AJC Denounces Latest Hamas Rocket Attacks on Israel

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Mar 19, 2011, 10:32 ET

NEW YORK, March 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC denounced the latest salvo of rocket attacks from Gaza targeted at Israel. More than 50 rockets landed in southern Israel this morning with the aim of causing maximum -- and indiscriminate -- death and destruction.

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The massive assault took place on the Jewish Sabbath and comes just days after Israel seized a cargo ship, Victoria, carrying rockets and other lethal weapons from Iran and Syria that were headed for delivery to Hamas in Gaza.

"More than five years ago, Israel withdrew from Gaza, giving local Palestinians their first chance in history to govern themselves," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "Tragically and tellingly, however, Israel's destruction remains more important than Gaza's construction."

AJC sent a letter to the members of the UN Security Council urging them to hold Iran accountable for violations of Council resolutions that clearly bar any assistance to terror organizations -- Hamas is on the U.S. and EU terrorist lists -- and ban Iran from exporting weapons.

"We call on the international community to denounce unequivocally these attacks, hold Hamas, as the governing authority, responsible, and grasp the essential truth that Hamas is not a potential partner for peace, but rather a formidable obstacle," said Harris. "Moreover, Palestinian Authority President Abbas, who has been talking once again about seeking unity with Hamas, needs to take fully into account this latest outrage and draw the logical conclusions."

www.ajc.org

SOURCE American Jewish Committee