PEACE? WHAT PEACE?
"We will rule the nations, by Allah's will, the USA will be conquered, Israel will be conquered, Rome and Britain will be conquered…
The Jihad for Allah... is the way of Truth and the way for Salvation and the way which will lead us to crush the Jews and expel them from our country Palestine. Just as the Jews ran from Gaza, the Americans will run from Iraq and Afghanistan and the Russians will run from Chechnya, and the Indian will run from Kashmir, and our children will be released from Guantanamo. The prisoners will be released by Allah's will, not by peaceful means and not by agreements, but they will be released by the sword, they will be released by the gun".
From a video from the "Al-Qassam Brigades Media Office." "Al-Qassam Brigades" which is the name the Hamas calls its military wing.
(www.palestine-info.net) June 22 2006:
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Interviewer: 'Would You, as a Human Being, be Willing to Shake Hands with a Jew?'
Respondent 1:
"Of course I wouldn't be willing to shake hands with a Jew, for religious reasons and because of what is happening now in Palestine, and for many reasons that don't allow me to shake a Jew's hand."
Respondent 2:
"No. Because the Jews are eternal enemies. The murderous Jews violate all agreements. I can't shake hands with someone who I know is full of hatred towards me."
Respondent 3:
"No, the Jew is an enemy. How can I shake my enemy's hand?"
Interviewer: "Would you refuse to shake hands with a Jew?"
Respondent 4:
"Of course, so I wouldn't have to consider amputating my hand afterwards."
Interviewer: 'If a Child Asks You Who 'Who are the Jews,' What Would You Answer?'
Respondent 5:
"The enemies of Allah and His Prophet."
Respondent 6:
"The Jew is the occupier of our lands."
Respondent 7:
"The murderers of prophets. Our eternal enemies, of course."
Respondent 2:
"The murderers of prophets, that's it."
Respondent 8:
"Allah's wrath is upon them, as the Koran says. Allah's wrath is upon them and they all stray from the path of righteousness. They are the filthiest people on the face of this earth because they care only about themselves - not the Christians, not the Muslims, nor any other religion.
"The solution is clear, not only to me but to everyone. If only [the Muslims] declared Jihad, we would see who stays home. We have a few countries. There is one country with a population of over 60-70 million people. If we let them only march, with no weapons even, they would completely trample the Jews, they would turn them into rotten carcasses under their feet. There is another country that donated money, saying, 'I am behind you, I'll support you with weapons, just wage [Jihad].'
"But the cowardice inside us, deep within our hearts, was instilled by the Arab leaders, may Allah forgive them. They breast-fed us with it from the day we were born to this very day it has grown with us."
http://www.memri.org
IQRA TV (Saudi Arabia), September 26, 2004.
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"The Foreign Minister of the Satan, Israel, stated that the land of Lebanon will burn if Hizbullah fighters launch Katusha rockets at the land of Satan... Those who say that the election of Barak is a turning point in Israel are seriously wrong because Netanyahu and Barak were made of the same material from whence came Moshe Dayan, Ben-Gurion, Begin, and other leaders of Satan's state, Israel. This is the stuff of terror, the stuff of international Zionism, which supported, and continues to support, the Hebrew state of Satan. The Jewish lobby [in the US] identifies with any [Israeli] government and with anyone who heads it. The chief of all Satans, Ehud Barak, has taken off the robe of terror, [but] remains a terrorist and a professional in the art of terror." In the government daily, Al-Gumhuriyah, columnist Adel Suleiman in an article entitled "Satan's Peace."
"We have to accept the deal and wait for a change in the circumstances that could lead to the elimination of Israel."
Abu el-Aynayn, P.L.O. Chief of Rashidieh refugee camp in Lebanon (U.S. News and World Report, September 27, 1993)
"In case the Israeli army tries to arrest any of us, we will not hesitate to shoot. I will never surrender."
Hisham Jouda, Commander of the Fatah Hawks in Gaza (The Jerusalem Post, September 27, 1993)
"800,000 Palestinians among those who left after 1967 will come back in the transitional period, which is five years. Those who left in 1948 will come back after the declaration of the Palestinian independent state."
Nabil Sha'ath, head of the P.L.O. delegation to the talks with Israel in Taba (Al-Hayat, 28 September 1993)
"We are awaiting completion of the plan to establish the state, whose capital must be Jerusalem."
Husayn Far'un, P.L.O. Security Chief in Lebanon (Al-Hayat, September 28, 1993)
"We will not lay down our weapons until complete liberation...Sooner or later we will throw the Zionists into the sea."
Lt. Col. Munir Maqdah, Commander of P.L.O. forces in Lebanon (Reuters, October 8, 1993)
"This phase prompts us to maintain the P.L.O. as an expression of our independent Palestinian identity... until our Palestinian state is established on our national soil, G-d willing, with Jerusalem as its capital."
Farouk Qaddumi, head of the P.L.O. Political Department (Al-Dustur, Amman, Jordan, 16 October 1993)
"Mahmoud Abbas, member of the P.L.O. Executive Committee... added that he understood withdrawal to extend to the whole of the territories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem included, and the Gaza Strip." Voice of Palestine, Algiers, 15 October 1993
"We still have some effort to make and struggle to wage in confronting and expelling occupation from all the areas which have been occupied since 1967 and from other areas, in implementation of the U.N. Security Council resolution - the partition resolution." Voice of Palestine, Algiers, 23 October 1993 (note the reference to "other areas" - namely pre-1967 Israel)
"The security of the settlers lies only in their departure, and not in any other measures."
Yahya Rabah, P.L.O. ambassador to Yemen (Voice of Palestine, San'a, Yemen, 1 November 1993)
"They shouldn't have anybody outside the settlements... They should have no military presence on the roads."
Nabil Sha'ath, head of the P.L.O. delegation to the talks with Israel in Taba (Dow Jones News Service, 11 November 1993)
"The Israelis can say whatever they want. We want a Palestinian state, and after it is established it will have a confederative relationship with Jordan. That is our preference; that is our goal; and we will achieve it in time."
Abu Mazen, P.L.O. official who signed the agreement in Washington with Shimon Peres (Al-Khiat, cited in the Jerusalem Post International Edition, 13 November 1993)
"The revolution of stones is the only real face of our struggle to put an end to the Zionist presence. The intifada is the Palestinian people's choice."
from a statement issued by Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction of the P.L.O. in Sidon, Lebanon (Agence France Presse, 18 November 1993)
"We tell everyone who is for the agreement to go to Jericho and Gaza. We will continue our military struggle."
Lt. Col. Munir Maqdah, Commander of P.L.O. forces in Lebanon (The Jerusalem Report, 18 November 1993 issue)
"Palestine cannot contain the two of us. It is either us or the Zionists."
Abu Imad, P.L.O. military commander of the Bourj al-Barajneh refugee camp in Lebanon (The Jerusalem Report, 18 November 1993)
"Our intifada has not ended and will not stop... We will continue the revolution until we expel the last of the soldiers and the settlers and liberate every grain of our dear homeland. Yes to the continuation of the revolution."
from a leaflet distributed in Ramallah on 17 November 1993 by Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction of the P.L.O. (Yediot Aharonot, 19 November 1993)
"We will continue our rebellion against the government of dogs. We will escalate our military attacks everywhere against the Zionists."
From a leaflet distributed in Gaza by the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks (Associated Press, 29 November 1993)
"Today we have already carried out three attacks against Israeli targets in Khan Yunes. We will carry on with our armed attacks against Israeli soldiers until the occupation is finished in the Gaza Strip."
Spokesman for the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks at a press conference in Gaza (Agence France Presse, 29 November 1993)
"Do everything possible to inflict human losses on the enemy side...to make the sons of pigs taste the bitterness of losing a dear one, to make them swim in their own blood."
Spokesman for the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks at a press conference in Gaza (Los Angeles Times, 30 November 1993)
"The peace process will not tie our hands from going back to the armed struggle."
From a leaflet distributed in Gaza by the Shabiba, the youth organization of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction of the P.L.O (New York Times, 1 December 1993)
"As a Palestinian police officer, I will not hesitate to give my gun to anyone who approaches me and tells me he is going to commit an attack against the army or the settlers. I will even kiss the gun before and after the operation."
a P.L.O. recruit from Ramallah for the Palestinian police (Iton Yerushalayim, 10 December 1993)
"Reteach the enemy the lesson of the intifada."
from a leaflet distributed in Ramallah by Fatah, Yasser Arafat's faction of the P.L.O. (Iton Yerushalayim, 10 December 1993)
"We expect the Israelis to give us back these holy places... We believe in freedom of religion. But Jews won't have rights there because these are our places."
Hasan Tahboub, head of the P.L.O.-backed Supreme Muslim Council (The Jerusalem Report, 16 December 1993)
"There will be no peace without the expulsion of all settlers from the West Bank and Gaza."
from a leaflet distributed in Hebron by the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks (Ha'aretz, 27 December 1993)
"The Scuds fired by Iraq against Israel pleased us."
A local leader of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction of the P.L.O. in Gaza (International Herald Tribune, 27 December 1993)
"We must maintain the high level of the intifada and strike many painful blows against the settlers."
From a leaflet distributed by the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks in Hebron (Ha'aretz, 27 December 1993)
"We will return to the armed struggle."
A senior leader of the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks in Gaza (Yediot Aharonot, 28 January 1994)
"We say yes to the peace which comes from the mouth of the Kalachnikov [rifle] and no to the peace which comes from the round table. We emphasize that we will escalate military actions by all means at our disposal."
From a leaflet issued by the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks (Maariv, 2 February 1994)
"I announce that we ourselves have returned to attack the Israeli army with live fire."
Riad Abu Susin, a member of the Ahmed Abu Rish faction of the P.L.O.'s Fatah (Maariv, 2 February 1994)
"I want the Palestinian to fight with his gun until the last drop of blood. He should not throw his gun until he dies."
Rafed Yusef Abed, a member of the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks (National Public Radio, 3 February 1994)
"We are returning to the armed struggle against the Israeli army.”
From a statement issued by the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks (Maariv, 4 February 1994)
"I shot my brother because I received complaints that he took part in immoral actions. I decided to do it to prove to the people that Fatah Hawks are fair and do not discriminate among people."
Mustafa Baroud, a member of the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks, after he made his brother Ahmed kneel in the main square of the Khan Yunis refugee camp and then shot him once in each leg (The Jerusalem Post International Edition, 5 February 1994)
"We will burn the ground under the feet of the Nazi occupiers."
From a leaflet issued by the Unified National Leadership of the Intifada (Yediot Aharonot, 1 March 1994)
"They're a leadership without credibility and without moral authority, and I don't know any Palestinian today who considers the P.L.O. in its current form anything but an organization of losers and has-beens."
Edward Said, former member of the P.L.O.'s Palestine National Council (The New York Times, 4 March 1994
"We shall distribute weapons to the Palestinian residents and return to the armed struggle."
Jibril Rajoub, senior adviser to Yasser Arafat (Yediot Aharonot, 4 March 1994)
"Rabin has to remove all the settlers from the West Bank and Gaza and transfer them to hell."
Jibril Rajoub, senior adviser to Yasser Arafat (Yediot Aharonot, 4 March 1994)
"We are all ready to renew attacks against Israeli soldiers and settlers."
a leader of the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks in Gaza (The New York Times, 5 March 1994)
"In Gaza, we demand to go back to the struggle that existed before the September agreement."
Salim al-Zreii, a leader of Yasir Arafat's Fatah faction of the P.L.O. in Gaza (The New York Times, 6 March 1994)
"It (the peace process) is only a cease-fire until the next stage."
Abbas Zaki, a member of the P.L.O. Executive Committee and the nominee to head the Palestinian police force in the territories (The Jerusalem Post, 16 March 1994
"There is no decision in Fatah to cease the armed struggle against the occupation."
Abbas Zaki, a member of the P.L.O. Executive Committee and the nominee to head the Palestinian police force in the territories (The Jerusalem Post, 16 March 1994)
"The intifada will continue until Israel removes the last soldier."
Farouq Kaddumi, head of the P.L.O. Political Department (Maariv, 21 March 1994)
"I think it is time to go back to clandestine resistance."
Sheikh Ismail, a member of the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks in Gaza (Christian Science Monitor, 21 March 1994)
"The Fatah movement threatened to step up clashes with the Israeli occupation authorities."
Voice of Palestine, Sanaa, Yemen, 29 March 1994
"We call for Fatah Hawks... to escalate the military operations against Israeli soldiers. Every Zionist in the [Gaza] Strip is considered a target for our military apparatus."
from a leaflet issued by the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks in Gaza (The Jerusalem Post, 31 March 1994)
"We warn our leaders to stop the negotiations with Israel."
a gunman from Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction of the P.L.O. At a rally in the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza (Associated Press, 3 April 1994)
"I believe that today's return is the beginning of a journey toward an independent Palestinian state."
Hanan Deek, daughter of the late P.L.O. military chief Abu Jihad, as she was preparing to travel to Judea and Samaria (Associated Press, 5 April 1994)
"It is clear we do not want them here... We want independence."
Hisham Abd al-Razek, a senior P.L.O. official in Gaza (Yediot Aharonot, 8 April 1994)
"The fact that we sit here is politically significant. It is proof that East Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Palestine."
Fahim Kilani, public relations officer for the P.L.O. in Jerusalem (The Jerusalem Report, 24 April 1994 issue)
"Anyone who thinks the Palestinian police will try to prevent attacks outside the borders of the autonomous area is making a bitter mistake."
Sufian Abu Zaida, a leader of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction in Gaza (Maariv, 25 April 1994)
“The peace process will "not prevent the continued struggle of our people against the illegal actions of the Israeli occupier."
from a petition signed by Dr. Haidar Abdel-Shafi, former head of the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks with Israel, and other P.L.O. leaders (The New York Times, 26 April 1994)
"We also want to influence them as much as possible to be inside the Palestinian self-government, not outside it."
Sufian Abu Zaida, a leader of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction in Gaza (The New York Times, 1 May 1994)
"The Joint Security Coordination and Cooperation Committee set up under Article II hereunder shall develop a plan to ensure full coordination between the Israeli military forces and the Palestinian police..."
From the agreement signed by Israel and the P.L.O. in Cairo on 4 May 1994 (paragraph 2a of Annex I to the agreement)
16 days later...
"The biggest problem is that we have no experience running a state. We are still trying to form a state."
General Abdel Hai Abdel Wahed, the senior commander of the P.L.O police force (The New York Times, 8 May 1994)
"I hope that the anger about the agreement will not carry over to the territories, but will instead be turned against the Zionist enemy, who raped our land."
Farouk Qaddumi, head of the P.L.O. Political Department (Radio Monte Carlo, 5 May 1994)
"Show me who is pleased with it."
Hanan Ashrawi, former spokesman for the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks with Israel, when asked if she was pleased with the agreement (Ha'aretz, 5 May 1994)
“The Israel-P.L.O. agreement "will not be binding on the Palestinian people."
Dr. Haidar Abdel-Shafi, former head of the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks with Israel, at a press conference in Jerusalem (The Jerusalem Post International Edition, 7 May 1994)
"Israel has no right to oppose the return of Palestinian refugees from the '67 war."
