Tuesday, August 17, 2010
PMW Bulletin: Fatah leader: Armed resistance is part of Fatah platform

Bulletin
Aug. 17, 2010

Fatah leader: Armed resistance is part of Fatah platform
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=2806

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
p:+972 2 625 4140 e: pmw@palwatch.org

f: +972 2 624 2803 w: www.palwatch.org

Another senior Fatah leader has expressed support for the use of armed
resistance against Israel under the right conditions. In an interview on
official Palestinian Authority Television, Fatah Central Committee member
Jibril Rajoub said:

"At the [Sixth Fatah] Conference, we affirmed the struggle in all its forms,
including resistance and the armed struggle... The [armed] struggle is a
means, not an end. The [armed] struggle is related to our abilities... must
cause pain to the occupation [Israel]; it must be connected to a political
platform."

[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 6, 2010]

Rajoub's message echoes the recent pronouncements of former PA Prime
Minister Ahmed Qurei (Abu Alaa) and other senior Fatah leaders, as reported
last week by Palestinian Media Watch.

Qurei said that armed resistance is still acceptable as long as it is
beneficial to the Palestinians' interests: "If it gives me [benefit] without
costing me, yes." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 5, 2010]

Click to view the interview with Jibril Rajoub.
www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=843&fld_id=843&doc_id=2808
Click to see the PMW web site with numerous examples of Fatah leaders
supporting violence.

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=462
Below is the transcript of the interview with Rajoub, followed by other
statements by PA leaders supporting violence against Israel as a legitimate
and even admirable Palestinian option, depending on profitability and
capability:

PA TV Interviewer: "You've talked about Fatah's armed struggle, it's past,
etc. Everyone knows that today there is an approach in Fatah that says 'no'
to the armed struggle at this stage..."
Jibril Rajoub, Fatah Central Committee member: "At the [Sixth Fatah]
Conference, we affirmed the struggle in all its forms, including resistance
and the armed struggle...
We agreed on it unanimously about both the movement's aims and its
principles, including the resistance and the armed struggle. The [armed]
struggle, as we see it, is not an aim; it is not a hike or a pleasure
cruise.
[Armed] resistance has circumstances, considerations, and factors - whether
national, regional or international. It must cause pain to the occupation;
it must be connected to a political platform."

[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 6, 2010]

1- Ahmad Qurei (Abu Alaa), former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, head
of the PLO's Jerusalem Department says armed resistance is function of
profitability:

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=462&doc_id=2793
Qurei: "All the options are open, as I see it. Negotiations, political
activity, popular activity and [armed] resistance - and we must continue
with it."
Question: "Today, what is the [best] option, in your opinion?"
Qurei: "All of the above."
Question: "Including [armed] resistance?"
Qurei: "I see and analyze. And if it [resistance] gives me [benefit] without
costing me, yes."

[Al Sharq Al-Awsat (London),
reprinted in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 5, 2010]

2- Nabil Shaath, member of Palestinian Parliament, Fatah Commissioner of
Foreign Relations and member of the Fatah Central Committee, says
negotiations are "tactical" and "temporary"
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=462&doc_id=2648

"Dr. Nabil Shaath, Commissioner of International Relations and member of the
Fatah Central Committee... stated that the decision to renew negotiations
was a tactical decision, i.e., a temporary, defensive decision... and it is
dependent upon the possibility of attaining tangible results for the
Palestinians. He concluded: 'Even the resistance uses defensive tactics in
order not to miss opportunities.'"

[Al-Dustur (Jordan), June 10, 2010]

3- Nabil Shaath, member of Palestinian Parliament, Fatah Commissioner of
Foreign Relations and member of the Fatah Central Committee, defends the
right to armed struggle when it is in the "people's interest"
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=462&doc_id=2649

"Dr. Nabil Shaath, member of the Fatah Central Committee... emphasized that
'the Palestinian people has the right to defend itself, and it has the right
to act in the way of the armed struggle. We have acted in this way for 100
years. Fatah led it [the armed struggle] for 23 years, and Hamas adopted it
for 15 years. We are proud of all of our Shahids (Martyrs), and it is our
right to return to the armed conflict whenever we view that as our people's
interest.'"

