MEMRI, May 14, 2009.
Following are excerpts from an interview with PLO Ambassador to
Lebanon Abbas Zaki, which aired on ANB TV on May 7, 2009.
Also below are excerpts from other television appearances by Zaki, on New TV,
OTV, and NBN TV:
Two-State Solution Will Lead to the Collapse of Israel
ANB TV, May 7, 2009
Abbas Zaki: “What is needed is a settlement, not a hudna . After 45
years of struggle, we have the right to reach a conclusion to this conflict, rather
than extending the hudna, enabling Israel to expand on a daily basis.
“My advice is: we should not give Israel a hudna, because whenever Israel is
given a hudna, it consolidates its position and becomes more deeply rooted.
What hudna? If they do not withdraw from the 1967 lands – what hudna? Israel
will become a fact on the ground, and we will end up as small enclaves, and
should be driven out with time.
“Therefore, it is high time that we found a final, comprehensive solution. The
Arabs talk about a comprehensive solution and present initiatives, and the
world talks about a solution, yet we say: Let’s stick to the hudna. No, my
friend. I personally joined Fatah somewhat belatedly, in 1962. Work out how
many years that is. Should I keep on extending the hudnas? Impossible. We
want a solution now.
“They talk about a two-state solution, and when that is achieved… Even
Ahmadinejad, leader of the rejectionists throughout the region, said he supports
a two-state solution. Nobody fools anybody.
“With the two-state solution, in my opinion, Israel will collapse, because if they
get out of Jerusalem, what will become of all the talk about the Promised Land
and the Chosen People? What will become of all the sacrifices they made – just
to be told to leave? They consider Jerusalem to have a spiritual status. The
Jews consider Judea and Samaria to be their historic dream. If the Jews leave
those places, the Zionist idea will begin to collapse. It will regress of its own
accord. Then we will move forward.”
I Support Suicide Bombings in Israel
New TV, January 6, 2009
Interviewer: “I asked you earlier if you support martyrdom operations today,
and you said that the Israelis are afraid both of the Palestinian stones and
people.”
Abbas Zaki: “First of all, in light of the blood that is being shed in Gaza, and the
crying of the men – not only of the women… The hardest thing is to watch the
men crying in Gaza. I now support any operation that will make the women and
men in Israel cry. When the Al-Qassam Brigades and all the other forces were
told to strike everywhere, I expected things to be carried out quickly.
All those who always flex their muscles, and say they want to slaughter
Israel – this is their opportunity. Soon, the world will view us as those
responsible for the crime. Currently, in light of what is happening to the children
of Gaza, any martyrdom operation is permissible, I swear by Allah.”
Interviewer:”Do you call for such operations to be launched from the West Bank
as well? Some people are asking: What can the people of the Gaza Strip do
right now? Perhaps now, with the land invasion, they will be able to act. But do
you really call upon the people of the West Bank to carry out martyrdom
operations?”
Abbas Zaki: “The people of the West Bank are active day and night – with
stones, with demonstrations, all the people have taken to the streets. You
asked me if I support, in light of this bloodshed… Don’t forget we’re Arabs – we
believe in blood vengeance. No one can treat our blood like water. We should
have afflicted them with three or four operations, and then their women would
have said to those sons of bitches: ‘Come home, we are getting killed here.’
When Israel focuses on one front, other fronts should be activated.”
We Consider the U.S to Be an Enemy Country OTV, November 7, 2008 (to
view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit https://www.memri.org/tv/plo-ambassador-lebanon-abbas-zaki-we-consider-us-be-enemy-country ).
Abbas Zaki: “We consider the U.S. to be an enemy because its only strategic
alliance is with Israel.”
Interviewer: “How could you possibly accept your enemy in your land?”
Abbas Zaki: “What do you mean? We meet even with Israel.”
Interviewer: “How can you consider Israel to be your enemy, if you signed a
peace treaty with it?”
Abbas Zaki: “Allow me… This enemy… If I had the capabilities of the U.S. –
would I be fighting it or negotiating with it?”
Interviewer: “Israel ceased being an enemy once you signed a peace treaty with
it. I don’t know how it could be your enemy. Do you talk to the Israelis as if
they were your enemies? Do you talk to Israel as a friendly or enemy country?”
Abbas Zaki: “An enemy country, which owes us certain things. The heroic
Vietnamese used to negotiate with the French, while they were slaughtering
them.”
Interviewer: “I can assure you that in his speeches, Abu Mazen says the U.S. is
a friendly country.”
Abbas Zaki: “Well, this isn’t true. Perhaps Abu Mazen, in his position, needs to
use diplomatic language, but he is the greatest critic of the U.S.”
We Act According to the Phased Plan; Once We Get Jerusalem, We Will Move
On to Drive Israelis Out of All of Palestine
NBN TV, April 9, 2008 (to view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit
https://www.memri.org/tv/palestinian-authority-representative-lebanon-abbas-zaki-supports-anti-israeli-attacks-and-states ).
Abbas Zaki: “We believe wholeheartedly that the Right of Return is guaranteed
by our will, by our weapons, and by our faith.” Interviewer: “Do you still
believe in weapons, not just in negotiations?”
Abbas Zaki: “The use of weapons alone will not bring results, and the use of
politics without weapons will not bring results. We act on the basis of our
extensive experience. We analyze our situation carefully. We know what
climate leads to victory and what climate leads to suicide. We talk politics, but
our principles are clear.
It was our pioneering leader, Yasser Arafat, who persevered with this
revolution, when empires collapsed. Our armed struggle has been going on for
43 years, and the political struggle, on all levels, has been going on for 50
years. We harvest U.N. resolutions, and we shame the world so that it doesn’t
gang up on us, because the world is led by people who have given their brains
a vacation – the American administration and the neocons.”[…]
Young Palestinian: “As I recall, the invasion of 1982 and the destruction of
South Lebanon was not just in response to missile attacks, but in response to
operations as well. Israel does not use only the missiles as a pretext. It uses
any activity of the resistance as a pretext.”
Abbas Zaki: “The important thing is that in any operation, Israel will pay a price.
We don’t want cases in which you don’t kill even a chicken, but Israel kills 20
of you. I salute any operation that makes Israel pay a heavy price.
[…]
“The P.L.O. is the sole legitimate representative , and
it has not changed its platform even one iota. In light of the weakness of the
Arab nation and the lack of values, and in light of the American control over the
world, the P.L.O. proceeds through phases, without changing its strategy. Let
me tell you, when the ideology of Israel collapses, and we take, at least,
Jerusalem, the Israeli ideology will collapse in its entirety, and we will begin to
progress with our own ideology, Allah willing, and drive them out of all of
Palestine.”