Nabil Shaath, head of the P.L.O. delagation to the talks with Israel (Yediot Aharonot, 8 May 1994)
"There will be no coordination or security cooperation between Israelis and Palestinian security services."
Jibril Rajoub, P.L.O. security chief for Judea and Samaria (The Jerusalem Post, 20 May 1994)
"What is left at the Tunis headquarters now is a group of people inhabiting a complex of offices who report to no one and have no idea what's to become of them."
A middle-level P.L.O. official (The New York Times, 11 May 1994)
"There will not be peace without Jerusalem. Our independence will not be complete without Jerusalem. Beloved Jerusalem will return to us, despite the obstinance and the Zionist hypocrisy."
General Haj Ismail, Palestinian Liberation Army commander in Jericho (Yediot Aharonot, 15 May 1994)
"Of course, it (Jerusalem) is viewed by us as our future capital."
Ziad Abu Ziad, senior P.L.O. official (Israel Radio, 27 May 1994)
"We sanctify the weapons found in the possession of the national factions which are directed against the occupation."
Jibril Rajoub, P.L.O. security chief for Judea and Samaria, during a lecture at Bethlehem University (Yediot Aharonot, 27 May 1994)
"If there are those who oppose the agreement with Israel, the gates are open to them to intensify the armed struggle."
Jibril Rajoub, P.L.O. security chief for Judea and Samaria, during a lecture at Bethlehem University (Yediot Aharonot, 27 May 1994)
"Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine."
From the P.L.O.'s draft constitution for the Palestinian National Authority (Le Figaro, 28 May 1994; Yediot Aharonot, 29 May 1994)
"We shall not be silent until the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the Israelis must leave East Jerusalem, which is our capital. Jerusalem is a red line for us and a holy place."
Jibril Rajoub, P.L.O. security chief for Judea and Samaria, during a speech in the Beduin village of Lakia in the Negev (Yediot Aharonot, 29 May 1994)
"The light which has shone over Gaza and Jericho will also reach the Negev and the Galilee."
Rashid Abu-Shebak, one of the heads of the P.L.O. in Gaza, during a speech in the Beduin village of Lakia in the Negev (Yediot Aharonot, 29 May 1994)
"We will continue to fight until the creation of a state with Jerusalem as its capital."
Jibril Rajoub, P.L.O. security chief for Judea and Samaria (Agence France Presse, 31 May 1994)
"We will not budge an inch from our demand that Jerusalem be the Palestinian state's eternal capital."
Nabil Shaath, head of the P.L.O. delegation to the talks with Israel (Middle East News Agency, Cairo, 2 June 1994)
"The money is the carrot for signing the peace agreement with Israel. We have signed."
Hassan Abu Libdah, deputy chairman of the P.L.O.'s Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (The New York Times, 10 June 1994)
"We came to Jericho because with the Palestinian authority here, it is now safe."
Ziyad Wawi, a member of the P.L.O.'s Black Panthers who is wanted for murder by Israel, on why he and 18 other fugitives have fled to Jericho (Agence France Presse, 14 June 1994)
"East Jerusalem will be the capital of the independent State of Palestine after the withdrawal of the Israelis."
Nabil Shaath, head of the P.L.O. negotiating team with Israel (Ha'aretz, 15 June 1994)
"Those reporters who draw out their pens and spew their venom are leading the people astray and they must be silenced."
From a statement published by the public relations department of the P.L.O. police force in Jericho in the newspaper An- Nahar on 20 June 1994 (Associated Press, 20 June 1994)
"I think that deep down inside the Israelis know that someday they will have to accept Palestinian sovereignty in part of Jerusalem."
Maen Areiqat, a P.L.O. spokesman at the Orient House in Eastern Jerusalem (Chicago Tribune, 24 June 1994)
"Hamas attacks against Israeli soldiers are still legitimate in the West Bank - and it's not Hamas. Why do you always say Hamas? It is the Palestinian people. I am the secretary of Fatah. I’m calling on them to continue this as long as the Israelis are there."
Farouk Qaddumi, head of the P.L.O.'s Political Department (Los Angeles Times, 15 July 1994)
"The intifada should continue as long as the Israelis are there, because they have postponed all their promises."
Farouk Qaddumi, head of the P.L.O.'s Political Department (Los Angeles Times, 15 July 1994)
"We are slowly and dangerously moving towards a police state where intimidation and threats become the norm instead of the rule of law."
Daoud Kuttab, a prominent Arafat supporter and Palestinian journalist, after he was fired from his job for signing a petition protesting the P.L.O.'s decision to shut down a pro-Jordanian newspaper (Reuters, 6 August 1994)
"Our enemy is a lowly enemy. The Palestinian people know there is a state that was established through coercion and it must be destroyed. This is the Palestinian way."
Farouk Qaddumi, head of the P.L.O.'s Political Department, in a speech at a ceremony marking the closing of the P.L.O.'s radio station in Algiers (Reuters, 10 August 1994; Yediot Aharonot, 10 August 1994)
"The intifada will continue, as will the carrying of weapons in the territories and outside of them."
Farouk Qaddumi, head of the P.L.O.'s Political Department, in a speech at a ceremony marking the closing of the P.L.O.'s radio station in Algiers (Yediot Aharonot, 10 August 1994)
"No one can complain about what Hamas and Jihad are doing. I say that it is the right of every Palestinian to struggle so long as there is a single Israeli soldier in the land of Palestine."
Farouk Qaddumi, head of the P.L.O.'s Political Department (Al-Musawar, 30 September 1994)
"For us, we have a political relationship with Hamas, a brotherly relationship."
Nabil Shaath, Minister of Planning for the P.L.O.'s Palestinian Authority (Reuters, 28 October 1994)
"The dialogue with Hamas will not be broken off. Hamas is a part of the Palestinian people."
Hisham Abdel-Rizak, a leader of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction of the P.L.O. in Gaza (UPI, 28 October 1994)
"There isn't a single stone here that has a connection with the Jews. We are willing to permit the Jews to pray outside the Wall. But that doesn't give them ownership rights."
Ekrima Sa'aid Sabri, the P.L.O.-appointed Mufti of Jerusalem (Religion News Service, 8 November 1994)
"Israelis on both sides, right and left, are imagining that the Palestinians will accept the pact as it is now. They are dreaming."
Ekrima Sa'aid Sabri, the P.L.O.-appointed Mufti of Jerusalem (Chicago Tribune, 9 November 1994)
"The Israeli enemy has still not withdrawn from all Palestinian territory."
Farouk Qaddumi, head of the P.L.O.'s Political Department (Agence France Presse, 16 November 1994)
"We will not become a tool in Israel's hands with which it can hit the Islamic opposition."
Nabil Shaath, Minister of Planning for the P.L.O.'s Palestinian Authority (Reuters, 16 November 1994)
"Our fight should be directed against Israel and not against ourselves."
Farouk Qaddumi, head of the P.L.O.'s Political Department (Agence France Presse, 21 November 1994)
"Whoever wrongs Fatah, Fatah will open his head."
Slogan chanted by P.L.O. members during a march in Gaza City (The New York Times, 22 November 1994)
"I miss the shooting of the Israelis. I hope the Israelis come back again, so we can shoot them again. I always dreamed of the day the Palestinian troops would come to Palestine. Now, I hope we go to war against the Israelis and take all of the West Bank and all of Palestine."
Arafat Abushabab, head of the P.L.O.'s Fatah Hawks in the Shabura camp in Rafah, Gaza (The New York Times Magazine, 27 November 1994)
"We must always remember that our enemy is the Israeli occupation, and it is incumbent upon us to continue to struggle against it through the blessed intifada... Only the intifada can carry our nation to a more advanced stage."
Farouk Qaddumi, head of the P.L.O.'s Political Department (Ha'aretz, 16 December 1994)
"It is not my job as a Palestinian policeman to protect the settlers."
Jibril Rajoub, P.L.O. Security Chief, in an interview with anchorman Bill Beutel on Eyewitness News Magazine (WABC-TV, New York, 24 December 1994)
"Holy war is our path. My death will be martyrdom. I will knock on the gates of Paradise with the skulls of the sons of Zion." Ayman Radi, a traffic policeman in the P.L.O. police force, in a written note to his family before he carried out a suicide bombing in Jerusalem that wounded 13 Israelis (The New York Times, 26 December 1994)
"Peace with Israel is permissible only on condition that it is a temporary peace, until the Moslems build up the [military] strength needed to expel the Jews."
Sheikh Abdel Aziz Bin-Baz, the mufti of Saudi Arabia (January 1995).
"We must remember that the main enemy of the Palestinian people, now and forever, is Israel. This is a truth that must never leave our minds."
Palestinian Authority Justice Minister Freih Abu Middein, speaking at Al Azhar University in Gaza. (Al-Nahar, 11 April 1995; The Jerusalem Post, 17 April 1995)
"Jerusalem is under occupation and the Moslems of the world should liberate it by jihad and put it under Islamic and Arabic authority. The jihad is not just a war jihad - we are talking about all means to get back Jerusalem."
Sheikh Ikrameh Sabri, the P.L.O. Mufti of Jerusalem, in an interview with the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat (Al-Sharq al-Awsat, 7 April 1995; The Jerusalem Post, 3 May 1995)
"We have no intention of changing or nullifying the Covenant, rather, we will adhere to it until our last breath since it embodies the essence of our demands." Tayseer Qaba, deputy chairman of the PLO's Palestine National Council (A-Nahar, 19 September 1995
"Jenin is the first nail in Israel's coffin. We will agree to leave here only the dead Jews who are buried here. Like all Palestinians, I am happy that Arafat is here today in a liberated Palestinian city. With the help of Allah, all the land of Palestine will be liberated. The Jews must return to where they came from, to their diaspora...
Abu Ammar [Yasser Arafat] visited us and spoke with us...Abu Ammar also thinks as I do. In the long run - he will get all of Palestine. He will not give up on one inch of Palestinian land...I don't want to continue living in Gaza or Jenin. My place is in Palestinian Beersheba." Suleiman Adwan, a PLO policeman and member of the "Al Quds" Brigade, Jenin (Davar Rishon, 20 November 1995, page 2)
*
"Our forces will fight, of course. They have already received their orders."
Marwan Bargouthi, explaining that Palestinian soldiers will shoot at Israeli soldiers should Israel reenter regions under the Palestinian Authority. Bargouthi is Secretary General of Fatah, Yasser Arafat's mainstream faction of the PLO. (The Independent, 12 March 1996)
"If I have information about terror activity in Area B, I won't give it to the Israelis."
Jibril Rajoub, head of Palestinian secret police for the West Bank. Israel is responsible for security in "Area B." (Yediot Ahronot, 12 April 1996)
"If the Israelis decide to throw the peace to the sea, we will send them to hell and the explosion this time will be more violent and more destructive. In comparison, the attacks in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ashkelon will look like banal actions." Statement by youth group of Fatah, Arafat's faction of the PLO (Ha'aretz, 8 July 1996)
"First of all, the Palestinians do not have their backs to the wall. They are the ones who created an intifadah and who faced the Israelis when a tunnel was opened under the al-Aqsa Mosque.
"Faced with these continuing acts of aggression against the land, the Palestinians have no option but to stand up and offer their blood and souls in defense of their land, which is being expropriated and on which settlements are being built." Palestinian Authority cabinet secretary Ahmed Abdel Rahman (London-based MBC-TV, 15 February 1997)
"No doubt there will be an explosion."
Palestinian Legislative Council speaker Abu Ala on the Arab response if Har Homa is built. (BBC World Service Radio, 17 February 1997, 2040 GMT)
"Not East nor West -- Jerusalem, the whole of Jerusalem." The areas of Jerusalem to be negotiated between Israel and the PLO, according to Palestinian Legislative Council speaker Abu Ala. (BBC World Service Radio, 17 February 1997, 2040 GMT)
"From now on, resisting settlements will not be through words, condemnation or complaints to the U.N. Security Council."
Palestinian Authority cabinet secretary Ahmed Abdel Rahman, saying that the time is past for passive resistance to Israel's settlement policy. (The Washington Post, 10 March 1997)
"We are fighting and struggling with an enemy who is Shylock. We must know that he is Shylock." Othman Abu Gharbiya, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Adviser on National Political Guidance, in a radio interview (Voice of Palestine, 15 March 1997)
"Israeli authorities... infected by injection 300 Palestinian children with the HIV virus during the years of the intifada." Palestinian U.N. representative Nabil Ramlawi at a session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva (Jerusalem Post, 17 March 1997)
"All options are open, including the armed struggle if necessary."
Amin Maqbul, member of the Fatah Higher Council, at a Nablus rally. Fatah is Yasser Arafat’s mainstream faction of the PLO. (Al-Quds, 20 March 1997)
"I don't think that stones are violence. It is peaceful to throw stones." Marwan Barghouti, Secretary General of Fatah and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (The Jerusalem Post, March 26, 1997)
The Council congratulates "all the holy martyrs resulting from the noble wave of opposition to the Israeli Government's settlement activity."
From a statement issued by the Palestinian Legislative Council on 27 March 1997, just 6 days after a suicide bombing in a Tel Aviv cafe which killed three Israelis (Ma'ariv, 28 March 1997)
"The only option in this situation is to continue the uprising since this is the only language which Israel understands."
Farouk Kaddumi, Head of the PLO Political Department (Al-Hayat, 2 April 1997)
"Five Zionist Jews are running the policy of the United States in the Middle East: Madeleine Albright, William Cohen, Dennis Ross, Miller and Martin Indyk. It is not possible that the American nation, which consists of 250 million people, can not find anyone other than five Zionist Jews to conduct the peace process with the Palestinians." PA Justice Minister Freih Abu Middein (Yediot Ahronot, 13 April 1997)
"We must not forget that the American administration suffers from a disease whose name is the Zionist lobby in Washington." PA Cabinet Secretary Ahmad Abdul Rahman in a radio interview (Voice of Palestine, 14 April 1997)
The Palestinian leadership listened to a report regarding the fact that a number of land speculators have sold, via foreign intermediaries, Palestinian land to foreign companies, which are in fact Israeli companies working in the framework of the settlement plans being carried out by the Israeli government. The Palestinian leadership has decided to forbid the sale of land anywhere in Palestine either directly or via intermediaries. The leadership has empowered the legal authorities and security forces to implement the decision on this matter and to punish anyone who has sold land directly or has assisted in its sale. The sale of land constitutes the gravest danger concerning the Judaization of the Palestinian lands."
--- In a cabinet decision passed at its weekly meeting in Ramallah on May 2-3, 1997 (Voice of Palestine, May 3, 1997)
"This (selling land to Israelis) is a very dangerous act and there has been a decision to ban it by putting anyone who sells even a centimeter on swift trial and to seek the death penalty against them... These people are traitors and Israel exploits them in expanding its settlements." (Palestinian Authority Justice Minister Freih Abu Middein: Agence France Presse, May 5, 1997)
"We condemn this abhorrent crime and emphasize that despite all the conspiracies, Jerusalem and Palestine from the river to the sea will remain Islamic until judgment day... A land speculator for the Jews, in whose birth certificate it states that he is a Muslim, was killed. There is a possibility that his body will be brought to Al-Aksa mosque or another mosque. We wish to remind you that Islamic law forbids the washing and wrapping in shrouds of his body and forbids praying for his soul or burying him in a Muslim cemetery. We call upon you to beware. This should serve as a lesson to all traitors and speculators who collaborate with the Jews." Mufti Ikrama Sabri: in his weekly sermon at Al-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount (Voice of Palestine, May 9, 1997)
"The presence of Hamas on Palestinian territory is very important for building the Palestinian homeland."
