Sam Brownback: “At the very start of the Oslo peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat wrote a…”

“At the very start of the Oslo peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat wrote a letter to then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in which he stated this: "The PLO commits itself to the Middle East peace process, and to a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides, and declares that all outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through negotiations." That letter was dated September 9, 1993, and it led to the ceremony on the White House lawn 4 days later that publicly launched the peace process. Indeed, it was on the basis of the words that Chairman Arafat wrote that Israel agreed to enter into the negotiations. It was on that basis that Israel agreed to cede land and political authority to the Palestinians. It is the most important and fundamental Palestinian commitment, and it undergirds the entire peace process. And yet it is this very principle that Chairman Arafat now threatens to abandon.”