[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 157 (Wednesday, October 11, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H9862-H9864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                AMERICAN DIES IN CUSTODY OF PALESTINIANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fox of Pennsylvania). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentleman from Colorado [Mr. Skaggs] is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Burton] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I hope all of my colleagues who 
are here will listen to what I am going to read to them. A man named 
Mohammed Rahim Mosleh, an American citizen, was picked up for 
questioning Wednesday at a cafe by plain- clothesmen who identified 
themselves as agents of Jericho's preventive security police on the 
West Bank, now the new domicile of the Palestinian Liberation 
Organization.
  He was picked up. He was dressed only in his trousers when his body 
was returned today at 2:00 a.m.
  Now get this, my colleagues, his forehead was bruised blue, his lip 
was torn open, blood had flowed from one ear, and there were what 
appeared to be burn marks on his right foot, like cigarette burns, 
according to family members.
  Palestinian security officials speaking on conditions of anonymity, 
said Mosleh was overcome by the 98 degree heat in Jericho and had a 
heart attack. Get that, he had a heart attack with his head smashed in, 
his lip bleeding, his blood coming out of his ear and burn marks on his 
feet.
  A doctor at Jericho's hospital, where Mosleh was dead on arrival, 
refused to issue a death certificate. The certificate would normally 
include a cause of death.
  Witnesses said Mosleh was playing cards at a village coffee shop when 
six men identifying themselves as preventive security agents for the 
PLO approached his table Wednesday and invited Mosleh outside. They 
said they were investigating a theft of gold from his sister and asked 
him to come with them to Jericho. When he did not return that night, 
his wife and two of his sons drove to Jericho on Thursday to ask about 
him. Preventive security agents twice told them to come back later, 
assuring them that Mosleh was there.
  On the third trip, another agent said preventive security knew 
nothing about his whereabouts.
  Now, I am for the peace process in the Middle East. We all want there 
to be peace in the Middle East, and we want it to work out between the 
Israeli Government and the PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, and the PLO 
forces. But 

[[Page H 9863]]
here is an American citizen that was tortured to death, and nobody is 
doing anything about it. This is an American citizen who had his head 
bashed in, his lip torn open, beaten in the ear so severely that blood 
came out of his ear, and burn marks on his feet. He was tortured to 
death, and nobody is doing anything about it.
  To add insult to injury, we are going to give the PLO $500 million 
over the next 5 years. Now, I am for the peace process. But this kind 
of baloney has to stop, and so I say to the State Department and to the 
President and anybody else who has any authority over this peace 
process over there, we want a full accounting of this man's death and 
those who perpetrated this atrocity must be brought to justice.
  If we do not get justice, then we ought to cut off that $500 million 
in aid we are giving them. There should be severe conditions, in any 
event, put on that aid.

               [From the Washington Post, Sept. 30, 1995]

                American Dies in Custody of Palestinians

                          (By Barton Gellman)