Muhammad Dahlan, head of Arafat's Preventive Security Service in Gaza, in an interview with the Hamas newspaper Al-Risallah (cited in Ha'aretz, 15 June 1997)
"There is a plan which was prepared by the Palestinian leadership with the aim of confronting Israel's intransigence. The Palestinian people is ready for a confrontation and is prepared to make additional sacrifices -- the people are in a state of preparedness."
Abbas Zaki, a Palestinian Authority legislator and member of the central committee of Fatah, Arafat's mainstream faction of the PLO. (Al-Sharq al-Awsat, 16 June 1997)
"If a solution is not found to the situation and the political process is not returned to its course, there will be severe clashes between us and the Israelis. All options are open before us."
Jibril Rajoub, Arafat's security chief for the West Bank, (Middle East Broadcasting Corp., 20 June 1997)
"Israel is distributing food containing cancer-causing material and hormones that harm male virility and other spoiled food products in the Palestinian Authority's territories, in order to poison and harm the Palestinian population. We absolutely feel it is an organized plot and conspiracy under the auspices of the Israel Defense Forces -- this is a planned and initiated war against the Palestinian people."
PA Deputy Minister of Supplies Abdel Hamid al-Qudsi in a newspaper interview (Yediot Aharonot, 25 June 1997)
"Ahead of us lies an entire year - either we will establish an independent state in May or there will be many other options, among them a popular intifada."
Palestinian Legislative Council Member Abbas Zaki (Al-Arab Al-Yom, 16 March 1998)
"If the situation continues without American intervention and without their requiring Israel to respect international law, then the Palestinian explosion is on the way, without a shadow of a doubt." PA Minister of Post and Communications Imad Falouji (Middle East News Agency, 19 March 1998)
"We are ready for a military confrontation The bullets of the Black Panthers will strike at Netanyahu's soldiers."
From a statement issued by Fatah in Jenin announcing the reestablishment of the Black Panther military units (Al-Hayat Al-Jedida, 26 March 1998)
"Gather together, O fighters of Karameh, Litani and Beirut, raise your voices aloud: we shall die, we shall die, so that Palestine shall live. Our blood is your atonement, O Jerusalem, and our souls you’re your defenders, O Palestine. We swear unto the holy martyrs: until victory!"
Statement issued by the student branch of Fatah, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's faction of the PLO, in Nablus to commemorate Land Day. Karameh, Litani and Beirut were the sites of major battles between terrorists of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israeli forces. (Al-Ayyam, 29 March 1998)
"All options are open to the Palestinian people.... The Fatah movement did not and will not forfeit the military option until all national lands are liberated, and the Palestinian independent state is established with Jerusalem as its capital."
'Abbas Zaki, member of the Fatah Central Committee, in a speech in the Hebron region. Fatah is Yasser Arafat's mainstream faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization. (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, 23 April 1998. Translation courtesy of Middle East Media and Research Institute – MEMRI,
"[The planned third phase of Israeli troop redeployment in the West Bank is] a matter of principle that would enable the [Palestinian] Authority to accumulate liberated lands... which would allow it to double its ability to confront [Israel] without harming the signed agreements or holding [renewed] negotiations over matters already agreed upon."
Statement in Our Position, the official biweekly of the Fatah movement. (Al-Ayyam, 1 May 1998. Translation couresy of MEMRI.)
"The future is full of options... The Palestinian peopl expect a long and bloody phase of an overall struggle, in order to fulfill what has been agreed upon in Oslo. Israel is a state that cannot make peace, a state whose function is war."
Palestinian Authority Cabinet Secretary Ahmad Abd Al-Rahman (Al-Ayyam, 4 May 1998. Translation courtesy of MEMRI.)
"We must always be prepared to sacrifice our blood, as in the beginning - January '65 - as we continued, and as we will continue [to sacrifice]. Fatah is a movement of blood sacrifice.... Our people gave the world a chance, and unless the world takes this opportunity, violence and havoc will come." 'Othman Abu 'Gharbiya, Deputy Chief of the National and Political Guidance Bureau of the Fatah movement, speaking to Fatah members. (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, 9 May 1998 ( Translation courtesy of MEMRI.)
"The Palestinian people were and remain a victim of the international colonialist Zionist plot which began with the Balfour Declaration of 1917. Israel has not halted its implementation of the racist Zionist colonialist policies which are responsible for the calamities that have befallen our people."
From an official statement by the Palestinian Legislative Council on 12 May 1998 to mark fifty years since "the 1948 calamity" -- that is, the establishment of Israel. (Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, 13 May 1998)
"Our choice is the military option. We must put an end to the despicable negotiations. The time has come for jihad [holy war] and martyrdom."
Shiekh Hamed Bitawi, chairman of the Palestine Religious Scholars Association and head of the PA's Sharia Court of Appeals in Nablus. (Al-Jazira Television, 14 May 1998)
"Peace is a strategic choice, but it is not a sacred choice if the occupation and the Judaization continue." Announcer on the official PA radio station (Voice of Palestine, 15 May 1998)
"We are taking forceful steps against those who do this (sell land to Jews). Recently, a decision was passed to punish anyone who sells land, property or homes. We are keeping track of land dealers and punishing them." (Yasser Arafat: Al-Hawadath, May 16, 1997)
"The Zionist entity exists on seized land. The Jews remain enemies because they expropriate lands, build settlements and pay high sums to buy properties. They are the greatest enemies of us Muslims." (PA Mufti Ikrama Sabri: The New York Times, May 18, 1997)
"I warned the land dealers several times through the media not to play with fire. For us, whoever sells land to Jews and settlers is more dangerous than collaborators. Therefore, they must be put on trial and sentenced to death... they are traitors." (PA Justice Minister Freih Abu Middein: Yediot Ahronot, May 20, 1997)
"Whoever is found to have sold land to Jews, his punishment is death. It is forbidden to pray for him, it is forbidden to purify his body before burial, and it is forbidden to bury him in a Muslim cemetery. We are obligated to remind the public of this religious law, so as not to allow Jews to purchase Arab land and property with dollars they receive from America in order to throw us out of this land." (PA Mufti Ikrama Sabri: Yediot Ahronot, May 20, 1997)
"Our law is a Jordanian law that we inherited, which applies to both the West Bank and Gaza, and sets the death penalty for those who sell land to Israelis... We are talking about a few traitors, and we shall implement against them what is written in the law books. It is our right and our obligation to defend our land." (Yasser Arafat, Yediot Ahronot, May 21, 1997)
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"...The Arabs of 1948 [i.e. Israeli Arabs] may become a majority in Israel in 2035, and they will certainly be the majority in 2048, a century after their Nakbah and first defeat."
"We must establish scenarios for the crisis' management in the future. In these scenarios, there should be a special status for the 1948 Palestinians. It is not long before they become the supreme [decision-makers], who control the conflict..."
"The demographic threat does not derive solely from the 1948 Palestinians' natural increase, but also from the infiltration of thousands of Palestinians into Israel. These stay in Israel and create facts on the ground through marriage with citizens of the 1948 population..."
"Therefore, there is a possibility that Israel would have to expose its racism and try, in vain, to hide [the scale of this phenomenon] through policies of denying some of the social rights of the 1948 Palestinians, or through various oppressive measures..."
"This would require a serious Arab action... that would be difficult, unless the political elites and the security apparatuses in some Arab countries heal from the disease of suspecting and fearing the 1948 Palestinians... We must support the connections [between Israeli Arabs and Arab countries] so that better opportunities develop for Arab action whose purpose is to make use of and increase the demographic threat that faces Israel."
The first goal should be "an organized action to expose the racism of Zionism and with an effort to renew the UN resolution that equates Zionism with racism, in order to exercise external pressure on Tel Aviv that will decrease its ability to carry out domestic measures [to counter] that demographic threat. Today, there are Arab efforts to launch a campaign against Israel in the UN International Conference Against Racism that is organized by the UN in South Africa. This should be the beginning of a continuous action and not a seasonal action that will end with the conference."
"The second goal is to confront the Jewish immigration that the Jewish Agency tries to encourage once again - after the numbers of immigrants to Israel have decreased in the first six months of this year... True, the continuation of the Intifada guarantees the foiling of the Zionist efforts to increase the immigration, and may even encourage emigration in the opposite direction, but the Arab league, with the cooperation of Arab non-governmental organizations, can also have a role by starting a dialogue with the Jewish organizations in [the former USSR] states."
"Not all Jews are Zionists, and not all immigrants are Israel lovers. Some of them were forced to immigrate under the pressure of economic and social conditions that are being used by the Jewish Agency to encourage their immigration to Israel. We can act to foil the role of this Agency, through dialogue with the Jewish organization in the immigrant-exporting states. Our claims should not be limited to the moral aspect. We could describe to the Jews of Russia and its neighbors the situation of Russian immigrants in Israel, more than half of whom suffer of conditions that are no less difficult than those that had made them immigrate, in addition to the disappointment and the marginalization felt by those immigrants, a phenomenon that was mentioned by Ana Isakova in an important article in Maariv."
"A third goal, which can be shouldered by the civil economic non-governmental institutions in the Arab world and especially in Jordan and Egypt, is to support the movement of Palestinians from PA territories and from elsewhere into Israeli 'Green Line' borders. Such a movement exists, but it is random and requires organizing, especially since the Israeli authorities have increased their counter-measures."
"We are capable of increasing the demographic threat against Israel, if we demonstrate the necessary determination. It is high time for long-term planning of the management of the Arab-Israeli crisis, whose life is still long. We must give the 1948 Palestinians the status they deserve, because without them, we cannot make Palestine again Arab - and not bi-national - Arab Palestine in which Jews could - if they wish to - live strong and respected under the umbrella of our Arab culture, rather than as oppressors and oppressed." Dr. Wahid Abd Al-Magid, the editor of Al-Ahram's "Arab Strategic Report" yearbook, in an article titled "Arabs must take advantage of the demographic threat on Israel," Al-Hayat (London-Beirut), July 29, 2001.
Q: "What, in detail, has Israel proposed regarding Jerusalem?"
A: "They left the Jerusalem issue for the last moment. At the beginning they spoke of the Wall, which consists of the Wailing Wall and the Western Wall. Later, they spoke of the Armenian Quarter, and then they spoke of the Al-Magharba neighborhood, which they call the 'Jewish Quarter.' We told them: 'We would not agree that you would have any kind of presence in the Western Wall. However, you may conduct [religious] ceremonies at the Wailing Wall. Regarding the Al-Magharba neighborhood, it would be possible to find a solution; beyond that, East Jerusalem, in its entirety, must be ours.'"
"On the last day, they presented us with the most ridiculous proposal: that the supervision over the [Haram] will be Palestinian whereas the sovereignty over what's underneath will be Israeli. We, of course, viewed this as a joke and as an offensive proposal, which we are unable to accept, and thus we rejected it."
"Regarding the proposals which came up following Camp David, and specifically with regard to what was termed the Clinton Proposal, namely that the 'Arab homes will be for the Arabs and the Jewish homes for the Jews'. What is known as the Holy Basin, which includes what is inside and outside of the Wall, the Silwan Village, Mount of Olives, and more will be subject to international sovereignty of twenty supervising countries. In short, part of East Jerusalem and its surroundings will be handed over to international custody. With regards to the settlements that they established in Jerusalem - they absolutely refused to discuss this issue."
Q: "Many Israelis and Americans are trying to promote what was offered at Camp David, using attractive language such as: We offered you ninety-five percent along with almost full control over East Jerusalem. What is your reaction?
A: "When they say: 'We offered you ninety-five percent,' I'm asking: 'Why not one hundred percent?' When they are saying, almost full control over Jerusalem: [I'm asking] 'Why wouldn't the control be full?' While they are talking about Israeli positions - [I am asking]: 'Why shouldn't there be an international security force, similar to the ones in Sinai, South Lebanon, or on the Syrian border? If they wish to have security, we have no objection for the presence of an international force between them and us. However, we object to Israeli security on our land since this interferes with our sovereignty. They are sugar coating everything with nice words, but unfortunately many people think that these were tempting offers and they complain about us rejecting them. However, they absolutely misunderstand what was actually offered: the meaning of the offer was cantons and definitely not an independent state."
"They proposed ninety-one percent at Camp David, and ninety-four percent at Taba in return for land exchanges measuring between one and three percent. The meaning of this is that there is five percent left over. The five percent equals twice the size of the Gaza Strip. This means that they want to take [land] in the West Bank, with no compensation, double the size of the Gaza Strip."
Q: "It was said that one of the reasons for the failure of the Camp David summit was that the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, isolated himself and sat in his room all by himself [what is your comment?]"
A: "Due to personal reasons not known to me, Barak did not show up at all during some days. He would be hiding, and we would hear that he is not meeting with his colleagues or with the Americans. We would hear about this but we did not know the reasons for his self-isolation. But there is one very important thing and that is that there was never a trilateral meeting between him, President Arafat, and Clinton. Despite the fact that it was possible to assume that they would meet, talk, and exchange [views], this did not happen even once. Barak would send the teams and they would stall time."
Q: "Many Israelis and Americans, and even some Palestinians, claim that the Palestinians did not give Clinton's ideas a positive consideration."
A: "Unfortunately, these same Israelis, Americans, and few Palestinians are deluding themselves. You could say that they are rushing [to judge], or that they were blinded by a few Israeli proposals that were [actually] empty. Regarding the options for the refugees, when you read the options you discover they're really not options. When you discuss [the claim] that they offered us ninety-five percent of the territory, you realize that the remaining five percent controls the water resources and divides the West Bank into four cantons... five hundred fifty kilometers. Why should I donate that land? What makes the settlements legitimate? The Sinai settlements were uprooted, and Barak himself decided to uproot all the settlements in the Golan if there is going to be an agreement [with Syria]. Why won't they uproot all of the settlements [in our area]?"
"Unfortunately, few of our brothers - Palestinians and non-Palestinians - found these offers tempting. However, we believe that what was offered to us was actually humiliating and we must not accept it or even discuss it. When a Palestinian says that we have missed an opportunity, or a tempting or a beneficial offer, it weakens the Palestinian position, since, [consequently] the Americans and Israelis say: 'Here is a Palestinian who agrees with our position.' Such things, unfortunately, severely hurt the Palestinian position."
Q: "Is what Robert Malley said true, namely, that Clinton made a mistake trying to play with the contrast amongst the Palestinians?
A: "I have already said that they applied collective and individual pressures. Yes, they tried to grab on any word, from anyone, that remotely resembled a concession. Even during unofficial negotiations, which they conducted with non-governmental Palestinian organizations, when they would get any kind of word from a Palestinian, they would grab onto it and bring it to the formal negotiations and say: 'the Palestinians said this and that.' But who are the Palestinians? The Palestinians are President Arafat, and he is the one who makes the decisions. We would tell them: 'Have you heard anything from President Arafat? If you have not heard from him, anything else you've heard is a lie.' We repeatedly warned the Israelis and Americans regarding this issue. I told Barak, 'I hope that you will hear from us and not about us,' meaning, if he wishes to learn what is the Palestinian position he must hear it from President Arafat and not from anyone else. Only President Arafat represents the Palestinian position. Yes, sometimes they would play this card."
