• Culture
• Cyber Rav
• Editor's Commentary
• Events
• Holidays
• News
• Other Viewpoints
• Shalom
• Travel
• Archives

• Brotherhood
• Business
• Community
• Culture
• Cyber Rav
• Editorials
• Health
• Letter to the Editor
• News
• People
• Rabbi's Message
• Travel

Revoke Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize!

An online petition established to advocate the revocation of Yasser Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize has now been signed by more than 370,000 concerned people throughout the world. The objective of the petition, located online at www.RevokethePrize.org and initiated in the summer of 2001, is to bring worldwide attention to Yasser Arafat's continued failure to abide by his commitment to work with Israel to create a lasting peace in the Middle East.

"Yasser Arafat was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with the hope that it would encourage him to negotiate further with Israel following the Oslo Peace Accords. Since that time, however, instead of honoring his commitment to work towards peace, he has demonstrated to the world his unwillingness to take the necessary steps to end the bloodshed and create a lasting peace in the Middle East," said Jonathan Bendheim, one of the organizers of RevokethePrize.org. "Arafat's continued failure to take these steps makes it clear the Nobel Committee's well-intentioned aim to turn Arafat into a 'Peacemaker' has failed."

RevokethePrize.org was established by a group of friends living in the eastern United States, who share a desire to see Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolved peacefully. The site is completely self-funded and it not affiliated with any Jewish or non-Jewish organizations. Asked what the goal of the campaign was, Mr. Bendheim stated that "the symbolic effort to revoke the prize - even the discussion of it - will continue to focus the world's attention on Mr. Arafat's disregard of his commitment to peace. Arafat has shown time and time again that world pressure is one of the few things that move him to action; it is our sincere hope that this campaign will help to force Mr. Arafat to recognize that the world will only accept the use of negotiations, not terror, in working towards true lasting peace in the middle east.

Individuals interested in signing the petition are encouraged to visit www.revoketheprize.org.