       Ein Yabroud, West Bank, Sept. 29.--A Palestinian American 
     grocer on vacation from Dallas was returned dead to his wife 
     and family here early today after about 36 hours in custody 
     of security police in the Palestinian self-rule enclave of 
     Jericho.
       Members of his immediate family said Aram Mohammed Rabim 
     Mosleh, 52, picked up for questioning Wednesday at an Ein 
     Yabroud cafe by plainclothesmen who identified themselves as 
     agents of Jericho's Preventive Security police. Mosleh was 
     dressed only in trousers when his body was returned today at 
     2 a.m. His forehead was bruised blue, his lip was torn, blood 
     had flowed from one ear, and there were what appeared to be 
     burn marks on his right foot, according to family members who 
     saw him.
       Palestinian security officials, speaking on condition of 
     anonymity, said Mosleh was overcome by the 98-degree weather 
     in Jericho and had a heart attack. A doctor at Jericho's 
     hospital, where Mosleh was dead on arrival, refused to issue 
     a death certificate. The certificate would normally include a 
     cause of death.
       Mosleh is at least the fourth person--the first holding a 
     U.S. passport--to die in suspicious circumstances in the 
     hands of the Palestinian self-rule security establishment.
       Although the time of death could not be pinned down 
     precisely, Mosleh appears to have lost his life within hours 
     of Thursday's White House appearance by Palestinian leader 
     Yasser Arafat for the signing of an accord extending 
     palestinian rule in the West Bank. The Jericho forces are 
     responsible to Arafat.
       One American official said the U.S. consul general in 
     Jerusalem would place ``tremendous pressure'' on the Jericho 
     forces for an independent investigation into Mosleh's death, 
     and said the FBI would take part, as it sometimes does in 
     foreign cases involving Americans to establish if there was 
     any political motivation against the United States.
       ``This will be an enormous embarrassment for Arafat in 
     Washington,'' the official said.
       A report last month by the Israeli human rights group B T 
     selem found a ``greatly disturbing picture'' of ``gross human 
     rights violations'' by the Jericho-based security police. 
     Some of those interrogated and released have told of being 
     beaten and tortured with electric prods, hit cigarettes and 
     burning plastic.
       John Bargeron, deputy consul general in Jerusalem, was said 
     to be planning a trip to Jericho on Saturday to meet with the 
     chief of Palestinian forces there. He planned to ask about 
     unconfirmed reports that another Palestinian American had 
     been arrested with Mosleh and remained in custody.
       This village near Ramallah, about 12 miles north of 
     Jerusalem, has an unusually large number of American 
     citizens. Many of the men, like Mosleh, live and work in the 
     United States. They send money to their families here and 
     return for one or two months a year.
       Mosleh was no stranger to controversy. Two years ago, 
     Israeli police arrested him on suspicion that he had killed 
     two Palestinians in the West Bank. They held him eight 
     months, according to U.S. diplomatic officials and Asid 
     Mosleh, his oldest son. The Israelis released him without 
     charge.
       Mosleh then returned to Dallas, where he owns a grocery 
     store. The business made him wealthy by the standards of Ein 
     Yabroud, where he was nicknamed ``the millionaire,'' the 
     Associated Press reported. He arrived here for a visit last 
     month at his fortress-like and palatial family * * *.
       ``Anybody can have a heart attack,'' said Wahid Hussein 
     Mosleh's brother-in-law, who said the family did not want 
     further trouble with Preventive Security.
       Witnesses said Mosleh was playing cards at a village coffee 
     shop when six men identifying themselves as Preventive 
     Security agents approached his table Wednesday and invited 
     Mosleh outside. They said they were investigating a theft of 
     gold from his sister and asked him to come with them to 
     Jericho.
       When he did not return that night, his wife and two of his 
     sons drove to Jericho on Thursday to ask about him. A 
     Preventive Security agent twice told them to come back later, 
     assuring them that Mosleh was there.
       One their third trip another agent said Preventive Security 
     knew nothing about Mosleh.
       A preliminary investigation by U.S. diplomats suggested 
     today that Mosleh was handed over by Preventive Security to 
     the Mukhabarat. One Preventive Security representative told a 
     U.S. field investigator that his service had obtained a 
     ``receipt'' for the prisoner.
                                                                    ____


                  PLO Violations of the Peace Accords

       1. The PLO does not halt terrorist attacks by PLO members.
       2. The PLO has not disciplined PLO members who engage in 
     terrorism.
       3. The PLO continues to preach hostile propaganda against 
     Israel.
       4. The PLO still has not changed the PLO Covenant, which 
     denies Israel's right to exist and calls for its destruction.
       5. The PLO has failed to urge Palestinian Arabs to reject 
     anti-Israel Violence and terrorism.
       6. The PLO has failed to honor Israel's requests for the 
     extradition of terrorist suspects.
       7. The PLO hires fugitive terrorists for its police force. 
     (More than 20 fugitive terrorists have been hired by the PLO 
     police force.)
       8. The PLO has not adhered to the agreed upon limits 
     concerning sovereignty issues.
       9. The PLO fails to condemn terrorist attacks. (Between 
     June and November 1994, there were at least 72 Arab terrorist 
     attacks on Israelis. Arafat did not explicitly condemn any of 
     these attacks.)
       10. The PLO does not respect human rights in Gaza and 
     Jericho.
       11. The PLO operates in Jerusalem in direct violation of 
     the accords.
       12. The PLO fails to prevent incitement by organizations 
     within its jurisdiction. It has not banned Hamas or Islamic 
     Jihad.
                                                                    ____


                        Is the PLO Really Broke?

