President Carter repeated today his opposition to a Palestinian state and reiterated his pledge not to recognize nor to negotiate with the Palestine Liberation Organization until it accepts Israel’s right to exist.
“The United States does not deal with organizations which attempt to accomplish their objectives by means of terrorism, ” he told some 800 persons at the Forest Hills Jewish Center in Queens. “Terrorism is a crime against decency and humanity, whether it occurs on the streets of Paris or the streets of Jerusalem, whether those responsible are neo-Nazis or members of the PLO.”
Carter noted that “the recent acts of violence in Paris and other French cities reminds us that … anti-Semitism has still not been eradicated.”
The President criticized the Soviet Union for reducing the rate of Jewish emigration this year. “We will not rest until every Soviet Jew is free to emigrate.”
Carter pledged that “this President will never turn his back on Israel…. This President will not use economic and military aid as a lever against Israel….”As for Jerusalem, Carter said its future, including that of East Jerusalem, can be decided only through negotiations in which Israel would have to consent before a final agreement could be reached.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
