By Pat Savage
Why was legislation that would have sanctioned those who sponsor Palestinian terrorism weakened? Many are pointing to a strong lobbying campaign by the Palestinian Authority and Qatar that focused on Bronx Rep. Eliot Engel.
Engel chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The two year old Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act highlights Qatar for aiding and abetting terrorists. It reads in part, “Hamas has received significant financial and military support from Qatar. Qatar has hosted multiple senior Hamas officials, including Hamas leader Khaled Mashal since 2012.”
“Qatar, a longtime US ally, has for many years openly financed Hamas, a group that continues to undermine regional stability,” added Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen.
In March 19, just two days before the updated bill was submitted to the committee, a representative for Engel met with lobbyists, the Post reported. “Eliot told me directly that he was getting a lot of pressure from the Qataris,” a professional acquaintance of Engel’s told The Post. “The Qataris did a full court press to remove themselves from the bill.”
On July 23, 2019, the House of Representatives passed the Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act (H.R. 1850), noted AIPAC. Authored by Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), the bipartisan legislation imposes sanctions on foreign individuals and nations that support Palestinian terrorist groups, such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). These groups are responsible for countless attacks on Israelis and for the deaths of numerous Americans.
“Hamas and PIJ are Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorist organizations that seeks the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state in its place,” AIPAC pointed out. “Designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States and European Union, Hamas controls the Gaza Strip from which it launches attacks on Israel. On May 3, a PIJ sniper in Gaza shot and wounded two Israeli officers during a Hamas-organized border riot. The incident set off a round of violence that saw both terrorist groups launch nearly 700 rockets at Israel, killing five Israelis, wounding dozens, and forcing millions into bomb shelters. The United States must continue to stand by Israel and work to cut the flow of resources to Hamas and PIJ.”
In 2019, Mast tried again with an almost identical bill — “except the tough talk on Qatar was stripped entirely,” AIPAC’s summary pointed out. “In addition, a new section was added offering a number of loopholes around sanctions for organizations or individuals offering “humanitarian assistance to Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or any affiliate.”
“After it became clear last Congress that the bill wasn’t going to pass as it was currently written these changes were made to make it more likely the bill could get enough support to pass,” a spokesman for Mast’s office told The New York Post. “The 2019 version easily passed the House on a voice vote in July.”
