NEW YORK-  The Speaker of Yasir Arafat's Palestine National
Council, Salim Zanoun, last week recited prayers at the tomb of a terrorist
responsible for the deaths of numerous American citizens--including the
niece of a United State Senator.  As a result, the Zionist Organization of
America (ZOA) is urging Clinton administration officials and Members of
Congress to declare Zanoun persona non grata and refuse to meet with him if
they visit Palestinian Authority-controlled territories.
 
        A photograph in the Jerusalem Post on July 1, 1999 showed PNC
speaker Zanoun praying at the tomb of Abu Jihad (Khalil Wazir) in Damascus,
Syria.  Abu Jihad was the number two official in the PLO after Yasir Arafat
until his death in 1988.
 
        According to Israeli officials and media reports, Abu Jihad helped
plan attacks in which numerous Israelis and Americans were killed,
including:
 
        *  The March 1978 Coastal Road massacre in Israel, in which 38
people were murdered, including Gail Rubin, the niece of United States
Senator Abraham Ribicoff (D-CT).
 
        *  The Munich Olympics massacre in September 1972, in which 11
Israeli athletes --including American-Israeli citizen David Berger (of
Cleveland)-- and a German policeman were murdered.
 
 *  The May 1980 Hebron massacre, in which six Jewish worshippers,
including U.S.-Israeli citizen Eli Haze'ev, were murdered.
 
        ZOA President Morton A. Klein said:  "Someone who glorifies a
killer of Americans should be treated as a pariah by the American
government.  We are urging both the Clinton administration and Members of
Congress to refuse to meet with Salim Zanoun until he publicly condemns Abu
Jihad's terrorism.  The administration should also demand that Arafat fire
Zanoun immediately."