June 26, 2003 Contact: (212) 481-1500 Attn: NEWS EDITOR

ZOA CONDEMNS POWELL FOR IMPLYING ISRAELI SELF-DEFENSE IS "THE SAME THING" AS
PALESTINIAN ARAB TERRORISM

NEW YORK- The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has condemned the
statement by Secretary of State Colin Powell strongly implying that Israeli
self-defense actions are "the same thing" as Palestinian Arab terrorism.

Interviewed on the Arabic television station Al-Jazeera on June 23, 2003,
Powell was asked, "Can you explain the difference you see between legitimate
resistance and terrorism in the Middle East?" Powell replied by saying that
the recent Palestinian Arab drive-by shooting in which a 7 year-old girl was
murdered "is terrorism." He then added: "The same thing happens on the other
side when the response comes and innocent people lose their lives, young
people on the Palestinian side."

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said:

"Secretary Powell's remark could certainly be interpreted as meaning that
since both Israeli and Arab civilians have died, the Israeli and Arab
actions which caused those deaths are 'the same thing.' This is false and
outrageous. There is no equivalency between Palestinian Arab terror, which
deliberately targets innocent civilians, and Israeli self-defense actions,
which never target innocent civilians."

"How and why someone dies is important. To say that Israeli and Arab
casualties are 'the same thing' is like saying that casualties caused by
U.S. forces in Afghanistan are 'the same thing' as the thousands of
Americans murdered in the 9/11 attacks."

Powell Should Be Telling the Arabs That Their Violence is Morally Wrong, Not
Just "Ineffective"

Asked by Al-Jazeera Television "Is there any legitimate resistance?," Powell
refused to state that all Palestinian Arab violence is illegitimate.
Instead, he argued that Palestinian Arab violence was not effective: "What
has this kind of resistance achieved for Palestinian people, whether you
describe it as legitimate or illegitimate, whether it is terrorism or
resistance, whatever you call it, let me ask the question this way, what has
it achieved for the Palestinian people?"

ZOA president Klein commented: "The Secretary of State should be telling the
Arab world, loud and clear, in no uncertain terms, that all Arab violence
against Israelis is illegitimate and immoral and must stop immediately,
whether or not it 'achieves' anything."

Powell's Repeated "Cycle of Violence" Remarks Implies Moral Equivalency
Between Terrorists & Israel

In his remarks to Al Jazeera Television, Powell repeatedly referred to
Palestinian Arab terrorism and Israeli self-defense action as "the cycle,"
as if the two are morally equivalent. Similarly, Powell said on June 22,
2003: "I regret that we continue to find ourselves trapped in this action
and counteraction, provocation and reaction to provocation."

ZOA president Klein said: "The term 'cycle of violence' implies a moral
equivalency between Arab terrorism and Israeli self-defense. Would Secretary
Powell describe America's fight with Al Qaeda as a 'cycle of violence'?
Would he say that the only thing wrong with Al Qaeda terrorism is that it
has not 'achieved' very much for Al Qaeda's cause?"

Another U.S. Official Spoke of Arabs' "Legitimate Resistance"

The ZOA notes that Deputy Undersecretary of State David Satterfield, who has
been sent to Israel as one of the leaders of the U.S. team monitoring
implementation of the Road Map, has made statements describing some Arab
terrorism as legitimate "resistance." While touring southern Lebanon in
December 1998. He was asked by reporters about attacks launched by Hezbollah
against Israel. (Hezbollah is on the U.S. list of terrorist groups; its
attacks include the 1983 car-bomb massacre of 241 Marines in Lebanon.)
According to the Arab newspaper Al-Nahar (Dec. 4, 1998), he replied: "We
make a distinction between resistance and terror. We don't think that this
resistance is terrorism." When a correspondent for the Journal of
Counterterrorism asked the State Department for its response, a spokesman
"refused to answer whether Satterfield's comments were in line with State
Department policy or not." He did not deny that Satterfield made the
statement. (Vol.6, No.2, p.26)
* * *

The Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1897, is the oldest
pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to strengthen
U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and Congress about the
dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-Israel bias in the media and on
college campuses. Its past presidents have included Supreme Court Justice
Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver.