Human Rights Group Launches Campaign Calling for End to U.S. Funding for Fatah-Hamas Unity Government
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Human rights group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, on Wednesday launched a petition campaign calling on President Obama to halt U.S. aid to the newly formed Fatah-Hamas Palestinian unity government following the recent kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens.
Within the first 24 hours, more than 10,000 supporters had joined the campaign, which urges Obama to issue an ultimatum to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to “choose between peace and Hamas.”
“The kidnapping and murder of children demands action. Hamas has once again crossed a red line that defiles humanity,” Rabbi Marvin Hier, the Center’s founder and dean, said in an open letter. “There are no Hamas ‘technocrats,’ only ‘terrorcrats’ who support its genocidal ideology. We have heard no condemnation of this heinous crime from any Hamas official or ‘technocrat’. What we have heard are the words of Hamas MP Mushir al-Masri: ‘Better luck next time, God willing,’ and the celebrations and distribution of sweets by some Palestinians.”
The three murdered Israeli boys – Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Frankel – were buried side-by-side in Modi’in on Tuesday, a day after their bodies were found in a shallow grave near Hebron. They were abducted by Hamas terrorists 18 days earlier while hitchhiking home from school.