Military

Boucher Says Terrorist Groups "Undercutting Palestinian Cause"

(Calls upon neighboring countries to focus upon ending support and
stopping funds) (2100)
State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said that not only Israelis
and Palestinians, but everybody in the Middle East region should focus
upon stopping funds and support from reaching terrorist groups such as
Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Brigade.
Boucher, speaking at the June 12 State Department briefing in
Washington, said those groups "are undercutting the Palestinian cause,
making it harder for Palestinians to achieve what they aspire to, as
well as just perpetrating terrible violence against innocent people."
"We think it's time for those who believe in peace to act against
terror and in support of the goal of peace that was set forth by the
president," said Boucher, in reference to the Middle East roadmap that
both parties agreed to in Aqaba, Jordan.
The violent groups, he said, "need to be stopped." "There are things
the Israelis can do, there are things the Palestinians can do, there
are things the Arabs can do. And we all need to be working to stop
those violent groups from carrying out these kind of activities."
Boucher repeated Secretary Powell's condemnation of the June 11
suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem, but said the Bush administration's
views on Israeli retaliation and targeted killings "haven't changed."
"I think we've always said that Israel has a need to defend itself but
it should do that in a way that furthers the long-term goal of peace,"
said Boucher.
"I'm sure each side wants the other side to do more," said the
spokesman. "And there are steps that the Israelis promised to take,
there are steps the Palestinians promised to take and steps that
they're committed to by accepting the roadmap."
Boucher called upon the Palestinians to do more to carry out their
security obligations under the Middle East roadmap plan, and said the
United States and other nations "need to work with them to make sure
they can do that."
Following are excerpts from the June 12 State Department briefing
containing Spokesman Richard Boucher's comments on the Middle East:
(begin excerpt)
MR. BOUCHER: Since you're giving me the opportunity. First, we want to
make clear, and I think the Secretary has made clear in his
conversations that we absolutely condemn the horrific act of terrorism
that took place in Jerusalem yesterday and extend our deepest
sympathies to the victims of the vicious attack, their families, and
to the Israeli people. Our view is we must stop the terrorism. And we
cannot allow this terrible and tragic incident to derail the progress
that began at the President's Red Sea meetings in Sharm el-Sheikh and
Aqaba.
Prime Minister Abbas and Prime Minister Sharon have both expressed
their commitment to the goals of peace and security. And we're talking
to them, working with them about how to remain focused in moving
forward towards that goal. We think it's time for those who believe in
peace to act against terror and in support of a goal of peace that was
set forth by the President. And part of-- well, the subject of the
Secretary's phone calls is to talk with people about how to keep
moving towards that goal, despite the violence; how to stop the
terrorism; to remind people of all the commitments that were made on
the Red Sea last week; particularly in his conversations with the Arab
states, to talk to them about the things that they were going to do,
that they can do, to help the Palestinians build a capability to stop
the terrorist groups from getting money from whatever sources, and
really to implement a lot of those things. So that all those steps
that we can take to make sure the focus remains on the terrorists --
that the people in Hamas, the people in Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the
Al-Aqsa Brigade -- all these organizations, they need to find their
funding cut off, their support cut off, and their ability to operate
cut off. And we think that everybody in the region -- not just
Israelis and Palestinians, but everybody in the region should be
focused on doing that right now.
QUESTION: It is very clear, the message to the Arab countries. And the
message to Israel is clear. What isn't clear to me is what you make of
the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority. In this respect, the
White House particularly, represents him as the target of this
terrorism. I mean that people are trying to make his efforts to
achieve peace more difficult, right? At the same time, the Israelis
are saying, he should be doing more to not just talk about terror, but
actually intervene, intercede, and try to stop the militants from
attacking. So I don't know what the administration particularly -- if
the administration thinks Abbas can both do that and at the same time
not be a target of the militants.
MR. BOUCHER: Well, I mean first of all, I think the Secretary pointed
this out to you yesterday, but we've always understood that as we
start to move down the road to peace, as we move on the steps in the
roadmap, there are going to be extreme groups opposed to this. And
there will be those who carry out violence. This has been,
unfortunately, the sad pattern before. And we've always said it's
important to keep focused on stopping those groups, on stopping that
violence, but also on moving forward towards the longer term.
Second of all, in terms of what each side wants the other side to do,
I'm sure each side wants the other side to do more. And there are
steps that the Israelis promised to take. There are steps the
Palestinians promised to take; and steps that they're committed to by
accepting the roadmap. So, yes, we think the parties should do more.
We think there are steps the Palestinians should be undertaking in the
security situation, in the security area. And we and others need to
work with them to make sure they can do that.
QUESTION: In a word, I think you're --tell me if you're saying that
the U.S.-- I know all the parties-- but the U.S. feels Abbas can both
do more and also even in doing more not lose ground with the
Palestinians, not jeopardize his standing?
