House To Pass Legislation To Close PLO Missions in New York and Washington

The House of Representatives will pass legislation ordering the closure of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's missions in New York and Washington next week, Congressional sources say.

The move will demonstrate support for Prime Minister Olmert of Israel, who will meet with President Bush in Washington later this month.

The Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act passed by voice vote yesterday out of the House Judiciary Committee, and it is expected to be voted upon on the House floor next week where the legislation already has 293 co-sponsors. Similar legislation in the Senate has 87 co-sponsors.

During the mark up of the bill yesterday, Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat of New York, offered a last minute amendment, which would address a loophole in current case law that would make it "unlawful to establish or maintain an office, headquarters, premises, or other facilities or establishments within the jurisdiction of the United States at the behest or direction of, or with funds provided by, the Palestinian Authority or the Palestine Liberation Organization."

Yesterday the congressman said he was addressing specifically a 1988 federal court decision that blocked the Reagan administration from shuttering the offices of the PLO in New York.

At the time the U.S. Attorney arguing for the government was Mayor Giuliani. "These buildings and resources are going to be closed up unless the president says they should remain open," Mr. Weiner said yesterday, referring to a waiver in the legislation.

If the president fails to invoke the waiver expected to pass Congress, then the Palestinian Authority in Washington and New York will find itself in a near identical situation as the one Israel is in throughout most of the Arab world. The Jewish state has embassies in only two of the 22 members of the Arab league.

While President Bush has said he will withhold foreign aid from the Palestinian Authority, and has urged allies to do the same, his staff has told Congress that the provisions of the Palestinian Anti Terrorism Act restrict the White House's hands too much in executing foreign policy.

A Statement of Administration Policy sent to the House International Relations Committee last week specifically finds fault with the bill's ban on aid to almost all elements of the Palestinian Authority, requesting the flexibility to distribute assistance to those not under Hamas control.

"Specifically, in order to support the bill, we would need added flexibility to provide support for President Abbas and for non-Hamas Palestinian institutions," the statement said.

One of the activities the White House would like to continue doing is administering assistance with monitoring border crossings between Israel and the Palestinian Arab controlled territories. The White House is also seeking a longer period between the times it would have to issue a waiver on some of the penalties the law mandates, such as shutting down the PLO missions in Washington and New York.

It would also like the authority to issue waivers to members of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Legislative Council who are not members of Hamas.

The legislation has been a high priority for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Among those who opposed the measure was the Council for the National Interest, which on Tuesday sent out an e-mail claiming a small victory, noting that the House Judiciary Committee had asserted jurisdiction over the bill, which had already passed out of the House International Relations Committee.

The e-mail urged its members to "Ask the committee to amend the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act to include a provision that would continue to grant visas to Palestinian politicians who are not members of U.S.-designated 'foreign terrorist organizations.'" The Council for the National Interest was the first American organization to hold meetings with Hamas leaders after their electoral victory in January.