Palestinian officials about Clinton

Palestinian officials about Clinton

Communicated by the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel, August 24, 1998

I. Senior PA Official: Clinton is “a terrorist” (August 24, 1998)

Following are two recent references by senior Palestinian officials to the
US missile strikes against Sudan and Afghanistan:

1. August 24, 1998 interview on Israel Army radio with Sufian Abu Zaida,
   head of the PA’s Israel desk:

   “Question: Tell me, does the Palestinian Authority support the American
   action against targets in Sudan and Afghanistan?
   
   Sufian Abu Zaida: Of course not. Of course not…. We do not agree and we
   shall not agree. I do not think it would be right for us to agree with the
   American attack on Afghanistan and Sudan. It would be a disgrace if a
   Palestinian or an Arab were to agree to this, since there was no proof. The
   United States can not be both the guardian of law in the world and the one
   who enforces it.

   Question: …So you come and say that we can not totally rely on American
   intelligence?
   
   Sufian Abu Zaida: That is the answer. That is the answer – to kill Sudanese
   and Afghan civilians – that is the answer? Let us say that Bin Laden is a
   terrorist, let’s assume that he is a terrorist and that he did it. So
   Clinton is also a terrorist who kills Afghan and Sudanese innocents. That
   is the answer?!”

2. Interview on August 21, 1998 with Secretary-General of the PA Cabinet
   Ahmad Abd al-Rahman on the official PA radio station the Voice of Palestine:

   “These air operations against a sovereign country like Sudan and also
   against a sovereign country like Afghanistan are a serious precedent in
   international relations. It is an aggression against the sovereignty of
   these countries…. I say that this precedent might open the door to the
   return of the law of the jungle governing relations among countries… We
   view these efforts as harmful to peace efforts, to stability in the Middle
   East. They also show that some quarters in the US administration might be
   more inclined to adopt the policy of force instead of the policy of
   settling issues peacefully.”

II. Official PA Newspaper: America is to Blame for the Africa Bombings
(August 17, 1998)

Following are three recent references in the official Palestinian media to
the bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania:

1. Excerpts from an August 14, 1998 article in the official Palestinian
   Authority (PA) newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda by the paper’s editor Hafez al-Barghouti:

   “One should not be surprised by the attacks and the anti-American violence.
   The Americans are the ones who created this violence and utilized it for a
   long period of time. They have no one to blame but themselves.”

2. Excerpts from the August 15, 1998 editorial of the official Palestinian
   Authority (PA) newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda:

   “The Israeli haste in sending a rescue team to Africa with American
   approval was in order to create solidarity among the victims for Israel…
   What the Israelis are doing is attempting to Judaize every tragedy on the
   face of the earth and erase the ongoing tragedies occurring to the
   Palestinian people. This is a despicable act from the point of view of
   turning the facts on their head, exploiting emotions and directing
   accusations at the victim. It is giving credit to the hangmen, the
   murderers and the thieves who have stolen land.”

3. Excerpts from a Friday sermon by Sheikh Khayam al-Adrissi at the Al-Aksa
   Mosque broadcast on August 14, 1998 on the official PA radio station the
   Voice of Palestine:

   “We say to the United States: If you are not willing to accept a protest
   letter at your consulate in eastern Jerusalem and you are not willing to accept the explosions at your embassies
   and consulates, then how can the oppressed and the swindled make their
   voices heard?… racist oppression and pro-Israel policy, and
   its support for the occupation will not in the end lead to the safeguarding
   of American interests… I say to the Arab and Islamic nation that history
   proves that the fate of those who exploited and behaved corruptly with
   Jerusalem was always destruction. This too will be the fate of the Jews…”

   III. Official PA Newspaper: AIPAC is Behind Monica Lewinsky’s Stained Dress
   to Reduce Pressure on Israel (August 23, 1998)

   Following are excerpts from an August 21, 1998 article in the official
   Palestinian Authority newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda:

   “One who knows the anonymous soldiers who set the Monica-gate scandal in
   motion, and one who knows the power of the Zionist lobby in the United
   States and the operational methods of Jewish pressure groups who blackmail
   American presidents, knows that what is currently happening is little more
   than the use of democracy in the service of the conspiracy. The pretty
   President charged with engaging in relations with a former White House
   intern upon her consent, or perhaps her initiative, is not a skirt-chaser
   as he is described in the American media, which is controlled and managed
   by the Jews… President Clinton is an angel compared to President Kennedy
   and his brothers… but Marilyn Monroe did not approach an independent
   prosecutor to litigate the president because she was not a Jew of Polish
   background and was not connected to AIPAC and Jewish pressure groups.

   There was a need to reduce the American pressure on the Israeli government,
   and there was a need to convey a clear message to Clinton that he can not
   boycott Netanyahu and refuse his calls, and there was a need for the
   American administration to forget its initiative for an Israeli withdrawal
   from the occupied Palestinian lands and to forget its positive initiative
   to lessen the pressure on Iraq, and so the stained dress was pulled out of
   the AIPAC warehouse.”