Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin, December 23, 2001
Arafat misleads the world about his relationship to terror organizations. Arafat’s
message in English to Bush: Terror organizations outlawed, Arafat’s message to
Palestinians: The PA and the terror organizations are united. Background: The
Palestinian Authority continues to mock the United States and Israel, sending
well publicized promises to President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon that it is
outlawing terrorist organizations, while sending strong messages of solidarity
with the terrorists to the Palestinians. In public displays of adherence to
American pressure, the Palestinian Authority declared Hamas, Islamic Jihad,
and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine illegal organizations.
Television crews were even invited to film the closing of the organizations’
offices.
However, yesterday the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine held
a ceremony in honor of its 34th anniversary. Not only did the PA permit the
celebration of the ‘outlawed’ organization, but Yasser Arafat sent his Cabinet
Secretary to deliver a speech in his name, praising the terrorist organization and
lauding the unity of “all factions”. A representative of Hamas also
attended.
Furthermore, to guarantee that the message of unity reach a wider
audience, today’s official Palestinian Authority daily published a lengthy
front-page article covering the ceremony in great detail. The article included a
photo of PA Cabinet Secretary Ahmed Abed Al-Rahman speaking at the event,
during which Arafat’s delegate expressed disdain for the US and Israel, and
claimed that the “ with wisdom and
caution, in order to foil the conspiracy of Sharon and his American allies”.
The text of the article in the PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, of December
23, 2001]
Headline: Abed Al-Rahman delivered the President’s
address, and emphasized the fortitude and indivisibility of our nation, and its
strength in facing the occupation. A ceremony marking the anniversary of
the establishment of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine turned into
a celebration of national unity. During the ceremony, in which the Palestinian
Authority and political groups (national and Islamic), as well as public works
organizations, stressed their adherence to national unity and to the supreme
interest of our people.
Ahmed Abed Al-Rahman – who attended as President
Yasser Arafat’s representative – political and public figures, in addition to the
leadership, top echelons and members of the Popular Front. Arafat’s
representative, Cabinet Secretary Ahmed Abed Al-Rahman reiterated the
statements made in Arafat’s speech regarding the Palestinian Authority’s
concern for the security, welfare and continuity of all the factions, and said that
he views all the aggression against them as aggression against the Palestinian
Authority.
The Cabinet Secretary discussed the circumstances and changes in the
international arena, and their influence on the Palestinian question and on the
national struggle.
He said that in spite of the hard line that has been adopted, with wisdom and caution, in order to foil
the conspiracy of Sharon and his American allies.
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Recent war statements by Yasser Arafat
December 20, 2001
By MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, an independent,
non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle
East.
In addition to a televised address to the Palestinian people in which he called for
the cessation of martyrdom operations and mortar attacks against Israel,
Palestinian Authority and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat recently made several
statements which were not widely reported on by the Western media. The
following are excerpts from two speeches and an interview as reported by
Arabic media sources:
An address to Jerusalemites (Ramallah, December 18, 2001):(1)
“Oh you who stand fast, oh heroes on the land of the ‘night journey and
ascension to heaven ,’ on the
land of the first direction of prayer, oh heroes in the third most holy site , in the birthplace of Jesus and the place of our master Muhammad’s
ascension to heaven.(2)
“I tell you that we are now in a historic stage… you are defending the first
direction of prayer and the third most holy site, the site of the Messiah’s birth,
your steadfastness is most important not only for Palestine and not only for the
Arab nation, but also for all the Christians and Muslims in the world…”
“Oh brothers, there is a conspiracy to Judaize Jerusalem, therefore I tell you,
oh my comrades to this journey, you are standing now at the frontline of battle
in the midst of challenging, in Jerusalem, you are blessed to be in this region…”
“The Prophet said ’there still exists a group within my nation who is keeping the
faith, who are challenging their enemy and who cannot be harmed by their
enemy and they shall be the victorious, Allah willing.'”
“The Prophet was asked: ‘Where are they ?’ and replied, ‘in Jerusalem
and its surroundings and they shall remain on the frontline until judgment day.’
Indeed, you are in the frontline. I am committed to it, I am committed to it, I am
committed to it. Oh mountain, no wind can shake you.”
“No one can rule that nation of giants .
One-hundred and four years passed since the first convention in Basle
where it was claimed that our land is ‘a land without a
people for a people without a homeland .’ When Golda Meir was
asked about the Palestinian people she said ’there are no Palestinians.’ Today,
the martyr Muhammad al-Dura and all our martyrs in paradise tell them: ‘We are
a nation of giants, we shall defend the frontline(3) land.'”
: “This little cutie is the first of our
soldiers, we are encountering a conspiracy to Judaize Jerusalem, but as long as
you stand fast at the forefront on this frontline land, no one can harm it… The
one who will impose his position will be the nation of giants, Allah willing.”
“One of our cubs or one of our flowers
will wave the flag of Palestine, Allah willing, over the walls of Jerusalem, its
churches and its mosques, whether someone likes it or not, and whomever
does not like it can drink the water of the Dead Sea.”
“I appeal to my beloved in Jerusalem: ‘More determination, more strength,
more resolve. And Allah willing, we will pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and in the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Allah willing, Allah willing.”
“I say these things so that they be heard by far and near in the whole world,
the nation of giants will defend this holy land with its blood, its souls, its
property and with everything it has. This land is a holy land, this is the land of
our nation of giants, from the cradle to the grave…”
“We stand by the child, by the flower, by the man, by the woman, by the old
man, and by the young man. We all redeem the holy Christian and Muslim sites,
we will defend them and will strengthen them since this is our destiny, to live
on the frontline until judgment day. ‘One martyr of
these is worth seventy’ . Why? Because we are in
the holy land…”
“We shall fight on this blessed land, on this blessed land, this is our message
and it is not by accident that one-hundred and four years after and despite all the conspiracies and all the blood that was spilled,
this nation continues to raise its head and its flag, Allah willing, Allah willing.
