PALESTINIAN QUOTES
Yasser Arafat In His Own Words
On alternatives to negotiations:
"If Israel rejects our demands there will be a reaction and we have a 30,000 man armed force."
--- Yasser Arafat (Quoted by Israel Radio reporter Yoni Ben Menachem, 7 June 1996)
"The Israelis are mistaken if they think we do not have an alternative to negotiations. By Allah I swear they are wrong. The Palestinian people are prepared to sacrifice the last boy and the last girl so that the Palestinian flag will be flown over the walls, the churches and the mosques of Jerusalem."
--- Yasser Arafat, in a speech given on 6 August 1995 at a party to celebrate the birth of his daughter (Haaretz, 6 September 1995; The Jerusalem Post, 7 September 1995)
"Without full Palestinian rights with a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital there won't be peace.... We can't rule out a return to the gun. If Israel can't meet its obligations the peace will be destroyed."
--- Yasser Arafat's spokesman Nabil Aburodeina (Interview with Independent Media Review and Analysis, 17 April 1996)
On ultimate goals:
"The struggle will continue until all of Palestine is liberated."
--- Yasser Arafat (Voice of Palestine Radio, 11 November 1995)
The PLO In Its Own Words
On resumption of terrorism:
"If the negotiations reach a dead end, we shall go back to the struggle and strife, as we did for 40 years. It is not beyond our capabilities....
"If and when Israel will say, `That's it, we won't talk about Jerusalem, we won't return refugees, we won't dismantle settlements, and we won't retreat from borders,' then all the acts of violence will return. Except that this time we'll have 30,000 armed Palestinian soldiers who will operate in areas in which we have unprecedented elements of freedom."
--- Nabil Shaath, planning minister and leading negotiator for the Palestinian Authority, speaking at a symposium shown on Palestinian television. (The Jerusalem Post, 15 March 1996)
On cooperation with Israel:
"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)
"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)
On killing Israelis:
"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)
On the intifada:
"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)
On a Palestinian state:
"We are going to continue the Palestinian revolution until the last martyr to create a Palestinian state."
--- Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the P.L.O., in a speech in Gaza City marking the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Fatah faction of the P.L.O. (Agence France Presse, 1 January 1995)
On putting a halt to Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorism:
"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
The Palestinians In Their Own Words
The following statements by Palestinian leaders date from between April 1995 and July 1996.
On violence against Israel:
"If the negotiations reach a dead end, we shall go back to the struggle and strife, as we did for 40 years. It is not beyond our capabilities.... "If and when Israel will say, `That's it, we won't talk about Jerusalem, we won't return refugees, we won't dismantle settlements, and we won't retreat from borders,' then all the acts of violence will return. Except that this time we'll have 30,000 armed Palestinian soldiers who will operate in areas in which we have unprecedented elements of freedom."
--- Palestinian Authority Planning Minister Nabil Shaath, at a symposium shown on Palestinian television. (The Jerusalem Post, 15 March 1996)
"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)
"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 Akram Sabri, the Palestinian Authority-appointed mufti (Muslim religious leader) 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)
"[Palestinians should] rise up with all their might against the occupation."
--- Sheikh Akram Sabri in a sermon at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque. (The Jerusalem Post, 14 June 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)
On support for violence:
"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)
"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)
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)
"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)
Calls to war:
"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 are 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)
"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)
Threats of violence:
"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)
"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)
"A vast wave of violence may break out in occupied western Jerusalem as long as the occupation authorities continue to adopt measures against Jerusalem residents."
--- Palestinian Legislative Council member Hatam Abdel Khader (Voice of Palestine, 29 March 1998)
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