20 middle east policy questions to ask candidates running public office in the USA

By David Bedein

I have spent the past week covering Middle East policy issues during the

presidential primaries in Pennsylvania, in my capacity as the Middle East

correspondent for the Philadelphia Bulletin.

I find that people hesitate about which would be the appropriate questions to

ask candidates for president concerning their proposed Middle East polices.

The following twenty Middle East policy questions are the questions that

American voters may wish to pose to Senators Obama, Clinton and McCain...along with all candidates for the US Congress

1. Numerous declassified security reports confirm

that Saudi Arabia continues to fund groups defined by

the US government as terrorist organizations, while

Saudi Arabia maintains an active state of war against

the state of Israel since 1948. How would you, as President

relate to the security threat posed by Saudi Arabia?

2, The current administration offers major arms sales

to Saudi Arabia, despite its pro-terror posture. Would

you, as President, continue this policy of arming the

Saudis?

3, Successive US presidents have supported the idea

that Palestinian refugees should be reside in the squalor of UNRWA refugee

camps, under the premise and promise of the "right of return",

instead of being rehabilitated under the principles of UNHCR which

work to rehabilitate refugees in decent living permanent living conditions,

instead of perpetuation the unreal notion of the right

of return to villages and homes that no longer exist.

Would you, as President, call for an application of

UNHCR principles to alleviate the

plight of Palestinian refugees?

4. The Bush Administration has announced a program

to arm the Fatah, despite current terror activities of

the Fatah and despite the fact that Fatah remains on

the list of organizations defined by American law as

illegal terrorist organizations. Would you, as President,

continue to arm the Fatah?

.

5 The PA has used US AID funds to foster an Islamic

Sharia constitution which doe not provide juridical

status for any religion besides Islam. Does you, as President , approve of

this PA policy? Would you, as President, ask for a change in such

a constitution as a condition of future aid to the PA?

6. The Bush Administration has restrained Israel from

counterattacking in Gaza to put an end to the daily

missile attacks from Gaza. Would you, as President,

restrain the hand of Israel?

7. As a matter of policy, terrorists who fire missiles

at Israel from Gaza use Gaza civilians as human

shields. Would you, as President, recognize the fact

that casualties in Gaza remain a direct result of

this human shield policy?

8. The Palestinian Authority harbors terrorists

suspected of murder and refuses to hand them over for

trial. The Clinton and Bush Administrations turned a

blind eye to such a policy. Would you, as President,

allow such a policy to continue?

9. Palestinian Authority operates with no system of

civil liberties or human rights. Would you, as President,

condition for any future US assistance in a

human rights and civil liberties reform in the PA?

10. Christians are persecuted in the PA and are often

not allowed to practice their religion in the open in

the PA. The American consulate in Jerusalem has

refused to render assistance to Christians who are

persecuted by the PA. Would you, as President,

continue to ignore the plight of Christians who are persecuted in

the PA or will you, as President,

champion the cause of Christians to practice their religion freely in

the PA?

11, Syria continues to host and support a plethora of

terror groups. What would the policy to Syria, as

President, be to Syria in this regard?

12. Syria continues to orchestrate the export of

lethal narcotics to the world. Would you, as President,

support an effort to destroy the Syrian source of

lethal narcotics in the Bekka Valley?

14. Since the Golan Heights was used by Syria between

1949 and 1967 to attack Israeli communities in the

Galilee, would you, as President,

support an effort to

force Israel to withdraw from the Golan?

15. The Bush Administration asks that Israel abide by

the road map for peace. Which road map would you, as President,

endorse- the road map of April 30th

2003 or the road map of May 25th 2003? [The second

road map contains the reservations of Israel, which

include detailed Israeli directives to disband terror

groups as a precondition to continued negotiations]

16. The Bush Administration characterizes the Fatah

terror organization as a "moderate" factor. Would you, as President,

share in that characterization.

17. The Clinton and Bush Administrations overlooked

the fact that the PLO never ratified the Oslo accord

"declaration of principles" which required the PLO and

Fatah to recognize Israel, denounce terror and cancel

the PLO/Fatah charter which calls for Israel's

obliteration. It will be recalled that the PLO signed

the Oslo accords on the White House lawn on September

13th, 1993 and would not ratify these accords when

the PLO executive convened on October 6th, 1993 in

Tunis and would not cancel the PLO charter when the

PNC convened on April 24th. 1996. Would you, as President,

continue the Clinton/Bush policy of ignoring

the fact that the PLO never ratified the Oslo accord

and never cancelled the PLO charter?

18. The Clinton and Bush administration instituted a

policy of ignoring the message communicated by the

newly constituted Palestinian Authority in the Arabic

language which communicates a clear language of

continued war on Israel. Would you, as President,

insist on a change in that policy and issue a+

directive that any aid to the PA require a cessation

of calls to terrorism by the official media outlets of

the PA?

.

19. The Clinton and Bush administrations have

consistently ignored the fact that the new Palestinian

Authority curriculum introduced by the PA inculcates

the next generation to continue the war to liberate

all of Palestine. Would you, as President,

ask for a

cancellation of such a curriculum?

20. Since the Gaza withdrawal demonstrates that

Palestinians will use areas under their control to

launch missile attacks against Israel, would you, as President,

insist on future Israeli withdrawals?

David Bedein

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.