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PictureRep. Edward Royce (R-Calif.)

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International praises the bipartisan effort in Congress to publicly condemn the murderous wave of terror that has hit Israel in recent weeks, sending a letter to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, holding a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Thursday on the Palestinian incitement against Israel and promoting House Resolution 293, which formally denounces anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement in the West Bank.
 
Representatives Edward Royce (R-Calif.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) are leading the charge, initiating a congressional letter to Abbas urging him to make sure “immediate action is taken to end incitement and bring the situation under control” and pointing out that “statements made by you, other political figures, clerics and official PA media have undoubtedly served to inflame the current situation.”
 
The letter from Congress concludes by encouraging Abbas to take the first step in curbing violence through a “sustained effort to publicly and officially repudiate these attacks, ending the unacceptable incitement to violence emanating from Palestinian Authority officials and institutions, continuing important security cooperation with Israel and agreeing to unconditionally renew direct talks with the Israelis.”
 
B’nai B’rith encourages additional members of congress to sign onto the letter, asking Abbas to take “concrete steps” to quell the surge in violence.
 
Yesterday the House Foreign Affairs Committee met to discuss Palestinian incitement and violence against Israeli citizens. During the hearing, at which several expert witnesses testified, Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) commented on the vast scope of anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, referencing a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) resolution passed by its executive board this week. B’nai B’rith spoke out forcefully twice this week against the UNESCO resolution, which was replete with libelous falsehoods about the Jewish state.
 
The committee also approved H. Res. 293, which now moves to the full House of Representatives. B’nai B’rith encourages all House members to support the resolution.
 
Efforts by politicians from both sides of the aisle to bring attention to this important issue are greatly appreciated by B’nai B’rith and the entire Jewish community. Too often Israel is the victim of baseless attacks from governments and international bodies with a severely skewed view of the Middle East. Against this backdrop the role of the U.S. Congress in combating anti-Israel hatred is essential.

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