One of our flowers and one of our cubs will wave the flag over the walls of
Jerusalem, over its mosques and over its churches…”
In an Interview With the Kuwaiti Daily Al-Rai ‘Al-‘Am on December 12, 2001,
Arafat spoke of a conspiracy concocted by Prime Ministers Sharon and Barak to
bring about a change of government in Israel:(4)
“Barak could have stayed in power for another two and a half years, but the
agreement between him and Sharon – following which Sharon went to visit the
Al-Aqsa Mosque, which caused the well known massacre of the Friday prayers,
as a result of which the Intifada broke out – that agreement was
preplanned.”
“When Sharon came to power, he asked the Israelis to give him a hundred days
to get rid of the Intifada. The hundred days ended and he asked them: ‘Give me
additional hundred days to carry out my military plan, ‘Operation Hell,’ and
he is still carrying it out…”
Arafat boasted that despite Israeli pressure “no one ‘Ahh’ … Let me give you an example… do you know
what a mother of a martyr does when she is informed of the martyrdom of her
son? She goes out to the street with cheers of joy saying ‘Allah be praised, my
son, that you married Palestine rather than your cousin.’ This is the Palestinian
people.”
In the interview, Arafat also stated that “they say that there are half a million
Jews in Afghanistan whom want to bring to the West Bank and to
the Gaza Strip.”
Arafat continued by stating: “The extremist forces in Israel killed my late
partner Yitzhak Rabin who made peace with me, peace of the brave. This raises
doubts about the behavior of some who are putting
in danger the interests of the Palestinian people and at their head the
establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its
capital… we have declared a state of emergency because there are some who
want to annihilate the Palestinian people.”
“There is a conspiracy against the Palestinian people. Therefore, we have to
take a few strong steps and apply a tough policy against those who do not
abide by the voice of reason and who do not respect the interests of the
Palestinian people.”
“We began with those who carry out those operations that harm and damage
the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian image.”
“These people could not find better timing
except the very moment when Sharon went to meet with President Bush with
no cards in his hands. They gave Sharon these operations as a present…”
“The Prophet Muhammad was defeated in the Battle of Uhud when a few
Muslims came down from the mountains in order to collect the
spoils of war. I tell these people: ‘Don’t let the spoils and support you are
getting from the East and West turn into a weapon that hits us and our
cause…'”
An “Open Dialogue” with Intellectuals in the Ramallah Casablanca Hotel on
December 13, 2001:(5)
“One-hundred and four years have passed since the First Zionist Congress in
Basle and our people still stands fast despite the magnitude of the
conspiracy and despite the great numbers of the conspirers, beginning with
Sykes-Pikot [1915] to this very day… We are in the heart of this battle with the
fullest extent of its meaning and on all levels… but we are committed to it.”
Speaking of the role of Arab regimes in the Palestinian struggle, Arafat said:
“ our weapons are confiscated ; mine and my
comrades Hamed Abu-Sittah have been confiscated during the ‘Nakba’ War of
1948. They took our weapons, I remind you what Egypt’s president Gamal Abd
Al Nasser said – that the weapons were kept from us and did not reach us … I know many secrets that could blow up
mountains but I don’t want to tell them in front of the press.”
Endnotes:
(1) WAFA (Palestinian News Agency), Gaza, December 18, 2001.
(2) These statements refer to Jerusalem.
(3) Koranic term used to define the area adjacent to the enemy’s land.
(4) Al-Rai ‘Al-‘am (Kuwait), December 12, 2001.
(5) Al-Hayat (London), December 13, 2001.
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ARAFAT: WE ARE WILLING TO GIVE 70 MARTYRS FOR EVERY ONE OF
THEIRS
Arutz-7, December 18, 2001
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat speaking at a rally in Ramallah
today said in Arabic “we will sacrifice ourselves for our holy places and we will
strengthen our hold of them and we are willing to give 70 of our martyrs for
every one of their martyrs in this campaign, because this is our holy land,”
MA’ARIV reported. The speech was in direct contrast to Sunday’s speech on
Palestinian television, where Arafat called for an end to suicide bombings and
armed attacks against Israelis. The crowd responded to Arafat’s speech and
said that millions of martyrs were on their way to Jerusalem. Arafat added that
all Palestinians are martyrs, and they will continue to defend the holy ground.
LEVEL OF PALESTINIAN VIOLENCE REMAINS CONSTANT
In the 27 hours following Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat’s call for
a cease-fire in Arabic, there were more than 20 shooting attacks in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip, matching the usual daily average, HA’ARETZ reported.
Israelis were injured in two incidents on Monday evening in the Ramallah area.
Boaz Ma’atouf, a resident of the community of Ateret, was wounded when
Palestinians fired at his car in an ambush shortly after 5pm. Ma’atouf was hit in
the stomach and is now recovering in Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva. The
attack occurred near the village of Dir Abu-Mishal, on the road to Neveh Tzuf.
This road was the scene of several fatal attacks in the beginning stages of the
Palestinian uprising, but had been relatively quiet for the last two months.
About an hour later, near the settlement of Ofra, David Rubin and his
three-year-old son, Ruby, were injured when Palestinians fired at their car in a
drive-by shooting. David was hit in the leg and his son was hit in the back.
Rubin and his son are residents of the community of Shiloh. They are being
treated at Hadassah University Hospital in Ein Karem in Jerusalem.
On Monday, the PA reported arresting 20 people in the Gaza Strip, but
according to security officials no senior wanted terrorists were among those
arrested. Israeli security sources said the PA has failed to take “energetic action
against terrorists.”