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 7, 2010]

4- Nabil Shaath, member of Palestinian Parliament, Fatah Commissioner of
Foreign Relations and member of the Fatah Central Committee, explains the
"inability" to engage in armed struggle now
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=462&doc_id=2793

"MP Dr. Nabil Shaath, member Fatah Central Committee and Commissioner of
Foreign Relations... emphasized that the Fatah's stated strategy for the
struggle is to adopt the growing popular and 'non-violent' struggle against
Israel, because of the inability to engage in the armed struggle, which has
become undesirable now, although it is the right of the Palestinian people,
which all international treaties and resolutions have guaranteed... Shaath
said: 'I have said this to the leaders of Hamas, I have said to [Hamas PM]
Ismail Haniyeh during my meeting with him in Gaza, that Arab, regional and
to engage in the armed struggle...' Shaath emphasized that the non-violent
struggle is no less honorable than the armed struggle, and that it does not
signify submission to Israeli demands."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 20, 2010]

5- Nabil Shaath, member of Palestinian Parliament, Fatah Commissioner of
Foreign Relations and member of the Fatah Central Committee, says that armed
struggle is not rejected
http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103617260072&s=4998&e=001uN3H5eIFt9xkIWg7dQZcTnxlcgFyOQ2q8NzQFCxmH3VrXDzuijZ1OgW6T3BO8qU-hezMKOyvWrHJUQGmA67hptCL98HGcXd-pJIb_uz0nGdPu8LKRKqdvELO3nHIBlkfgoo6aVG28i3HlT_lgZ8sUC7zMkHngYmH
"Dr. Nabil Shaath, Fatah... [said] The current distancing from the armed
struggle does not mean its absolute rejection... He noted that the
difficulty of the conflict required the Palestinian people to diversify its
activities of struggle - along with an emphasis on the importance of the
armed struggle, which laid the basis for the existence of the state and
contributed to maintaining the right and presenting it to the world -
especially since the armed struggle at the present time is not possible, or
is not effective, because of to the difficulties with which the Palestinian
people contends."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 21, 2010]

6- Editorials in the PA official daily: "Armed struggle is impossible now."
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=462&doc_id=2473

"I have no doubt that the occupation is destined to pass from the world... I
also have no doubt that out of the options for the national struggle to be
rid of the occupation, the popular struggle is the one that is needed, since
the option of the armed struggle is impossible now."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah), May 24, 2010]

7- Fatah leader Abbas Zaki, member of the Fatah Central Committee, justifies
violence:
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=462&doc_id=2472

"Abbas Zaki, member of the Fatah Central Committee, does not believe that a
Palestinian-Israeli agreement will be achieved in the shadow of the extreme
right-wing [Israeli] government, but he leaves the door open to a 'return to
[UN] Resolution 181 [1947 Partition Plan] and to all forms of the struggle,
including the armed struggle, if the negotiations fail... the door is open
to a return to the UN, such that Resolutions 242 and 338 will no longer have
any value, and there will be a return to Resolution 181 [of November 29,
1947], which is the Partition Plan and the birth certificate of the State of
Israel and of the Palestinian State. In addition, [there will be] a return
to UN Resolution 3236, which grants the Palestinian people the right to all
forms of the struggle, including the armed struggle...'
He called for 'a gathering that will bring together the Fatah and Hamas
leadership, under Mahmoud Abbas' ... and added: 'We are in favor of anyone
who defends the homeland and bears arms in order to defend it, because he
supports the idea of Fatah and of the resistance [armed conflict].'"

[Al-Ghad (Jordan), May 22, 2010]