This piece appeared in The Jerusalem Post last Friday, written by House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer, who just led the largest Congressional delegation in history to Israel. The Congresspeople reaffirmed that they continue to stand with Israel -- withcommon ties based on shared values, histories, political institutions and -- now morethan ever before -- shared enemies in the form of radical Islamic terrorists, who continue to fulminate against Jews and the US, and who offer bounties for every dead American.

Congressman Hoyer says the following must happen for peace, all elements from Bush's June 24th policy speech: "an end of terror and the dismantling of terrorist organizations; the rejection of Arafat and the selection of new leadership for the Palestinian Authority; the establishment of democratic institutions by the Palestinians; and an absolute and unambiguous commitment to a secure, sovereign and Arab-acc! epted Israel." The fundamental point is that there will be no progress in the peace plan unless the daily terrorist attacks stop.

In other news, in a strangely rare admission, Palestinian officials announced that they seized $3 million en route to the group Islamic Jihad from Iran! The money, it seems, was a little bonus to encourage the groups to break their cease-fire and continue to the terrorist attacks. Iran continues to hold its title as the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism.

Read "Security is an absolute preconditon for peace," by House Dem. Whip Steny Hoyer in The Jerusalem Post, August 14, 2003.