Q: "That said, was Camp David a trap which you managed to escape from?"
A: "Certainly. This was a trap. From beginning to end, and we survived it. No one was ever subject to pressures such as those applied on us. Imagine yourself not being able to speak with anyone or go outside of [Camp David]. Once I went out with brother Abu Alaa to speak with advisors. This caused a big fuss. We went out for only fifteen minutes. [When we returned, we were asked:] 'How did you get out? From where? Why?' There was barbed wire, police, and military. And you should know this: We went out in coordination with the American security, apparently, without them getting the authorization from the higher levels. Throughout the entire period [of the summit] we stayed at Camp David, isolated and under siege."
Q: "How was the relationship between you and the Israelis during the Camp David summit?"
A: "Normal relationship. We would sit to the dining table, eat, and talk. But the negotiations were very difficult. What I am trying to say is that the human relations and the formal relations were completely different. Meaning, our relationship with them was excellent, but this does not mean that if there is an excellent relationship with someone I will make concessions to him. He [Barak] thought that if my relationship with him is excellent he could influence me. No. These are two different things."
Q: "Now, a year following Camp David, do you feel a sense of regret for not accepting the proposal which was presented to you?"
A: "Not at all. I don't feel any sense of regret. What we did was the right thing to do. The Israelis and the Americans deluded themselves and others that in that way, and based that information which they gathered from here and there, they could coerce us [into doing] something and to come out of this summit victorious."
"We discussed the opportunity very seriously and responded to everything that was offered to us with both counter offers and with written proposals and we have records for all of that. We were not negative, despite the fact that they are trying to present us as the ones who rejected, as if they made offers and we [only] rejected them. These things are incorrect."
"Right from the beginning we said that the goal of the negotiations was to implement Resolutions 242 and 338, and that this slightly diverts from Madrid [the 1991 Conference]. So we agreed on that. We have the right to demand it. Can you call the demand for what was agreed upon - stubbornness?"
Q: "If this is the situation, what can you tell people who claim that you missed an opportunity?"
A: "I tell them that the opportunity never existed. The opportunity was never offered by anyone. There were a few ideas that were unacceptable, and the proof to that is that many Israelis and Americans say that they were unacceptable. Take Robert Malley for example, he says that the Israeli proposals never reached the Palestinians minimum aspirations. Now the Israeli and American press begin to uncover many documents and many of them are saying that there wasn't any opportunity and that it is a big lie."
"We are not inflexible and we are not radical, we do not support terror or violence, but only peace. We started Oslo and accepted the principle of peace, not peace at any price, but peace that is based on justice, and the meaning of justice is international legitimacy. I am not asking for absolute justice, I mean relative justice that was confirmed by the international legitimacy. We did not miss an opportunity at all, but rather survived a trap which was laid for us." Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen, Al-Ayyam (PA) July 28, 2001 ,July 29, 2001
"We will turn the territories of the [Palestinian] Autonomy into [the Israelis'] graveyard. This will be the beginning of the end and a regression to a state of overall explosion for which Israel will be held responsible, as it is responsible for the failure of the peace process today."
- Chief Palestinian negotiator Sa'eb Ariqat, saying that if the Israelis try to re-enter areas under the Palestinian Authority they would not get out alive. (Al-Manar, 8 June 1998. Translation courtesy of MEMRI.)
"Defining the situation with Israel today as peace is a mistake. There is no peace with Israel, which is an imperialistic state by nature.... Rather, it is a truce, mainly because Israel wants to dominate the region and shun peace with its neighbors. Such was revealed when the idea of a Middle East [economic] market was raised [by Israel]."
- Senior advisor to the PLO Executive Committee Jamal Al-Sorani. (Al-Bayader Al-Siasi, 13 June 1998. Translation courtesy of MEMRI.)
"We are right to believe that the rifle is a means of life and not death." - Othman Abu Gharbiya, advisor to Chairman Arafat and head of the PAÕs National Guidance Directorate, at a ceremony in Gaza, official PA newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, March 1, 1999.
"Netanyahu continues with his racist policy and his boasting of his imaginary power, which will be removed just as the dictatorial and colonialist Crusader power was removed in the past.... We think that the Jewish danger threatens the Palestinian and Arab lands just as the American danger threatens the Arab and Islamic nation." - article in the official PA newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, March 8, 1999.
"The Islamic Land of Palestine is one and cannot be divided. There is no difference between Haifa and Nablus, between Lod and Ramallah, between Jerusalem and Nazareth. Dividing Palestine into cantons and giving recognition to the occupation is prohibited by Sharia (Islamic religious law), since Palestinian is Wakf (Islamic Trust) for all Moslems in the East and in the West. No one has the right to give it up or to forsake it. The liberation of Palestine is a mandatory obligation for all Moslems and not only for our Palestinian nation." Sheikh Yuosouf Abu Sneina, official preacher of the Al Aqsa Mosque, on Palestinian Radio (April 30, 1999):
"Israel would cease to exist within fifty years" and that the conflict between the Hebrew State and the Arab countries, "would not come to an end with the signing of peace agreements because we want all of Palestine and Jerusalem."
"...We support Syria in retrieving its rights and the Golan Heights, or any occupied Arab land. Furthermore, we and the Syrians want more than that; we want the retrieval of all of Palestine and Jerusalem."
"...The Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon means an admission of two defeats [for Israel]: the first is a military defeat, caused by the operations of the Islamic Resistance [i.e. Hizbullah]; the second, is an admission of a political defeat, because Israel is forced to withdraw from the Golan as a result of its casualties in Southern Lebanon." Hussein Sheik Al-Islam, the Iranian Ambassador to Damascus, to the London-based Arab daily Al-Hayat on July 9, 1999,
"We pronounce in a voice Palestine is Arab. The Zionists must depart from it," Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said on state television on July 17, 1999
"...Either [we achieve] a just peace that will guarantee the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people, including [the] Return, self determination, and the establishment of an independent [Palestinian] state with Jerusalem as its capital - or there will be no peace but [rather] a return to the struggle in all its forms." (Palestinian Legislative Council Chairman, Ahmad Qurei', [aka "Abu 'Alaa"], during a visit to China, Al-Ayyam, September 24 1999.)
"We are still in the stage of political settlement, or in other words, political activity, but I don't think the PLO has given up its rifle, even though it currently proceeds with the settlement process.” (Faruq Al Qaddoumi, Head of the PA's Political Bureau, Al-Quds, Oct. 20, 1999.)
"...To Yitzhak Rabin: On your memorial day, they turned you into a myth. But I say: 'Let Allah condemn you to hell.' You have been a murderer, a spiller of blood and a racist. You are from amongst the first, replete with animosity and rot to your bones. The make-up that is put on our faces in order [for us to] see you through is rotten, and even if it is fastened with nails - we will remove it in disgust, no matter how long it takes. We are confident that whatever was built on a lie - remains a lie.' To conclude, I say: '[let] Allah's curse be upon you in both this world and the Hereafter.'" 'Atallah Abu Subh Ph.D in the Hamas weekly, Al-Risala, Nov., 1999.
"...Our right to struggle is a legitimate right and we will apply all forms of struggle and adhere to our principles and to our people's historical rights. The PFLP [will not] give up the 'Armed Struggle' alternative..." (Abu Ali Mustafa, Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine [PFLP] - who was recently allowed into the PA by Israel, Fasl Al-Maqal, November 5, 1999.)
"...The entire Islamic nation has to act to terminate the Israeli occupation of the holy city and strengthen in it the presence of the Murabitun [Muslim warriors holding the front lines]. It is the religious [Islamic] duty [Fardh 'Ein] today, of each and every Muslim male and female...
"Both east and west Jerusalem belong to the Arabs and Muslims because it is a Waqf land. Our properties in west Jerusalem are more than 70% of its territory and Israelis do not in fact have any land in Palestine..." (Sheikh 'Ikrimeh Sabri, the PA appointed Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, in the Friday sermon in the Al-Aqsa mosque [November 5, 1999], Al-Hayat Al-Jadida November 6, 1999.)
"...On this anniversary, we renew our commitment to Jihad until the land of Palestine is liberated, [for] it is a holy and Waqf (Muslim Trust) land that cannot be surrendered..." (Hamas leader, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, in a message to a Muslim gathering in Jenin, celebrating the prophet's ascension to heaven, according to the Islamic tradition, stated: Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 6, 1999.)
(DFJ-JanFeb00) "...The [Israeli] attack on the land...gives the attacked the right to fight against it, [while] the [Israeli] attack on the people gives them the right to choose martyrdom [Shahada]..." (Former leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh 'Abdallah Nimr Darwish, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 7, 1999)
"...The Palestinian people cannot enter these negotiations on the basis of the [present] balance of power, because with this balance of power - we [are sure] to lose. [Therefore], we must establish an active balance of power on the ground..." ([Israeli-Arab] Knesset member, Muhammad Baraka, stressing the need to devise a strategy of combat on the ground in order to enter the final status negotiations in a better position, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 7, 1999.)
"Our people have been subjected to the daily and extensive use of poisonous gas by the Israeli forces, which has led to an increase in cancer cases among women and children.” Suha Arafat, wife of Yasser Arafat, November 11, 1999, during a Gaza appearance with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
*
"We realize that war is a strategic option for the Palestinian people and we will continue to wage war against Israel in any way possible until we achieve all our rights and our lands which are being occupied." - Abdallah Ramda'an Salah, the leader of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, in an interview with Reuters News Agency, on January 24, 2000.
"...even the Baath Party (ruling party of Hafez el-Assad of Syria), of which I have the honor of being a member, understands that restoring Palestine in its entirety is a long-term strategic goal, that cannot be achieved in one stage... The first stage is the stage of restoring the occupied lands [of 1967] and of guaranteeing the national inalienable right of the Palestinian Arab people." Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk A-Shara, speaking to the Arab Writers Association in Syria on Jan. 27, 2000
"I demand the expulsion of the Zionist ambassador to Cairo. This ambassador represents his country and its Foreign Minister, and if the Minister is a Nazi, then the ambassador acts on his instructions. The terrorist history of government people in the Zionist entity beginning with Barak and ending with that one called Levy is a secret to no one. The expulsion of the Zionist ambassador is the least [that should be done]."
"The Zionist ambassador drinks from the waters of the Nile [that should be] forbidden to him. He eats from the fruit of our soil when he has no right to it, and he breathes our air, which we hope that Allah will turn into carbon dioxide, so that it suffocates him and keeps him from enjoying one moment on our land. The black days that brought this ambassador to our land will pass with Allah's help, because we do not want him to continue here for one day. He must go back to the country where he was born, which is certainly not the land of Palestine." (columnist Adel Al-Jojari, Al-Ahrar, February 27, 2000.)
"The Palestinian Authority is required to stop coordination against Hamas so it can use the language of force, the only language Israel understands." Hamas spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, calling for the PA to allow his group to fight Israel. June 26, 2000
"Since brother Arafat is busy with many various missions, authority was delegated to leaders in the field, who are on the lowest level of the organizational hierarchy. However, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority (PA) remained the source of authority, and it alone was the factor capable of leading the operations of the Intifada throughout the homeland. I can say for certain that brother Abu-Ammar (Yassir Arafat) is the ultimate authority for all operations, and whoever thinks otherwise, does not know what is going on.
"The truth is, we are Fatah itself... Our commander is Yasser Arafat himself." Maslama Thabet, a leader of the Al-Aqsa Brigade, by Matthew Kalman of USA Today (March 14, 2000)
“The Palestinian people accepted the Oslo agreements as a first step and not as a permanent arrangement, based on the premise that the war and struggle on the ground [i.e., locally against Israeli territory] is more efficient than a struggle from a distant land... for the Palestinian people will continue the revolution until they achieve the goals of the '65 revolution...” PA Minister of Supply Abd El Aziz Shahian, Al Ayaam, May 30, 2000.
"The victory in Lebanon proved that continuous struggle is the only way to defeat the enemy. We realize that our conflict is not a difference in opinion, but a conflict with an enemy who occupies our land... We should remember that Israel withdrew from parts of Palestine as a result of the Intifada (Arab Uprising from 1987-1991)." (Dr. Hanna Nasir, President of Bir Zeit University, at a celebration of the "liberation of Lebanon" sponsored by the PA Ministry of Culture, May 30, 2000.)
"The Palestinian nation will defend itself with all means at its disposal, from a kitchen knife to a Kalachnikov rifle, in the event of an Israeli attack." Palestinian Authority General Osama Ali, in calling upon the Palestinian people to prepare for war with Israel over Palestinian statehood, July 2000.
"The Palestinian nation will purify its land from the contamination of the [Jewish] settlers." The Palestinian Mayor of Khan Yunis, July 2000.
"There will be a battle over Jerusalem. [Jewish] settlers will not be permitted to remain in their homes. Israel may not continue to occupy the West Bank." Palestinian Authority Communications Minister, Imad Faluji, on July 3rd, 2000, at a meeting of the Palestine Central Council assembly in Gaza.
"Jerusalem conquest mayor, Ehud Olmert, will bear the responsibility for his incitement and for his declarations that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people... Jewish prayer in the Al Aksa mosque will lead to unimaginable acts of slaughter... a sea of blood." Akrama Savari, Palestinian Mufti of Jerusalem at the Temple Mount, Al Hayat al- Jadida newspaper, July 21, 2000.
"We are speaking of 'Hudna', [a cease fire] for a while, but not of the end of the conflict. In exchange for this (hudna) I should include a complete withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza..." Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, leader of the Hamas terrorist organization, Israeli Arab Knesset Member, as quoted in the official Palestinian Authority newspaper, Al Hayat-Al Jadida (July 24, 2000):
"All of the agreements entered into [with Israel] are temporary, until the decree comes from Allah and until the destiny from Allah is realized." Palestinian TV, July 28, 2000
Christian, Armenian, and Jewish residents of Jerusalem's Old City on July 20th expressed strong opposition to Prime Minister Ehud Barak's reported offer to give the Palestinians administrative authority over the Christian and Moslem quarters of Jerusalem's Old City, with Israel retaining full control over the Jewish and Armenian quarters.
In over a dozen interviews with residents of the Christian, Armenian and Jewish quarters, the responses to this proposal were nearly all negative.
"To tell you the truth, I do not want to see the Palestinians ruling the Old City and I say that even though I myself am a Palestinian," said a Christian Quarter resident who would only give his name as Sami. "I think this would create a long-term problem," he said.
"I would really hate being under Palestinian control. It would be as if I've been sent to the Dark Ages," concurred Steven, interviewed in the Christian Quarter. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not against peace and I certainly do not want to see more violence or killings. But the minute I see a Palestinian policeman walking around here, the time has come for me emigrate from the country."
"I'd much prefer that the Israelis stay in control here," said 21-year-old Daniel, who lives in the Christian Quarter. "Let them give the Palestinians the control of the Moslem Quarter, but not ours," he said, noting that he has Christian friends in Bethlehem and Ramallah who have told him that it has become difficult to live as a Christian under the PA.
"I don't think that the people will agree to such a solution," said Marcus, a 40-year-old Christian Quarter shopkeeper. "If Arafat comes here it will be a catastrophe," he said. "The people who live here are the ones who are going to suffer, not the politicians.