MR. BOUCHER:  I think -- 
QUESTION:  Which is -- 
MR. BOUCHER: I think -- Barry, I am not going to adopt a, you know, an
approach that points the finger in one direction or the other.
Yes, there are things -- there are things the Palestinians should be
doing and can be doing. Our view is that the choice of a new Prime
Minister by the Palestinian Legislature put them on a new path. It put
them on a path towards a peaceful state that can live side-by-side
with Israel creating the institutions of a people's state, creating
the institutions of a state that can control security in those areas.
We think it's important for them to move down that path, just as we
think it's important for others to carry out their obligations, as
well.
Okay.  John.
QUESTION: Did -- in his conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister,
did the Secretary repeat the call for restraint the President made a
couple of days ago?
MR. BOUCHER: The point in this situation, I think, is not the Israel
Prime Minister or the Palestinian Prime Minister. The point in this
situation is the violent groups: the violent groups, Hamas,
Palestinian, Islamic Jihad. They need to be stopped. There are things
the Israelis can do. There are things the Palestinians can do. There
are things the Arabs can do, and we all need to be working to stop
those violent groups from carrying out these kinds of activities.
QUESTION: We understand what you want the Palestinians to do. But what
are you asking the Israeli Government to do?
MR. BOUCHER: We're asking the Israeli Government to first carry out
the steps that they committed to; and second of all, to work with the
Palestinians to help establish better security. They have --
QUESTION: So you are not asking them to stop assassinations, as they
did again today?
MR. BOUCHER:  Our views on that haven't changed.
QUESTION: No, but today you began by saying you're condemning
something that happened yesterday, but a lot of things have moved on
since then and there was -- the violence today was by the Israeli
side. You have no comment on that?
MR. BOUCHER: There was a horrible bus bombing yesterday. I don't think
we should just pass on it and go on to the next day. I'm sorry.
QUESTION: What, so the Israelis should then retaliate? Is that what
you're saying?
MR. BOUCHER: No, but we have a problem with violence that both sides
need to be focused on, both sides need to work together to stop.
QUESTION: Yeah, but the question is, do you think that this kind of
retaliation, which usually kills large numbers of civilians in Gaza is
the appropriate response?
MR. BOUCHER: I think we have always said that Israel has the need to
defend itself, but it should do that in a way that furthers the
long-term goal of peace. That's what the President said the other day.
We haven't changed that view.
QUESTION: Okay, but does this further the long-term goals of peace?
Firing rockets at vehicles in Gaza in the middle of the day?
MR. BOUCHER: Again, I don't think the issue today is the Israeli Prime
Minister or the Palestinian Prime Minister. The issue is the violent
groups that try to perpetrate violence whenever there is a move toward
peace, and the people need to focus on how to stop that violence from
occurring.
-----
QUESTION: Just one other term. The word "cycle of violence" is often
used. Now the Israelis said there's no cycle. Do you use the term
"cycle of violence?" Do you --
MR. BOUCHER: We do sometimes. We tend not to use it very much any more
because there's violence. And these violence acts need to stop. It's
not a matter of saying, "I'm doing this because he did that." It's a
matter of finding ways to address security problems that both sides
face through cooperation and finding ways for both sides to take
charge of their security problems in a way that doesn't lead to
further confrontation.
QUESTION: Richard, could you give your views concerning direct quotes?
Hamas has ordered all military cells to carry out attacks against
Israel. And also, the Israeli military, I guess, has said that they
want to throw everything against Hamas. And furthermore, you've spoken
in the past where Iran has entered into some funding or instigating
some of this terrorism network. There appear to be some antigovernment
demonstrations in Tehran --
MR. BOUCHER: All right, let's not -- if we follow this chain, we're
going to connect everything in the whole world to this.
It's important for everybody to do what they can to do what they can
to stop the ability of these groups to carry out violence. We've made
clear that they need to be -- their capabilities need to be stopped.
It's not even a matter of what they will or won't do. It's a matter of
what they can or cannot do. There were commitments by Palestinians,
commitments by the Israelis on security. There were commitments by the
Arab leaders who came to the Red Sea and met with the President on
what they would do. And as one of your colleagues has noted, the
Saudis have already started to detail how they're implementing that,
and that's good.
There are others, as well, where the Secretary has made quite clear in
his meetings in Syria and his statements on Iran that the outside
people who are offering support to Hezbollah, to Hamas, to the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, that that support needs to end, as well.
We've been absolutely clear on that and continue to make that clear to
the governments involved. These groups are undercutting the
Palestinian cause, making it harder for Palestinians to achieve what
they aspire to, as well as just perpetrating terrible violence against
innocent people. So our sort of comprehensive view of this situation
includes people who are there, who aren't there, people in the region
of all kinds who need to just end the support and who can take steps
to end the violence by these violent groups.
(end excerpt)
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Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)