     (``The conglomeration of Palestinian movements under the 
     umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization are the 
     richest of all terrorist groups. It is estimated that they 
     have worldwide assets approaching 10 billion U.S. dollars and 
     an annual income of about 1\1/2\ to 2 billion U.S. 
     dollars.''--report by the United Kingdom's National Criminal 
     Intelligence Service (NCIS)).


                      a few of the plo's holdings

       The PLO has bank accounts around the world.
       The PLO has a partnership in Nigeria Airways.
       The PLO owns the duty-free shop at Nuratala Mohammed 
     International Airport in Lagos.
       The PLO controls Air Zimbabwe.
       The PLO controls Kenya Airways.
       The PLO owns the duty-free shop at Jomo Keynatta Airport in 
     Nairobi.
       In Nicaragua, 25% of the national airline Aeronica is PLO 
     owned.
       The PLO owns a substantial share of the duty-free store at 
     Nicaragua's ``Aeropuerto Internacionale Las Nercedas.''
       Mr. Arafat, a billionaire, owns twelve homes and three 
     airplanes.
                                                                    ____


                      PLO Compliance and Financing

       The Clinton administration is providing $500 million to the 
     PLO.
       This funding has to be authorized by Congress.
       The Senate, under pressure from the Clinton administration, 
     is preparing a long-term authorization of this funding, with 
     almost no strings attached.
       This is a scandal of major proportions; as conservatives, 
     we must do something to stop it.
       According to the British National Criminal Intelligence 
     Service [NCIS], the PLO is hiding assets of $7 to $10 
     billion.
       The PLO is in major violation of their agreements with 
     Israel--they continue to support terrorism. Arafat, in his 
     speeches, continues to praise terrorists. The PLO refuses to 
     hand murderers over to Israel, as they are obligated to do by 
     the accords.
       The PLO is misusing funds from foreign donors and is 
     engaged in massive fraud. Authenticated documents proving 
     that donor funds have been used for a host of illegal 
     activities.
                                                                    ____


         [From the Center for Security Policy, Sept. 27, 1995]

 We're ``Shocked, Shocked'': Arafat Bites the Hands Trying To Feed Him 
                    $500 Million in U.S. Foreign Aid

       Washington, D.C.--In an extraordinary display of 
     ingratitude, not to say intemperateness, Yasser Arafat's 
     Palestinian Authority (PA) recently repudiated legislation 
     aimed at ensuring its continued access to hundreds of 
     millions in U.S. tax-dollars. On 23 September 1995, the PA's 
     ``Ministry of Information'' issued a press release 
     excoriating a legislative initiative sponsored by Sens. Jesse 
     Helms and Claiborne Pell, the chairman and ranking member 
     respectively of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The 
     Helms-Pell legislation was adopted last week by the United 
     States Senate as an amendment to the Fiscal Year 1996 Foreign 
     Operations appropriations bill.
       Without mentioning the amendment by name, the Palestinian 
     Authority heaped vitriol on the preconditions imposed by the 
     Helms-Pell amendment on further disbursement of the $500 
     million that president Clinton pledged to Arafat two years 
     ago. Its release declared, in part:
       ``The American decision to extend financial assistance to 
     the Palestinian National 