Jerusalem Post July 30th 2000.
"Palestine... causes the Jews to lose sleep, causes the enemies of Allah throughout the land to lose sleep... It is a bleeding wound, and it will continue to bleed forever and ever... Jerusalem is a symbol... to the Moslems and to their war of Jihad forever and ever." (Palestinian TV, August 11, 2000)
"Oh, our Arab brethren... Oh, our Moslem brethren... Don't leave the Palestinians alone in war against the Jews... Even if it has been decreed upon us to be the vanguard... Jerusalem, Palestine and Al Aksa, the land that Allah blessed and its surrounding areas will remain at the center of the struggle between truth and falsehood, between the Jews and the non-Jews on this sacred land, regardless of how many agreements are signed, regardless of how many treaties and covenants are ratified. For the truth is in the Koran, as verified by the words of the prophet Mohammed, that the decisive battle will be in Jerusalem and its environs: 'The resurrection of the dead will not occur until you make war on the Jews...'" (Palestinian TV, August 11, 2000)
"We are capable of blowing up Israeli cities. The Palestinians will not be satisfied with attacking military targets, but would strike at Israel's heart." - Palestinian Authority Communications Minister, Imad Faluji, on August 16, 2000, at the mourner's tent in Kfar Surda north of Ramallah, in the wake of the death of village mayor Abu Mansour who was killed by IDF fire on August 15, 2000.
"...The Jews gathered from all ends of the earth in our beloved Palestine, from Rosh HaNikra in the north to Eilat in the south... from sea to river, it was all a land of Moslems... Palestine's borders, the promised Palestine, is from the sea to the river..." (Palestinian TV, August 18, 2000)
"We will begin implementing our sovereignty and the conflict will reach a new level...the Israelis who are present on Palestinian territory will become hostages. Israeli settlements will be isolated and will face a real threat. If the Palestinians are placed under siege, they will have the right to do everything in their power to remove it." Ahmad Abdel Rahman, General Secretary of the PA, Voice of Palestine radio, August 21, 2000.
"Even if agreements were signed [regarding] Gaza and the West Bank, we will not forget Haifa, Acre, Jaffa, the Galilee Triangle, and the Negev. It is only a question of time..."
"It is forbidden for anyone, Arab, Palestinian or Moslem to forgo one grain of soil of the land of Palestine, Jerusalem and Al Aksa... Whoever forgoes even one grain of soil his sin is upon him, and all the sins of the Palestinians, the Arabs and the Moslems, forever and ever..." (Palestinian TV, September 8, 2000)
"Patriotism in Islam: In Islam, it is not improper for a Moslem to love his homeland. To the contrary, Islam encourages this, and established its defense as an obligatory commandment for every Moslem if even a centimeter of his land is stolen. I, a Palestinian Moslem, love my country Palestine..." (Part A, p. 68) The newest Palestinian school textbooks, published in September 2000
"There is no room for compromising solutions with regard to occupied Jerusalem. Israeli citizenship is forbidden for Palestinians according Shari'a [Islamic law]. Those who have already acquired it should give it up because it does not honor them particularly, since Israel's days are numbered." The Arafat-appointed Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, Ikrimi Sabri, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, October 5, 2000.
"The negotiations that are being conducted between the Palestinian and Israeli sides are negotiations of blood. Despite the many casualties the Palestinian people are inclined to continue the confrontation because it is beginning to bear fruit." PA Representative for Refugee Affairs, As'ad Abd Al-Rahman, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, October 7, 2000.
"The Israeli soldiers must be routed from Rachel's Tomb and the area in its entirety should be returned to the boundaries of Bethlehem [as was done in Joseph's tomb in Nablus]." Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member and Chair of the PLC's Land Committee, Salah Al-Ta'mari, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, October 8, 2000.
"We will turn ourselves into invisible bombs against [Israeli] soldiers. The blood will always defeat the sword. This is human history.” PA Minister of Supplies, Abd Al-Aziz Shaheen, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, October 8, 2000.
"We are discussing the current problems and when we speak about Jerusalem it doesn't mean that we have forgotten about Hebron or about Jaffa or about Acre... We are speaking about the current problems that have priority at a certain time. It doesn't mean that we have given up... We have announced a number of times that from a religious point of view Palestine from the sea to the river is Islamic." As broadcast on Palestinian TV (October 13, 2000),
"We haven't sacrificed enough yet to be worthy of liberating Al-Aqsa. To liberate Jerusalem, Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi made great sacrifices for a long time, and we have to sacrifice until Allah's victory is completed... Our campaign is definitely religious and emanates from belief, although we try to avoid this slogan. The current Intifada of the [Arab and Islamic] world is a religious outburst, because it relates to the Al-Aqsa mosque... The land of Palestine is not only Jerusalem; this land stretches from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea. Naturally, the [Palestinian] problem relates to all of this land..." Mufti Sheikh Ikrimeh Sabri Al-Ahram Al-Arabi (Egypt), October 28, 2000.
"Every time that you hear me declare a cease fire and a halt to the violence ignore these declarations. You know that I am under heavy pressure from the United States and Europe. You should ignore this and continue. You should know that we are in difficult financial situation because of the Intifada. We will not receive any more money from the United States and Israel will stop the monthly transfer of funds. Our only hope for getting money is from the Arab states. But the Arab states will not give money if there is not blood. Therefore, press, press, press ["idhas, idhas, idhas"]."- Yasser Arafat to Marwan Barghouti, General Secretary of Fatah (and Arafat's Tanzim militia) in the West Bank,, Nov. 8, 2000.
"Take to the streets in order to impose the sovereignty of the Palestinian people... on Palestinian land and to ban the entry of occupation troops and settlers to our cities, mountains, and plains. These areas will be liberated under Palestinian popular sovereignty. The people should do that by continuous clashes to pursue the national sovereignty of the Palestinian state on all Palestinian land." Statement issued by the Palestine Central Council, Nov. 13, 2000.
"The Israeli government should rush to open the doors of their hospitals and mental institutions, because we in the Kassam have sworn to God to bring death into every house, every city, and every settlement. We warn you - we will respond to any attack. We will burn your hearts, your faces, and we will extract the eyes of your snipers. Our first strike is the start of the war." Statement issued by Issadin Kassam, the Hamas military wing, Nov. 23, 2000.
"The principles of Islam and the teachings of Jesus Christ make it imperative on us to take the road that satisfies God and our conscience . . . that is the road of jihad (holy war).
Without jihad we will not realize what we are hoping for in achieving peace and justice and saving humanity from the evils of the criminals, the murderers." - Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq, from his Christmas message, Dec. 24, 2000.
*
"I am a Turkish national student, who have been in Saudi Arabia for 18 years. I have a long long experince with Arab people. Let me tell you a short statement. The aim of the small state that the Palestinians want to establish is nothing but, 'the start base to destroy whole Israel'.
Other Arabic countries are also nothing but places either to launch attack against Israel, ie.. Lebanon, Iran,or give money, political support for Intifadah like Saudi Arabia, Egypt,..ie.
So, a conclusion is simple, it is a holy and religious aim for any muslim to destroy Israel and kill any jew. So, what will be called as Palestine will be nothing but another South Lebanon. So, dear Israelis , be carfull of this."
(DFJ-MarApr01) Editor's Note: This e-mail was received by Bridges for Peace in January, 2001. It is printed as we received it without grammatical corrections:
"Allah made it clear to us through the laws of the Sharia (Islamic religious law), and we say: The Islamic Land of Palestine is one and cannot be divided. There is no difference between Haifa and Nablus, Lod and Ramallah, Jerusalem and Nazareth or Gaza and Ashkelon. Palestine is Wakf land that belongs to Moslems throughout the world and no one has the right to give it up or to forsake it. Whoever does this is a traitor to the trust and is nothing but a loathsome criminal whose end shall be in hell." Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, the Palestinian Authority appointed Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, on Palestinian TV (January 11, 2001):
"From an Islamic point of view, it stretches from the Mediterranean to the Jordan [River]. It is Palestine in its entirety... all those Jews who came here from all over the world, must return." Mufti Sheikh Ikrimeh Sabri Al-Ahram, Die Welt (Germany), January 17, 2001.
"The period of the Sharon government will not be stable as he has promised... [we pledge to] continue to strike at Gilo and turn the lives of the settlers to hell. The election of Ariel Sharon was a direct challenge to the intifada. Sharon is the last bullet in the Israeli pocket before surrender." Statements by Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti in a leaflet distributed by Fatah on February 12, 2001.
"Israeli aggression continues to try to pressure the performance of the intifada which is registered in the hearts of the sons of our Palestinian people, in an attempt to thwart the path of history and fate...but we are not afraid of tanks and bombardments...our people will persevere and continue in its intifada, our resistance until the end of occupation and the carrying out of freedom and independence." Marwan Barghouti, PA West Bank Fatah secretary, on the Voice of Palestine, Feb. 27, 2001.
"Arab and Moslem rulers! The weaponry that will not be used against the enemies of Allah will rust and you will use them against one another, as happens periodically. Aim your arrows once and make war, as they war against you. Why this fear of the State [of Israel] that is surrounded by Arabs and Moslems? Why this fear? Because you do not fear Allah -- whoever fears Allah, all else will fear him...."
"There are Hadiths (Islamic traditions attributed to Mohammed) regarding our struggle against the Jews. And it is given: 'The day of resurrection will not arrive until the Moslems make war against the Jews and kill them, and until a Jew hiding behind a rock and tree, and the rock and tree will say: 'Oh Moslem, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!' This Hadith clarifies to us the characteristics of the campaign between us and the Jews. The tree and the rock do not say 'Oh, Palestinian,' 'Oh Arab,' or 'Oh resident of the Middle East.' Rather they say: 'Oh, Moslem, Servant of Allah.'...."
"The Arab rulers and the Moslems, and our people everywhere. If we don't support Allah, He will replace us with other men... The courageous over the infidels, make war for Allah and are not afraid... This is the depiction of the army of Allah that will come at Allah's decree, from here or from there, to liberate these lands from the defilement of the Jews, for Allah was angry with them in his book and called them once 'monkeys,' once 'swine,' and once 'donkeys.'" (Palestinian TV, March 30, 2001)
"The victory is coming, the victory is coming, the victory is coming! Allah, show us your marvels against the Jews! Show them a black day, like the day of A'ad and Tha'mud (tribes that were defeated and destroyed). Because they boasted to us of their strength! Show us the prince against them, show them a black day! Allah, transform them into the Moslems' spoils of war! Allah, transform them into our spoils of war!" (Palestinian TV, April 13, 2001)
"All the members of this nation must take part in this struggle against the enemies of Allah, so that through us the saying of Allah will be fulfilled: 'You will not find people more hostile than are the Jews.'" (Palestinian TV, April 13, 2001)
"In Israel, whoever murders a thousand Arabs belongs to the left, and whoever murders five thousand Arabs belong to the right. When someone shows up and murders ten thousands Arabs, the right becomes the center and a new rightwing emerges. For us, as Arabs, all Israelis belong to the right wing.” Syria's Bashar Assad at the Arab Summit, April 4, 2001
“When I see a Jew before me, I kill him. If every Arab did this, it would be the end of the Jews.” Syrian Defence Minister Mustafa Tlal, May 2001.
"...In our holy books [it is written] that when a state for the Jews is established in Palestine, it will not last more than 67 years. In other words -- the year 2022. And I beg Allah to bring an end to the country of the oppressor in America, and the country of the oppressor Israel in Palestine, by that date... Therefore, it is our hope that this oppressive country [Israel] will be terminated, as in the words of Allah..." Palestinian TV (May 4, 2001)
"...If what you gain from denouncing the nations' martyrs is a blonde smile, an Arab tap on your shoulder, or a Zionist thank-you letter... you are welcome to it, and we are welcome to our blood that writes in shiny letters that will be read by our sons in the future so they will continue the march of liberation, that will take place only by the use of force, through Jihad, and through Martyrdom...”…
"Whoever denounces the operations of the Shahid's joins the Arab politicians who apologize for the legitimate struggle. However, these do not represent the conscience of the nation, nor do they influence the public... It is the blood that writes history, and the black ink cannot soil the golden pages written in the blood of the Shahids, on their way to liberate Palestine, the Golan, and South Lebanon..." Dr. Ibrahim Abrash, a lecturer on politics at the Rabat University in Morocco, Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), May 25, 2001.
"The rats who came from the US, Europe, and Russia will flee…whoever is killed by the Israeli arsenal or by the Israeli settlers is a Shahid…whoever blows himself up as a revenge against the enemies is a Shahid of the highest rank of Martyrdom, because he has sold his soul and bought Paradise. We are not afraid of [sacrificing] thousands of Martyrs…I advise the US...: Do not forget what happened to the Marines in Lebanon, nor the bombing of the USS Cole destroyer in Yemen." Bahjat Ibrahim Al-Dsuqi, a columnist for Al-Akhbar (Egypt), June 1, 2001.
"...Some fear that the Fidaai [self sacrifice] operations, in which the Martyrs blow up themselves, provoke international public opinion... [However] if we examine the bombings of the last few days in Israeli cities, we will find out, no doubt, that they have had many positive aspects. The main issue that occupies the mind of every Israeli is security. The Jewish immigrant who left his original homeland and came to Israel, dreamt, no doubt, of security and stability; when he feels the loss of security in the Promised Land, he begins thinking about emigration out of Israel. The lack of security for [the Israeli citizen] himself and his children, exceeds the borders of Israel and touches Jews all over the world. Many of them, who contemplated immigration to Israel, have distanced this thought from their minds... These operations should not bother us. Our goal must be getting the number of Israeli casualties closer to that of the Palestinians... We salute all the Shahids and are sorry for their departure, but the freedom tax must be paid, even if it is expensive...." Dr. Lutfi Nasif, a columnist for the Egyptian government daily, Al Gumhuriyya, June 2, 2001.
"To return to the places from where they came, or to accept a just agreement, because nobody disputes that Jerusalem is more precious to the Muslims and Arabs than life itself, while the Jews consider their lives more precious than Jerusalem." Walid Badran, Al-Akhbar (Egypt), June 3, 2001.
"…The victims were not only a riffraff of Zionists whose killing has brought happiness to any bereaved Palestinian mother and remedy to every injured family in Jerusalem. This was also a blast to the sense of security promised by the Zionist leaders. Sharon won the elections by carrying the sun of security in his right hand and the moon of tranquility in his left hand. However, his promises went flying in the air with his people's body parts..."
"The Palestinians are fighting against the Zionists with a lethal weapon - the weapon of the multi-birthing woman. If they kill ["The Engineer" Yahyah] 'Ayyash, or if a Mujaheed is Martyred, the wombs of the women pushed, push, and will continue to push thousands Ayyash's of Mujahideen who suckle with their mothers' milk, the education for Jihad... Ah, If only Sharon and his angels of destruction knew that the mother of a Shahid receives the news of her son's Martyrdom with cries of joy... One of them, so it was reported, took an oath to send the four sons she had left to the battlefield so they would gain Martyrdom as well, just like their brother. We wish that just like the Zionist airports were filled with those vagabond homosexuals on their way in, they will be filled once again on their way out, without anyone feeling sorry for them..." Hamad Al-Majid, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), June 5, 2001.
