S. HRG. 108–290 PALESTINIAN EDUCATION—TEACHING PEACE OR WAR? HEARING BEFORE A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION SPECIAL HEARING OCTOBER 30, 2003—WASHINGTON, DC Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 90–712 PDF WASHINGTON : 2004 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS TED STEVENS, Alaska, Chairman THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky TOM HARKIN, Iowa CONRAD BURNS, Montana BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama HARRY REID, Nevada JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire HERB KOHL, Wisconsin ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah PATTY MURRAY, Washington BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota LARRY CRAIG, Idaho DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois MIKE DEWINE, Ohio TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana JAMES W. MORHARD, Staff Director LISA SUTHERLAND, Deputy Staff Director TERRENCE E. SAUVAIN, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania, Chairman THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi TOM HARKIN, Iowa JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina LARRY CRAIG, Idaho DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas HARRY REID, Nevada TED STEVENS, Alaska HERB KOHL, Wisconsin MIKE DEWINE, Ohio PATTY MURRAY, Washington RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia (Ex officio) Professional Staff BETTILOU TAYLOR JIM SOURWINE MARK LAISCH SUDIP SHRIKANT PARIKH CANDICE ROGERS ELLEN MURRAY (Minority) ERIK FATEMI (Minority) ADRIENNE HALLETT (Minority) Administrative Support CAROLE GEAGLEY (II) CONTENTS Page Opening statement of Senator Arlen Specter ........................................................ 1 Statement of Itamar Marcus, director, Palstinian Media Watch ........................ 2 Statement of Hon. David Satterfield, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Department of State ................................................. 3 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 5 Statement of James Kunder, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia and Near Eastern Affairs, Director, Afghan Relief and Reconstruction, USAID ... 9 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 10 Statement of Richard Solomon, President, U.S. Institute of Peace ..................... 13 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 15 Prepared statement of Itamar Marcus .................................................................. 32 Statement of Hassan Abdel Rahman, chief representative, PLO Mission .......... 33 Statement of Ziad Asali, president, American Task Force on Palestine ............. 38 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 40 Opening statement of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton ...................................... 52 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 54 Statement of Morton Klein, president, Zionist Organization of America ........... 55 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 59 Prepared statement of The American Jewish Committee .................................... 68 (III) PALESTINIAN EDUCATION—TEACHING PEACE OR WAR? TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2003 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES, COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met at 9:30 a.m., in room SD–192, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Arlen Specter (chairman) presiding. Present: Senator Specter. Also present: Senator Clinton. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER Senator SPECTER. It is 9:30, the scheduled starting time for the hearing of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. This morning, we are going to take up the issue of education of Palestinian young people, the issue of the funding of the U.S. Gov- ernment for the Palestinian Authority, and the implications on the Mid-East peace process. A few days ago, I had an opportunity to see some videos of young Palestinians talking about suicide bombings and the benefits of participating in that kind of a suicide bombing as an entry to heav- en and as an entry to paradise. Notwithstanding some substantial experience in terrorism and what is going on in the Mid-East I found these videos to be absolutely shocking—absolutely shocking that teenagers, attractive young Palestinians, were stating a view that the desired goal in life is to be a suicide bomber, to kill as many Israelis as they could as an entry to nirvana, to heaven, to paradise. This hearing has been scheduled as promptly as we could be- cause of our views that these films ought to be known by the people of the United States and the people of the world as to what is going on. We have seen and heard a lot about suicide bombings, but I be- lieve these videos have a portrayal and a depiction on an entirely different level. Consideration was given to having this hearing in the Foreign Operations subcommittee, where I’m a member, and I discussed it with the chairman there, Senator McConnell, and the decision was made to proceed in this subcommittee because the Foreign Oper- ations appropriation bill is now under consideration by the full Senate and it was thought this was the better committee to pro- ceed. (1) 2 We are going to be hearing from administration authorities. We’re going to be hearing from the representatives of the Pales- tinian Authority. We’re going to be hearing from people who are in favor of the peace process, people who have questions about the peace process. Since the Oslo Accords in 1993, the U.S. Government has con- tributed $1,200,000,000 to the Palestinian Authority, almost all of it going to non-governmental agencies. This year, some $20 million has been allocated under waiver provisions, allocated by the De- partment of State, and we’re going to be questioning the wisdom of that, in light of the terrorism that the Palestinian Authority is a party to. Before, some $36 million went directly to the Pales- tinian Authority, so most of the funding has been going to non-gov- ernmental agencies. But, even there, there’s a substantial question as to where the money ends up. In 1995, Senator Shelby and I introduced an amendment to the Foreign Operations bill which prohibited governmental funding to the Palestinian Authority until the Palestinian Authority made a maximum effort to avoid terrorism and to recognize the State of Israel. Now, that is a very, very brief overview and a very brief intro- duction. STATEMENT OF ITAMAR MARCUS, DIRECTOR, PALSTINIAN MEDIA WATCH Senator SPECTER. We have a very distinguished panel of wit- nesses. We’re going to start, really, out of turn here today, with Mr. Itamar Marcus, who is the director of the Palestinian Media Watch, showing us these videos, which, as I say, I saw a few days ago, and that will set the stage for the witnesses from the adminis- tration, the witnesses from the Palestinian Authority, and our other witnesses. Mr. Marcus, if you would identify yourself for the record, I would appreciate it. Mr. MARCUS. Yes, director of Palestinian Media Watch. Senator SPECTER. And do you have in your possession certain videos? Mr. MARCUS. Yes. Senator SPECTER. And where were the videos obtained? Mr. MARCUS. Everything that you’ll see was filmed in Palestinian Authority television. This is PBC, Palestine Broadcast Company, that is owned and operated by the Palestinian Authority. Senator SPECTER. All right, would you please show those to the subcommittee? VIDEO PRESENTATION ‘‘Ask for death’’ is the message the Palestinian Authority has been conveying to its children since the start of violence in October 2000. In July 2002, two articulate 11-year-old girls were interviewed in a studio of offi- cial Palestinian television. What has caused this compelling desire for death among these children? The Pal- estinian Authority has been making a supreme effort to convince their own children that there is no greater achievement than to die for Allah in battle, known as Shahada. This indoctrination film clip is designed to offset a child’s natural fear of death. It portrays Shahada as both heroic and tranquil, and was broadcast repeat- edly over the last 2 years. 3 The film’s hero, a nice-looking school boy, leaves his father a farewell letter ex- plaining his choice to carry out Shahada. This film was broadcast on official Palestinian television. Most of the scenes por- tray blood and death. The film ends with this screen displaying, in Arabic and in English, ‘‘Ask for death. The life will be given to you.’’