NEW YORK, March 10, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --AJC is urging the UN Security Council to condemn the latest rocket assault from Gaza on Israel.
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The council is scheduled to meet on Monday. Also slated to meet next week is the Quartet -- United States, European Union, Russia and UN -- to discuss ways to resume Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
"Over 100 rockets from Hamas-controlled Gaza have been fired into southern Israel since Friday," said AJC Executive Director David Harris.
"Hundreds of thousands of Israelis again have been forced to seek safety in bomb shelters, a situation they have endured too often over the years. If the casualty toll isn't higher, it is only because of the success of the Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system and the inaccuracy of some of the rockets, not because of any lack of desire by the terrorists to target schools, hospitals and homes," Harris said.
Since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, giving local Palestinian residents an historic opportunity for self-governance, "Palestinian leaders, tragically, have chosen a path of destruction focused on Israel rather than construction focused on Gaza," said Harris.
The situation worsened after Hamas, in a bloody 2007 coup against the Palestinian Authority, seized control of the coastal territory that shares borders with Egypt and Israel. Hamas, long aided by Iran, also enjoys the support of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The Hamas Charter, replete with anti-Semitic references, calls for the annihilation of Israel and the creation of a Shari'a-based nation.
"In recent months, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has buried the hatchet and welcomed Hamas as a partner, which is the ruling authority in Gaza," said Harris. "Will the Security Council and Quartet unequivocally condemn this latest outrage and setback to any prospect for peace? Will they hold Hamas, as the ruling authority in Gaza, responsible for what takes place within its borders? Will they call on PA President Abbas to reconsider his ill-fated partnership with Hamas? Time will soon tell, and the world will be watching."
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SOURCE American Jewish Committee