"I will turn my body into bombs that will hunt the sons of Zion, bomb them, and burn their remains... There is nothing greater than being martyred on the soil of Palestine for the sake of Allah. Cry in joy, oh mother, hand out sweets, oh father and brothers, a wedding with the black-eyed [women] awaits your son in Paradise [a reference to the Islamic tradition that a martyr is rewarded – among other rewards- with 72 black-eyed virgins]..." Al-Risala (PA), June 7, 2001.
"In the Martyrdom operation carried out by the General of booby-trapped devices, the Shahid, Saleh Al-Sawi, in Dizengof Street [Tel Aviv], on October 19, 1994, twenty-two Jews were killed and one hundred and eight injured, some severely. Among the casualties were some who survived Hitler's Holocaust. Israel has lost its nerves following this operation, owing to the multitude of the deaths, whose body parts were spread all over the trees and electricity polls." Al-Risala (PA), June 7, 2001.
"First, I salute the bomber's body who protested our silence, our lack of shame, and the prostitution of some of our columnists - and exploded! Salutations to the Shahid, Said Al-Hotari, who gave the most beautiful present to our people in Palestine and in Egypt, when he happily plunged towards his God taking along the way twenty-one dead Israelis..." Egyptian columnist, Dr. Rif'at Sayyed Ahmad, Al-Istiqlal (PA), June 7, 2001.
"The Palestinian people should be rightly proud for presenting the most supreme model of struggle and Resistance, the model of the Martyrs... these [Martyrs] are the climax of Jihad and the peak of Resistance. They are youth at the peak of their blooming, who at a certain moment, decide to turn their bodies into body parts and their blood into a flood of fire...”
These flowers [i.e. the bombers]... have become murals on each wall, lines in textbooks, songs sang by children, and the talk of the day by women in the markets... How can Palestine possibly lose when it has such great live ammunition? How miserable are these naive enemies who await their death on each roadside, who are afraid of each plastic bag, of each garbage can, and of each loaf of bread...? Yes, we should stand a moment of silence in their honor because they are heroes, heroes, heroes." Al-Risala (PA), June 7, 2001.
"… The Martyrdom operations should continue, Allah willing, and their ferocity should increase. We must use the panic and the intensive Zionist presence at the sight after each attack to strike another blow that will harvest twice as many of their stinking souls. Let the US and the West go to Hell along with their filthy culture..." Amru Nasif, a columnist for the Egyptian opposition weekly, Al-Usbu', who in a previous column volunteered to carry out a suicide bombing himself. Al-Usb'u (Egypt), June 11, 2001.
"...Some fear that the Fidaai [self sacrifice] operations, in which the Martyrs blow up themselves, provoke international public opinion... [However] if we examine the bombings of the last few days in Israeli cities, we will find out, no doubt, that they have had many positive aspects. The main issue that occupies the mind of every Israeli is security. The Jewish immigrant who left his original homeland and came to Israel, dreamt, no doubt, of security and stability; when he feels the loss of security in the Promised Land, he begins thinking about emigration out of Israel. The lack of security for [the Israeli citizen] himself and his children, exceeds the borders of Israel and touches Jews all over the world. Many of them, who contemplated immigration to Israel, have distanced this thought from their minds... These operations should not bother us. Our goal must be getting the number of Israeli casualties closer to that of the Palestinians... We salute all the Shahids and are sorry for their departure, but the freedom tax must be paid, even if it is expensive...." Dr. Lutfi Nasif, a columnist for the Egyptian government daily, Al Gumhuriyya, June 2, 2001.
"To return to the places from where they came, or to accept a just agreement, because nobody disputes that Jerusalem is more precious to the Muslims and Arabs than life itself, while the Jews consider their lives more precious than Jerusalem." Walid Badran, Al-Akhbar (Egypt), June 3, 2001.
"In the Martyrdom operation carried out by the General of booby-trapped devices, the Shahid, Saleh Al-Sawi, in Dizengof Street [Tel Aviv], on October 19, 1994, twenty-two Jews were killed and one hundred and eight injured, some severely. Among the casualties were some who survived Hitler's Holocaust. Israel has lost its nerves following this operation, owing to the multitude of the deaths, whose body parts were spread all over the trees and electricity polls." Al-Risala (PA), June 7, 2001.
"The Palestinian people should be rightly proud for presenting the most supreme model of struggle and Resistance, the model of the Martyrs... these [Martyrs] are the climax of Jihad and the peak of Resistance. They are youth at the peak of their blooming, who at a certain moment, decide to turn their bodies into body parts and their blood into a flood of fire...”
These flowers [i.e. the bombers]... have become murals on each wall, lines in textbooks, songs sang by children, and the talk of the day by women in the markets... How can Palestine possibly lose when it has such great live ammunition? How miserable are these naive enemies who await their death on each roadside, who are afraid of each plastic bag, of each garbage can, and of each loaf of bread...? Yes, we should stand a moment of silence in their honor because they are heroes, heroes, heroes." Al-Risala (PA), June 7, 2001.
"First, I salute the bomber's body who protested our silence, our lack of shame, and the prostitution of some of our columnists - and exploded! Salutations to the Shahid, Said Al-Hotari, who gave the most beautiful present to our people in Palestine and in Egypt, when he happily plunged towards his God taking along the way twenty-one dead Israelis..." Egyptian columnist, Dr. Rif'at Sayyed Ahmad, Al-Istiqlal (PA), June 7, 2001.
"Who is responsible for the loss of Palestine... and [for] deceitfully labeling it Israel?... The Prophet [Mohammed] soothes us with many Hadiths that Palestine shall return to its former days... We must prepare a foothold, for the coming army of Allah, by divine predetermination. May it be Allah's will [that] this oppressing state shall pass, Israel shall pass. This oppressing state, America, shall pass. The oppressing state Britain, shall pass, [those] that brought this catastrophe [nakba] of this nation..." Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Maadi, in the Friday sermon on Palestinian TV, (June 8, 2001):
"… The Martyrdom operations should continue, Allah willing, and their ferocity should increase. We must use the panic and the intensive Zionist presence at the sight after each attack to strike another blow that will harvest twice as many of their stinking souls. Let the US and the West go to Hell along with their filthy culture..." Amru Nasif, who in a previous column volunteered to carry out a suicide bombing himself. Al-Usb'u (Egypt), June 11, 2001.
"The goal of the current Intifada is a Palestinian state, but afterwards, there will be even greater things for which to strive . . .There is no room for more than one state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean." (Marwan Bargouti, PA leader of Palestinian Tanzim militia (anti-Israel militant group), Arutz 7, July 3, 2001)
"What exactly do the Jews want?! Read what the Ninth Protocol of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" says: 'We have limitless ambitions, inexhaustible greed, merciless vengeance, and hatred beyond imagination. We are a secret army whose plans are impossible to understand by using honest methods. Cunning is our approach, mystery is our way. [The way] of the 'Free Masons,' in which we believe, can not be understood by those among the gentiles who are stupid pigs…"'
"In order to destroy the gentiles' industry, we create scalping and raise the prices of basic commodities and industries' raw materials. We control the stock market, distribute drugs, and create chaos among the blue-collar workers. We persecute any wisdom amongst gentiles."
"We spread out disputes, conflicts, and hatred between peoples by using harmless organizations such as: 'The Rotary Lyons Clubs' and 'The Jehovah Witnesses.' We seek out and feel what is going on inside people's minds and hearts… We are not talking about harmless organizations here, but about channels of tracking and watchful eyes in every town. The blind public does not notice our methods since they are too busy indulging in their pleasures and lusts…"
"The ultimate goal of the 'Free Masons' is to destroy the world and to build it anew according to the Zionist policy so that the Jews can control the world… and destroy the [world's] religions. Their goal is that there won't be any other religion but the religion of Moses, no other law but that of Moses, and no other book except for the Torah…"
"The eye at the head of the pyramid displayed on the American dollar [bill] is the sleepless eye of the 'Free Masons.' On the other side of the dollar it is written in Latin: "The New World Order" which translates to globalization and all of its disasters. [It seems like] all of their plans are coming to realization. They have fulfilled what they were planning for a long time…"
"For them, all people are beasts and cattle created for them to ride and govern. These are the gentiles, a riffraff which God has created for them [the Jews] so they could lead them, exploit them, and suck their blood."
"The destruction of the Church, the destruction of the Papacy, the destruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the destruction of the Dome of the Rock, the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, are all [a part of] their goals and dreams." The Jewish Karl Marx using his Communism and Marxism… actually destroyed the Church in Eastern Europe."
"However, it did not take a long time to be rebuilt by Lech Walensa in Poland, Gorbachev in Russia, and with the help of Paulus in the Vatican. However, the destruction continued in many different ways. The next step is the destruction of Al-Aqsa and the rebuilding of the [Jewish] Temple…"
"Bush is promising them to transfer the [US] Embassy to Jerusalem as a reward, despite the Christians' and Muslims' will, and despite Arab oil and resources which flow from the Arab lands to the American protector [of Israel] and despite the fact that the Arab market has opened its gates to all imports of the American protector."
"The American policy remains completely blind regarding Arab rights… and Zionism continues to control every decision coming out of the White House."
"In the Talmud, the soul of the Jew is considered a part of the spirit of God, as the son is a part of his father. Every soul that is not Jewish is an evil soul… their paradise is this world's paradise and no one but the Jews should enter its gates. As for the rest of the people - their place is in hell somewhere between the tar and the fire…"
"The property of the Christians is considered by the Jews as theirs or like property without owners. It is permissible for the Jew to deceive the gentile who is a non-Jew…"
"Despite the fact that the Torah contains a thousand pages, it makes no mention of Resurrection, Judgment Day, or of the Hereafter… the Jews erased from their Bible anything that has to do with the Hereafter and turned this world into everything they care about…"
"The same forgery happened with Zionist history regarding Jerusalem, which is presented as the eternal capital of the Jews… and this is despite the fact that Jerusalem, Ur-Shalem, is the ancient name of Al-Quds, which is a Palestinian Cana'anite name. [King] Solomon is the one who had ownership over Jerusalem in order to destroy his rivals, and he is the one who built the [Jewish] Temple… The kings of Israel and Judea never displayed any kind of reverence for the Jewish Temple in their internal strifes. Furthermore, they plundered it during every invasion or retreat. Moses died without setting his foot on the land of Palestine, the land around which the Zionist dreams revolve."
"Regarding Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar ruined it, Titus destroyed it, and Hadrian burned it down… and following the massacre perpetrated by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Romans, not much was left but a weak and subjugated minority which lived on flattery."
"The capital of the Diaspora Jews is Europe, and their largest concentration is in Frankfurt, Germany. During medieval times, the Crusaders came in and initiated the religious persecution of the Jews in Europe… The hatred of these Jews was directed in all of its anger and vengeance against the Arabs and Muslims by means of Zionism and its plan to establish "The Greater Israel" on the ruins of Arab Palestine, using the claim that they deserve the land more [than the Arabs do]… and they, the people of Moses, are more deserving of its heritage. The Arabs in Palestine had to pay the price of expulsion, humiliation, and extermination, which happened to the Jews all around the world."
"Israel today is composed of thirteen million (???) Ashkenazi Jews, who came from Germany, and Sephardi Jews, who came from Spain and East Europe, and they are in fact more European, Slavic, or Aryan than Semites. Their ethnic affinity is completely disconnected from the Torah-Semitic origin they claim to be a part of. They are not a part of the Israelites or of Moses' people, but a mixture of Aryan and Slavic nations, and vestiges of former Russian peoples and Czars from the Caspian Sea region… they are not Semites and not the people of Moses… but vestiges and mixtures of all nations, foreigners who have no identity other than that of blackmail, theft, and robbery of property and land [done] with the help of overwhelming American support and suspicious European silence."
"The European support, the American help, and the silence of the French, the British, and the ancient imperialist forces, all hide an internal truth: The fear of an Islamic revival which will undo the balance [of the Middle East region]; this has brought all fronts hostile to Islam to think about a battle region which will be prepared to face the coming overwhelming Islamic wave. Israel is the best candidate for this role according to all, and it is possible that she will be able to face that wave and block it… Hence, it is necessary to help her so she can fulfill this historic role…"
"The Israeli aggression will lead to the opposite effect from what the great conspirators have in mind… the Muslims are not the Tartars of the next generation, they are not a hostile front for civilization, and they are not a racist front like the Jews. Muslims are not against the revival of the European Enlightenment [movement]… Furthermore, the European Enlightenment movement came out from underneath the wings of Avicena and ancient Islamic thought. Islam was mistreated and blamed for things it has no blame for. Israel is the real problem, she is the radical, she is racism, and she is the religious blindness. Israel is the plague of our time…and a terrorist state."
"The dilemma now is… to be or not to be… Unfortunately there is no middle ground… either death or life with all the risks involved. Allah wishes for this clash to happen, as nothing in this world happens without his knowledge or will."
"I tell our Arab brothers: Death is inevitable, don’t die dishonorably… Servants of Allah, hurry up and fulfill your duty… The burden is heavy and the situation is painful. [However], nothing compares to disgrace in the Day of Judgment. Disgrace will not add a single day to your lives, [while] courage will not take away a single moment of them. These are things which were predestined [for us]. The end is eternal life in heaven or in hell. There is no middle ground."
Columnist Mustafa Mahmud, "Israel – the Plague of Our Time and a Terrorist State." Al-Ahram, (Egypt), June 23, 2001.
"I cannot hide my happiness about the martyrdom operation that took place in Jerusalem last Thursday. I won't deny that it liberated me from the sorrow and misery that have overtaken me over the past weeks, watching the Arab world mired in silence and indifference while Israel rampages on the occupied land, abuses the [Palestinian] people day and night, while the funerals in the West Bank cities are the only presence of the masses on the Arab street. In this dismal atmosphere, the operation that took place in Jerusalem was, for me, a ray of hope and a life-saver."
"At first, I thought that this was my own private feeling, but shortly after the news was broadcast, I discovered that many share it with me. The telephone in my house did not stop ringing until after midnight. Most of the people I spoke with wanted to make sure that the news got to me. On the second day, I was informed that the masses in Lebanon, Jordan, and Gaza went out to the streets in cries of joy and shots in the air, and that some gave out candies to passers-by on the street, accompanied by the women's howls of joy whose echo remained in the sky all night long."
"I know that some will curl their lips in loathing and disgust and will say that this joy is demagogical and uncivilized emotion, because the attack took innocent citizens as victims, and that this should be met with sorrow and not with joy. I read the words of one of those who wanted to take our joy away, claiming that the operation in Jerusalem brought joy to the Israeli government. because it gave them the opportunity to get support from the Western governments, especially Washington."
"I don't know if these echoes deserve a response or not. But I know for sure that war has been declared on the Palestinians, and it is directed against our entire people; Israel began this war, using all of the means at its disposal. Every war has its price, so why should the Palestinians pay the entire price, while the Israelis fight free of charge?"
"Likewise, I know that Israel has no mercy on any Palestinian and does not distinguish between a fighter and a woman, a child or an elderly [person]. The child Muhammad Al-Dura was not known as a member of the "Islamic Jihad" or the "Al-Qassam Brigades," he was killed simply for being Palestinian. Why is this so? Why do we not regret Palestinian blood but are shocked by blood when it is Israeli? Why do we shed a tear over the innocent victims who sat in the pizza restaurant on Thursday? It should be known that these citizens, like every Israeli man and woman, are accomplices in the crime of the robbery of Palestine [have we forgotten?] not to mention that they are reservists who turn into fighters and killers at the drop of a dime ."