[[Page H 9864]]
     Authority contradicts any accepted practice. This decision that was 
     taken while handcuffed (sic) with heavy chains of conditions. 
     It is provocative and insulting to the Palestinian national 
     feelings. The decision is a flagrant intrusion in internal 
     Palestinian matters. . . The American Congress has placed at 
     the very heart of its conditions the closing of Palestinian 
     institutions in Jerusalem and the cessation of support by the 
     Palestinian National Authority for these institutions. This 
     exposes the true face of American policy towards the Holy 
     City, a policy that supports and assists further Jewish 
     occupation of Jerusalem, its annexation to Israel and it 
     further confirms Israel's claims that Jerusalem is its 
     united, everlasting capital. . .
       ``. . . The American Congress has relinquished the American 
     role as a sponsor of the Declaration of Principles and 
     declared its absolute partiality in the interest of the worst 
     and most damaging of Israeli interpretations, by rushing 
     ahead more than the Israelis themselves have done when they 
     [members of Congress] demanded the canceling of some articles 
     in the Palestinian National charter and when they demanded 
     Palestinian co-operation with Israel in surrendering wanted 
     Palestinian citizens to it despite the fact that this demand 
     violates the signed agreements between the PLO and the 
     government of Israel. . .''
       ``The conditions that the American Congress demanded will 
     not find anyone to respond to them. The members of Congress, 
     who do not respect international legitimacy, will not need to 
     wait six long months because the Palestinian people will not 
     barter their rights for all the money in the world.'' 
     (Emphasis added.)


                arafat never promised you a rose garden

       What makes you such vitriolic attacks particularly stunning 
     is the fact that they are basically directed at two senior 
     Senators who have gone to great lengths to protect the PLO/PA 
     from the sort of real conditions that many Americans believe 
     are in order. In light of Arafat's continuing support for 
     terrorism against Israel, his failure to comply with other 
     commitments under the Declaration of Principles and his 
     diversion of international aid to personal and political 
     purposes inimical to real peace, a powerful case can be made 
     for denying any further distribution of the roughly $350 
     million yet to be disbursed to the PA.
       Congressional leaders, and Senator Helms in particular, 
     have come under enormous pressure from the Clinton 
     Administration, the Israeli government of Yitzhak Rabin and 
     the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to keep the aid 
     flowing to Arafat, such problems notwithstanding. In the end, 
     Senator Helms was induced to set aside his instincitive--and 
     well-founded--opposition to undisciplined foreign aid and to 
     those who support international terrorism. Instead, he lent 
     his name to a foreign aid bill for the PLO/PA whose 
     conditions were deliberately crafted with sufficient 
     ambiguity and/or loop-holes to meet with Arafat's approval 
     and to allow hundreds of millions of additional tax-dollars 
     go to his organizations.


                            the bottom line

       The simple truth is that two years after the Oslo I 
     agreements were signed, efforts to moderate Yasser Arafat's 
     behavior through financial, political (and, in the case of 
     Israel, territorial) concessions have not had the desired 
     effect. Instead, such concessions in the face of continued 
     Palestinian gangsterism appear only to have encouraged more 
     of the same. For example, last week, even as the Congress was 
     considering the Helms-Pell legislation, Arafat used 
     interviews with the Egyptian and Jordanian press to affirm 
     that the Oslo agreements are implementing the notorious 
     ``plan to phases'' adopted by the PLO in 1974. Phase I 
     involves obtaining territory from Israel via negotiation; 
     Phase II will use that territory to launch a final campaign 
     for the destruction of Israel.
       Fortunately, Congress has an alternative at hand to such 
     appeasement. Legislation has been introduced in both the 
     Senate and House that would mandate a complete cut-off of 
     funding for the PLO/PA. This bill, known as the Middle East 
     Peace Compliance Act and sponsored in the Senate by Sens. 
     Alfonse D'Amato, Richard Shelby and Larry Graig and in the 
     House by Reps. Michael Forbes, Jim Saxton and Tom DeLay, 
     would allow continued aid to go toward legitimate, 
     monitorable and private humanitarian projects in Palestinian-
     controlled areas--provided the PLO honors its commitments.
       The Center for Security Policy urges Senator Helms and 
     others affronted by Yasser Arafat's imperiousness to 
     substitute the real conditions called for by the D'Amato-
     Forbes bill for the ersatz conditions of the Helms-Pell 
     legislation. As the attached op.ed by Center for Security 
     Policy director Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. published in today's 
     Newsday makes clear, Israel is not the only nation with stake 
     in the quality of such conditionality. America's not vital 
     interests dictate that the United States must make every 
     effort to avoid rewarding PLO support for terrorism and other 
     non-compliance.

                          ____________________