"My happiness has a number of reasons. The first is that the attack in Jerusalem was a painful blow for the Israeli enemy. This reason alone is sufficient to bring joy to someone like me, since every blow that hurts Israel, wherever it comes from, brings joy to me and to any Arab citizen who has not lost his memory, consciousness or conscience - due to the will to avenge and to even out the accumulating account that began when the robbery occurred half a century ago. When I see the shock and the remains of bodies on the television screen, the long line of Israeli massacres comes to my mind - from Deir Yassin, Kafer Qasem, and Qibyah, to the image of the death of Muhammad Al-Dura in his father's bosom."
"The second reason is the timing of the operation. This was important as ever because it happened at a moment of humiliation and shame in the Arab world, which had pushed many into the alleys of despair and frustration. Israel did not merely bomb, destroy, and unleash the settlers, but announced that it would continue to kidnap and kill all of the activists in the struggle against the occupation. These things were taking place in Palestine on a day to day basis, the Arab world took no action, and those who raised their voices and spoke did so either to ask for help from the Americans or for a return to the negotiation table. In this environment of humiliation, this attack took place and everyone realized that another type of reaction is possible, one that speaks to the Israelis in a language they understand."
"The third reason is that the blows Sharon leveled against the resistance [movement], raised his status in the opinion of the Israeli public, to the point where, according to the last public opinion poll 70% supported the policy of extermination of Palestinian activists. The attack in Jerusalem occurred in such an environment and carried a strong message for those ruled by pride, namely that the Israeli victory is not absolute, that the struggle continues and that 'Palestinian despair' is nothing more than a rumor spread by the Israelis."
"It would not be an exaggeration to say that the heroic and Fidaai [martyrdom] warriors are the only light in dark skies, they are the sole remaining sign of life in the Arab nation.. If we can still lift our heads with pride, it is only because we still have as models those young men who chose to die so that our lives would have hope and meaning and so that our long night will see a dawn with a message of hope."
"Therefore, I believe that the operation in Jerusalem was not aimed only at the Israeli occupation, but also at the lack of action by the Arabs. The magnitude of this lack of action is such, that only a martyrdom operation may shake it."
"It made me think of the stupid debate that a few people raised a while ago on the question of how we should view these Fidaai [martyrdom] operations, and whether they should be considered martyrdom or suicide [referring to the debate begun by the Mufti of Saudi Arabia who questioned the religious legitimacy of the suicide operations]. (1) Right now I would like to see the embarrassment of those who doubted it being martyrdom, legitimate and sublime."
"Now the cloak of the peace game has been removed and the Palestinians' options are clear: occupation or death. No one can claim that the Oslo Accord was a possible solution. I will say that the Oslo accord was the beginning of the tragedy, since it created an impossible situation and it could have only ended in an explosion of this kind." Fahmi Huweidi, Al-Ahram (Egypt) August 2001
“I promise that the number of shootings at the occupation will increase to 500 to 1,000 shooting [incidents] per day....The Palestinians have trained themselves to attack the Israeli tanks and explode their bodies that will be loaded with a belt of explosives, as part of the preparations for a possible Israeli attack in the Palestinian territories....The current intifada differs from the previous one because it is armed and the Palestinians are fighting inside their territory and from it.” Deputy Commander of Force-17, Muhammad Dhamrah (a.k.a., Abu Awdh), Al-Hayat, August 17, 2001
1.Cost of posters for Martyrs of the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades: Azam Mazhar, Osama Juabra, Shadi Afouri, Yasser Badawi, Ahad Fares (inserted by hand: NIS2,000).
2. Cost of printed notices, invitations and mourners’ tents (inserted by hand: NIS1,250.
.
3. Cost of attaching personal photos of these martyrs to wooden panels, plus those of Tabeth and Mahmoud al Jamil (inserted by hand: NIS1,000).
4. Cost of memorial ceremonies for martyrs. Memorial ceremonies held for Martyr Azam, Martyr Osama (inserted by hand: NIS6,000)
5. Cost of electrical goods and miscellaneous chemical substances (for manufacturing explosives and bombs - the largest item. (One prepared explosive device - NIS700 at least) We need 5-9 devices per week for the squads in the different regions (inserted by hand: NIS x 4 = NIS20,000 per month)
6. Cost of bullets (cost of Kalashnikov ammo is NIS -8 per bullet; M-16 bullets cost NIS2-2.5 each) We need bullets supplied on a daily basis.
7. Note: Available are 3,000 Kalashnikov bullets @ NIS2 each. We need a sum of money at once to buy them (inserted by hand: NIS22,500 for Kalashnikov bullets - NIS60,000 for M-16 bullets)
In conclusion, glory and pride to those who support our brave resistance against the occupation. Revolution until victory.
This piece of correspondence was discovered by Israeli troops who went through the files in Yasser Arafat’s personal accounting department in Ramallah. It is an itemized bill signed by the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades - Palestine, and dated September 16, 2001, exactly five days after the September 11 suicide attacks in the United States. The document is a routine request for Arafat to approve the daily outlay for the arming of suicides with explosives and ammo, their memorial ceremonies and funeral posters. It is part of the body of evidence Israeli troops gleaned at Arafat’s headquarters in Ramallah and demonstrates that Arafat supervised every last detail of the Palestinian suicide offensive. (April 7th 2002)
"Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestinian National Authority
The President's Office
"In the name of merciful Allah, position statement by the Liaison Committee to mark the first year of the Aksa Intifada.
"Woe to our Palestinian nation, the masses who cling [to our land], stand strongly and patiently, whose roots are in the land of their fathers and grandfathers. You, who realized by means of your determined position and hold [on the land] from the time Allah desired it, for more than half a century, while you are fighting the occupation that steals our land and homeland.
"It has been decreed upon you and the generations that follow, until the resurrection, to protect this homeland. You are guarding this pledge [that depends] on your necks and the necks of your grandchildren, because you are the protectors and guardians [of the homeland], and live on it, and are its original and legal owners, and its inheritors until the day you will be resurrected.
"We mark with you and by means of you, the first anniversary of the breaking out of the spark of the intifada... the blessed Aksa Intifada, which our nation is carrying out in the liberated territories and the occupied territories, in the Diaspora, which emphasizes the intensity of its struggle imbedded in its soul to explode the spark of built-up rage in the face of the robbers of the century, the manufacturers of world terrorism, the killers of children, women, and the elderly, the stealers of land and livelihood, the destroyers and burners of land, seeds, and stones.
"Indeed, the nation, including all its parts and groups, broke out in the intifada in every place it is found. The ties of connection are interwoven between the residents of Jerusalem and the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the residents of the occupied cities of old. [Israeli Arabs], who have forever been the natural continuation and wall and fortification of our Palestinian nation and its just problem.
"The [Palestinian] nation, indeed, broke out its intifada in order to pave with its pure and clean blood the sidewalks, alleyways, and roads of the holiest of holies, the capital of the independent Palestinian state.
"The stone and the man, the bird and the tree, broke out the intifada in the alleyways of Jerusalem and its holy places and the hills and valleys of the West Bank, and the Gaza coast and its refugee camps, and the plains and hills and summits of Palestine, in cities and villages of Palestine, occupied since 1948.... Yes, we will still write in blood the map of the one homeland and one nation.
"Indeed, we are still to draw the lines and demarcations of the nobleness of the national struggle against the nations of darkness, racism, requisition, deportation, and intentional banishment, [steps] taken against the Palestinian man, as the international community [disappeared, and with] imagined justice.
"Today, we do not have any expectations from the leaders of the [Arab] nation who are overcome by sleep and fettered by silence, and in which cowardliness has increased. We look and follow with nationalistic eyes, dreaming about our families and great nation in villages and cities that stand strong since the year 1948. For they are partners of the goal and the fate, partners of the one national dream.
"Al-Aksa Intifada and independence have realized the national unity among all the Palestinian people that stands strong, despite the roadblocks of the occupation, despite all acts of massacre which have been carried out by the Zionist gangs since the nakba [disaster] of 1948.
"To commemorate this... memory, we emphasize together and equally the will of this one nation, the life of ennobled freedom. Despite the nations of oppression and the darkness of racism which is being carried out against us by the worst soldiers of occupation history has ever known, in order to express in fury the historic oppression which has fallen upon us since the beginning of our historic times by means of the intifada of stones, the intifada of built-up rage...
"Today, no voice is louder than the voice of the intifada. It will continue to be the intifada of the one nation, erupting with one flowing blood.... It will continue to be the intifada of ongoing fury... the intifada of ongoing independence... the intifada of generations that will continue until the realization of our sublime national dream.
"Indeed, we are the owners of the land and the legal truth, the owners of the independent homeland and the independent state.
"Therefore, with you and by means of you, and by means of our noble Arab and Islamic nation, and by means of freedom-seeking people in the world, we will establish our independent Palestinian nation and its holy capital of Jerusalem... with you and by means of you we will liberate our holy al-Aksa Mosque so that the free Palestinian flag will wave in the skies of Jerusalem, the cradle of heavenly religions, the land of the messengers, the land of the gathering of creation on the day of judgement.
"Glory and eternity to our innocent victims, speedy recovery to our brave wounded, freedom to our brave prisoners, disgrace and shame to the agents [collaborators] and those who sinned, this is a revolt until victory.
"Liaison Committee of the President's Office, Sunday, 30 September 2001" (Written to Israeli Arabs)
"When a particular culture is characterized by negative traits such as aggression, piracy, racism, or any other repulsive term, it must be hated by the other societies, except for those societies that share those very traits. This is a natural reaction..."
"On the other hand, when the hatred takes root in a particular society towards another society or nation [i.e. Western 'hatred' for the Nation of Islam] for its beliefs, for its way of life, or because it cannot come to terms with particular traditions and customs - this cannot be accepted!!!"
"For example, one cannot be amazed by the hatred of most of the nations of the world for the 'Zionist entity,' because of its history, replete not with human achievements but with barbaric massacres, deceit, and evil conscience. Hatred towards them is on the rise among the Arabs in particular, because of what they suffer from the occupation of the Arab state of Palestine, the catastrophes, the cruelty, and the injustice that are known to all."
'Hatred of the Zionist Enemy Sucked with Mothers' Milk' "For this reason, Arab infants - before they reach the age of self-humiliation and submission - suckled hatred of the Zionist enemy with their mothers' milk, and this hatred cannot be uprooted despite all the talk about false peace agreements."
"However warm the kisses, and however firm the handshakes, their hearts are full of hatred, their souls are full of rage, and their eyes glance away with loathing at the sight of the flag of the Zionist entity flying in the heart of [some] Arab capitals."
"Men of honor want to rip up the flag, to dirty it on the ground. They want to expel these foreigners who came to our land, so that our Palestinian brothers will live on their land in peace and security, as do the other peoples. Don't they have the right???"
"I am in no way preaching hatred or praising it as a way of human behavior. But the hated individual or society must examine itself so as to understand why it is this way, since no society or individual can be hated in such a way for no reason..."
"I will give a good example of how hatred for the Zionist entity takes root in the souls of the Arabs... I once attended an international conference on road accidents in the military, held in Paris. With me was my colleague, one of the enthusiastic young officers, whose mood changed when he was informed that a man who had stood next to us in a side conversation between meetings was a transportation officer in the detested Zionist entity."
"My colleague raged, swearing that he would not stand next to this criminal, talk with him, or enter the hall in which he was sitting... He didn't calm down until I swore to him that I hadn't known what citizenship that man held, because he was in the company of officers from all over the world, and that I myself was incapable of standing next to someone whose hands were dripping with the blood of innocent Arabs."
"These are our enemies, and our hatred towards them is rooted in our souls, and the only thing that can remove it is their departure from our lands and the purification of their defilement of our holy places!!!"
Al-Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), November 22, 2001.
Special Ingredient For Jewish Holidays is Human Blood From Non-Jewish Youth
"I chose to [speak] about the Jewish holiday of Purim, because it is connected to the month of March. This holiday has some dangerous customs that will, no doubt, horrify you, and I apologize if any reader is harmed because of this."
"During this holiday, the Jew must prepare very special pastries, the filling of which is not only costly and rare - it cannot be found at all on the local and international markets."
"Unfortunately, this filling cannot be left out, or substituted with any alternative serving the same purpose. For this holiday, the Jewish people must obtain human blood so that their clerics can prepare the holiday pastries. In other words, the practice cannot be carried out as required if human blood is not spilled!!"
"Before I go into the details, I would like to clarify that the Jews' spilling human blood to prepare pastry for their holidays is a well-established fact, historically and legally, all throughout history. This was one of the main reasons for the persecution and exile that were their lot in Europe and Asia at various times."
"This holiday [Purim] begins with a fast, on March 13, like the Jewess Esther who vowed to fast. The holiday continues on March 14; during the holiday, the Jews wear carnival-style masks and costumes and overindulge in drinking alcohol, prostitution, and adultery. This holiday has become known among Muslim historians as the "Holiday of Masks."
"Who was Esther, and why the Jews sanctify her and act as she did, I will clarify in my article next Tuesday, Allah willing. Today, I would like to tell you how human blood is spilled so it can be used for their holiday pastries. The blood is spilled in a special way. How is it done?"
"For this holiday, the victim must be a mature adolescent who is, of course, a non-Jew - that is, a Christian or a Muslim. His blood is taken and dried into granules. The cleric blends these granules into the pastry dough; they can also be saved for the next holiday. In contrast, for the Passover slaughtering, about which I intend to write one of these days, the blood of Christian and Muslim children under the age of 10 must be used, and the cleric can mix the blood [into the dough] before or after dehydration."
"Let us now examine how the victims' blood is spilled. For this, a needle-studded barrel is used; this is a kind of barrel, about the size of the human body, with extremely sharp needles set in it on all sides. [These needles] pierce the victim's body, from the moment he is placed in the barrel."
"These needles do the job, and the victim's blood drips from him very slowly. Thus, the victim suffers dreadful torment - torment that affords the Jewish vampires great delight as they carefully monitor every detail of the blood-shedding with pleasure and love that are difficult to comprehend."
"After this barbaric display, the Jews take the spilled blood, in the bottle set in the bottom [of the needle-studded barrel], and the Jewish cleric makes his coreligionists completely happy on their holiday when he serves them the pastries in which human blood is mixed."
"There is another way to spill the blood: The victim can be slaughtered as a sheep is slaughtered, and his blood collected in a container. Or, the victim's veins can be slit in several places, letting his blood drain from his body."
"This blood is very carefully collected - as I have already noted - by the 'rabbi,' the Jewish cleric, the chef who specializes in preparing these kinds of pastries."
"The human race refuses even to look at the Jewish pastries, let alone prepare them or consume them!
Dr. Umayma Ahmad Al-Jalahma of King Faysal University in Al-Dammam, Saudi government daily Al-Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), March 10, 2002.
Praising the Passover Bomber
"May Allah have mercy upon you, oh 'Abd Al-Baset 'Oudeh, mujaheed and martyr, the quiet hero who infiltrated so elegantly and spoke so gaily. You defended your religion, your homeland, and your people. You attached no importance to [any] Arab summit; you did not wait for international agreements; you did not follow television interviews; you did not pause because of dead Arab and international reactions that neither help nor hinder."
"Courageously, full of willingness to [wage] Jihad, and with faith filling your heart, you executed your assignment and sacrificed your pure soul for your religion and your homeland. The Israeli tanks did not strike you with dread; the Israeli military, armed to the teeth with all types of modern weaponry, did not move a hair on your head; the prime minister of this aggressive state that occupies your land and your homeland did not frighten you; Israeli intelligence, experts in terrorist espionage and treacherous collaboration, did not expose you."
"You could not stand the killing, the destruction, and the exile carried out by the Zionist army… You knew that the Zionists do not honor treaties, promises, and agreements, and understand only the language of resistance and Jihad."
"You rose up like the rest of your mujahideen brothers, took matters into your own hands, and did not wait for Arab or international help that might never arrive, and if it did would be no more than words of condemnation and demand."
"May Allah have mercy on you, oh beloved of the Arab nation, oh 'Abd Al-Baset. You evoked hope that had begun to dissipate; you restored life that had begun to expire; you revived the Arab pride, valor, chivalry, and sacrifice that had begun to die, and you caused pain to [the people] who had begun to celebrate and sing atop the bodies of the children, youths, and mothers of your people."
"You entered silently, with the faith and confidence with which Allah inspired you. Despite all the obstacles, fortifications, and security measures, you reached [the appointed place], sat down at one of the tables, talked, told a few jokes, and laughed with them, and then Allah decreed for you a martyr's death. What heroism, courage, and strength - almost unmatched on the face of the earth!"
Praising the Supermarket Bomber
"May Allah have mercy on you, oh Ayat Al-Akhras. You left your home for the path of martyrdom and Paradise. Your family knew not where you were headed, and knew not that you had chosen the way of martyrdom. There was nothing to stop you… You proceeded with a determination, will, and strength rarely found, even impossible to find, in a 16-year-old girl…"
"You sought not the counsel of the American, French, or Russian governments; you sought not a green or red light from them; rather, you knew that the hand of Allah is supreme, that soul-sacrifice is the highest form of Jihad, and that he who sacrifices reaches the highest level of Paradise. You were not tempted by and did not rejoice in the life of this world, oh beloved of the Arab nations of 16 springs [i.e. 16 years]. Marriage was before you; you were a girl engaged and looking forward to finishing your studies in order to wed - except you chose Allah, Paradise, and martyrdom. You taught the Arab nation a lesson almost never taught in the schools and universities, and you breathed your last [breath] and evoked [in us] sensations that had begun to disappear…"
"You raised our heads high and told the oppressing world, biased towards Zionism, that a young girl had infiltrated [into] Israeli society despite the tight security closure, and had profoundly shaken it without tank, missile, or rifle - [merely] with her small, pure soul. You say to us, 'Despair not; it is simpler than you think. Be filled with faith in Allah, with a quest for Jihad and martyrdom.'"
"May Allah have mercy on you, oh 'Abd Al-Baset, Ayat, and all the male and female mujahideen. We ask Allah that the angels welcome you as righteous martyrs, and beseech Allah to give you the highest level of Paradise."
Dr. Khalil Ibrahim Al-Sa'adat, the Saudi Arabian government-controlled daily Al-Jazirah April 1, 20
"…The psychological structure [of the perpetrator of a suicide attack] is that of an individual who loves life. This may seem strange to people who see the human soul as most sublime. They are incapable of understanding [the suicide attack] because their cultural structure has no concepts such as self-sacrifice and honor. These concepts do not exist in a number of cultures, and therefore they offer stupid interpretations, attesting to ignorance… But we know this well, because our culture is one of sacrifice, loyalty, and honor… Bush was mistaken when he said that the girl was killing the future when she chose to kill herself. On the contrary: She died so that others would live…"
"When the martyr dies a martyr's death, he attains the height of bliss… As a professional psychiatrist, I say that the height of bliss comes with the end of the countdown: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. And then, you press the button to blow yourself up. When the martyr reaches 'one,' and then 'boom,' he explodes, and senses himself flying, because he knows for certain that he is not dead… It is a transition to another, more beautiful world, because he knows very well that within seconds he will see the light of the Creator. He will be at the closest possible point to Allah… None in the [Western] world sacrifices his life for his homeland. If his homeland is drowning, he is the first to jump ship. In our culture it is different…"
"[In the Western world], they have lost the ability to understand the situation… According to my professional assessment, they have lost their faculties. They do not understand what is happening. They see [the suicide bombers] as a strange breed of people… As far as they are concerned, life is sex, love, and money… So they tell you: 'It's someone committing suicide, a drug addict, someone in despair.' This is a mistake! Someone committing suicide hates life and considers it a burden. They want to impose the term 'suicide' on them, but they are not suicides [rather, 'those who sacrifice their souls']…"
"The message to Israel is that we will not cease… It is very important to convey this message… The child who threw a stone in 1993 today wraps himself in an explosive belt. Some Israeli politicians take this into account, and say to themselves, 'This war will never end'… As long as there is even a single Palestinian left, the war will not end… What is happening now indicates one thing: Israel will not exist forever. We as Arabs must know that this war will not end. The conflict will continue. This is not a conflict over land alone… This war will not end, and anyone who deludes himself that there will be peace must understand that Israel did not come to this region to love the Arabs or to normalize relations with them. Anyone who thinks that peace will come, either now or in the future, has limited historical vision. Either we will exist or we will not exist. Either the Israelis or the Palestinians - there is no third option…"
"There are no Israeli civilians. They are all plunderers. History teaches this… I am completely convinced that the psychological effect [of the attacks] on the Israeli plunderer is [the realization] that his existence is temporary… They have become completely convinced that their existence in this region is temporary… Remove the Apache [helicopter] from the equation, leave them one-on-one with the Palestinian people with the only weapon [for both sides] being dynamite. Then you will see all the Israelis leave, because among them there is not even one man willing to don a belt of dynamite…"
"On the strategic level, there must be a pan-Arab plan in order to reach our goal. The goal of all of us is to liberate Palestine from the Israeli aggressors. To use words that some people no longer like to use today: 'We will throw Israel into the sea.' This phrase, by the way, is the truth. Either they will throw us into the sea, or we will throw them into the sea. There is no middle ground. Coexistence is total nonsense…"
"The real means of dealing with Israel directly is those who blow themselves up. According to what I see in the battle arena, there is no [other means] except for the pure, noble Palestinian bodies. This is the only Arab weapon there is, and anyone who says otherwise is a conspirator. I regret having to use these terms, but Arab politicians and journalists who condemn this fedaai movement are trying to impose such ideas on us to appease the West… The Palestinian body is the only means [of warfare] in this battle."
Dr. 'Adel Sadeq, chairman of the Arab Psychiatrists Association and head of the Department of Psychiatry at 'Ein Shams University in Cairo, Iqraa TV (Saudi Arabia/Egypt), April 24, 2002.
*
"Yesterday, the Palestinian mother Reem Al-Riyashi sacrificed herself, and by so doing joined the columns of the brave Jihad warriors and broke the atrocious and troublesome Arab silence, the helplessness, and the retreat that precede failure and disintegration. She offered hope in a sea of complacency, indecisiveness, and fear. It is a new Intifada. It is the Intifada of the revolutionary Palestinian woman and of the land, opposing the 'Jewification' [of Palestine], the Jewish reality, and the Arab regimes. Did it come out of despair?
"No, and again no. It is an act of belief and it is the correct path, because the fall of one Jew, whether soldier or civilian, is a great accomplishment in times of decline, subservience, and submissiveness, as a way to undermine the plan to 'Jewify' all of Palestine.
"I say 'Jew' and I apologize to the Lebanese intellectuals, or at least some of them, who welcomed the Geneva initiative, applauded it, and considered it an historical solution to the Middle East conflict. They play word games [and differentiate] between Jew and Israeli, between Right and Left, and between doves and hawks. Some of them may have forgotten, or pretend that they have forgotten, that basically Israel was the product of the Zionist Left starting with Weizmann, Ben-Gurion, and Peres through Yossi Beilin. Have they forgotten that the Labor Party went to war in 1967 and since then began to settle Jews in the West Bank? Even the separation wall today is the brainchild of the Labor Party during Barak's time... And there are those who made Rabin into a hero because of an obscure promise that we are still bragging about [concerning Israel's willingness to withdraw from the Golan Heights]. Wasn't he the one who instated [the practice of] breaking the bones of Palestinian detainee
"Reem Al-Riyashi is the last roadblock. What is it that she and other [women] are seeking or demanding? A few weapons, explosives, or anti-tank missiles, [and to be able to pass] through Jordan, Rafiah, Lebanon, Syria, or any other possible doorway in order to prevent the 'Jewification' plan, or at least to delay it, while the [weapon] depots of the Arab armies are full to the brim..."
Walid Jumblatt, chairman of the (Druze) Socialist Progressive Party and member of the Lebanese parliament, praised the January 14, 2004 suicide bombing by a Palestinian woman in Gaza. Al-Nahar (Lebanon), January 19, 2004. (Later on Palestinian officials confirmed that this mother of two small children had been caught in adultery and given the option of a dishonourable death or death as a "martyr". Hotly denied by her family)
"... Despite the principle of the [Muslim] Brotherhood everywhere in the world that the Hebrew state does not have the [right] to exist on any of the land of Palestine from the sea to the river ... if the Hamas leader's statements refer to a temporary stage, only then do we support them. But everyone knows that the Muslim Brotherhood is opposed to any Jewish or Zionist existence in any of Palestine....."
"The Muslim Brotherhood movement condemns all bombings in the independent Arab and Muslim countries. But the bombings in Palestine and Iraq are a [religious] obligation. This is because these two countries are occupied countries, and the occupier must be expelled in every way possible. Thus, the [Muslim Brotherhood] movement supports martyrdom operations in Palestine and Iraq in order to expel the Zionists and the Americans." Muhammad Mahdi Othman 'Akef, new Muslim Brotherhood Leader. Al-Arabi (Egypt), January 18, 2004.
"We should differentiate between Jews and Zionists. The Jews have rights by virtue of their being the People of the Book [Ahl Al-Kitab, according to Islam], provided they are not occupiers. With regard to the Zionists, we will resist them with all our strength."Muhammad Mahdi Othman 'Akef, new Muslim Brotherhood Leader, Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), January 25, 2004.
"We don't trust him (Yasser Arafat) Why on earth should you trust him!" Aide to Yasser Arafat (unnamed) in Beirut talking to US government official.
"Arafat never came to a bridge he didn't double-cross." King Hussein of Jordan (speaking in English)
“We must lie when truth leads to unpleasant results” Al-Ghazali, Laffin, The Arab Mind, p. 79)
“It is sometimes a duty to lie” (Laffin, The Arab Mind)
“If a lie is the only way to reach a good result, it is allowable” (Laffin, The Arab Mind)
“I lift my voice to utter lies absurd, for when I speak the truth, my hushed tones scarce are heard” (Abu l’Ala 973-1057, quoted in Laffin, The Arab Mind, p. 50
"Lies are sins except when they are told for the welfare of a Moslem or for saving him from disaster." Al Tabarani:
"Telling lies in war is permitted so as to comfort the Muslims when they are in need of it as in the time of fighting." Ibn Al Arabi:
“If you want to know what leaders of non-democratic regimes really believe, don’t listen to their declarations to Western statesmen and journalists, but to what they say among themselves” (quoted in Dispatch From Jerusalem, Jan/Feb. 1994).
“The Arab means what he says at the moment he is saying it. He is neither a vicious nor, usually, a calculating liar but a natural one” John Laffin, “The Arab Mind” (p. 70)
A saying, often repeated, is that, “On Saturday we will kill the Jews. On Sunday we will kill the Christians.”
Raiding your enemy, your neighbor and even your own brother was considered to be “one of the few manly occupations” (Raphael Patai, The Arab Mind, p. 81).
“I against my brothers; I and my brothers against my cousins; I and my cousins against the world” (cited in Patai, The Arab Mind, p. 42)
“All our people are armed, all fight, and all kill for the least thing. We are very jealous of our rights...If in this village two houses should suddenly engage in a fight, the entire population would split into two parties and join in the fight. War could break out in the village. When it subsides, and only then, would the people ask what the cause of the fighting was. They fight first, and then inquire as to the cause of the fight. This is our way of life” (Ameen Faris Rihani, quoted by Laffin, The Arab Mind, p. 219)
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“Blood demands blood.” Bedouin proverb.
“Both the Japanese and the Arabs are ready to kill to regain their lost honor; but the Japanese will kill himself, while the Arab will kill somebody else” (Laffin, The Arab Mind, p. 212).
“A gentle, peaceful man, on the spur of the moment may commit brutal murder” (Winifred Blackman cited in Patai, The Arab Mind, p. 158).
“At each meal a quarrel, with each bite a worry” (cited in Patai, The Arab Mind, p. 161).
“Bedouin are a savage nation, fully accustomed to savagery and the things that cause it. Savagery has become their character and their nature. They enjoy it...They care only for the property they might take away from people through looting...civilization always collapses in places the Bedouin took over and conquered” (Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), The Muqaddimah -- An Introduction to History, quoted in Laffin, The Arab Mind, p. 97).
Arab violence is “handed on from father to eldest son to youngest son to the family donkey or dogs” (Laffin, The Arab Mind, p. 116)
"The whole Arab tradition is “one of violence. They know no better” (Laffin, The Arab Mind , p. 111)
“Arab violence is non-selective; the identity of the victims is immaterial. For the Arab, violence in itself is consolatory” (Laffin, The Arab Mind p. 121)
“Violence,” a Libyan cabinet minister told Laffin, “is the Moslem’s most positive form of prayer.”
“Violence has become a commodity. It was always exportable within the Arab world, but in modern times it reaches further afield and has the more open sanction of governments and political leaders” (Laffin, The Arab Mind p. 119).
Violence is “a chronic mental condition” (Hitti, History of the Arabs, quoted in Patai, The Arab Mind, p. 81).
“Western soldiers who fought the Arabs were always trained to keep their last bullet for themselves -- an insurance against the torture they inevitably faced” (Laffin, The Arab Mind , p. 95)
"When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle an’ blow out your brains
An’ go to your Gawd like a soldier."
Rudyard Kipling , "The Young British Soldier, " Barrack-Room Ballads (1892)
“He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers” (Genesis 16:12 NIV).
THE HAMAS CHARTER
Hamas interviews
Interviews with Hamas women
Hamas in its own words
A CRY FROM THE HEART
Has there ever been a peace process?
CAN ISLAM MAKE PEACE WITH ISRAEL?
WHY DID YASSER ARAFAT SIGN THE OSLO ACCORD?
The treaty of Hudabiyyah
The treaty between Saladin and Richard I
Peace? What peace?
Sermons in Palestinian mosques
The truth about Arafat and the Palestinians
Yasser Arafat over the years
Arafat’smissingbillions
Aid money used for weapons
Obituary of Yasser Arafat
Egyptian tributes to Arafat
Abu Mazen
Holocaust denial
Hanan Ashrawi
Faisal Husseini
AhmedQurei
Marwan Barghouti could succeed Arafat
Palestinian leadership should get real
Hamas on the 1967 borders
Arafat and the Viet Cong
The Hizbullah programme
The Gaza disengagement