The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) Special Dispatch, August, 5, 2010.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud ‘Abbas recently gave an interview to a group of Egyptian newspaper editors. The following are excerpts from the interview, published July 30, 2010 in the dailies Al-Masri Al-Yawm and Al-Ahram:
The Delegates at the Sirte Summit Counted Tanks and Planes
“… At the recent Arab summit, in Sirte, , the delegates said: ‘We will fight .’ They counted tanks, and concluded that have more tanks than Israel does. They did the same with planes, and said: ‘We have 3,000, while Israel has 1,500, so we can defeat it.’ Whoever talks this way is forgetting that Israel has 250 munitions factories, the Arab states – which of them can manufacture a bullet?
“ I told them, ‘If you want war, I am with you.’ Later I , ‘I am behind you.’ They replied, ‘We do not want to fight; that is not our intention.’
As for resistance, I told them: ‘As the one responsible for a part of the Palestinian people, I do not welcome resistance, and the same is true for Hamas. It does not want resistance it calls of missiles ’treason’ and ‘non-national .’ fell silent and there was no more talk of war…”
Hamas Capitulates to Iran; The PA Does Not Capitulate to U.S.
“Hamas is refusing to sign the reconciliation in response to a direct request from Iran, not from Syria… They accuse us of capitulating to American pressures. we did not comply with the U.S. request to refuse to sign the document, even though they threatened us with siege.
before the [2008] Damascus summit, I was approached by -U.S. vice president Dick Cheney, who asked me not to attend the summit, I refused. He told me: ‘I’ll get angry,’ and I replied, ‘Go ahead and get angry.’ In other words, I do not to American pressure, even though they give me 450 million dollars a year…”
No Palestinian State without Gaza
“There could have been progress had they responded to our proposal regarding the security and borders. We asked the American to inform us of Israel’s response to our demand for a commitment to the 1967 borders and a complete to construction in the settlements. The Israeli side replied that there may be a halt to construction in the settlements, but not a permanent one.
As for commitment to the 1967 borders, the Israeli side gave no response at all…
“There will be no solution unless Gaza is restored … We know that Israel uses the inter-Palestinian division as an excuse to renege on its commitments, but there will be no Palestinian state without Gaza…”
I Will Not Call Israel a Jewish State
“I was the first the Jewish lobby in the U.S.. No Arab leader had done so before me, because the extremism makes it dangerous to meet with . Everyone advised me not to go; even the U.S. administration did not encourage me, out of concern that would wait for a misstep on my part, which could be a disaster.
But eventually I did go… I was asked 27 questions, the first of which was, ‘What is your stance on a Jewish state?… I told them: You can call yourselves whatever you wish, even ‘The Great Hebrew Zionist Empire,’ but I refuse to call you by any name …
“ True, there is incitement, but when we established a tripartite committee in 1988 to discuss this issue, the Netanyahu government had objections. asked me about security, and I replied that I had no objection to a third party after the establishment of the state.
They asked me if I would agree to the presence of Jews in this force, and I answered that I wouldn’t mind it this force had a Jewish-American colonel or general, but I would object to the presence of an Israeli – a Muslim – because this would mean perpetuating the occupation, and the force is meant to withdraw at some point…”
Al-Qaradhawi Does Not Understand a Thing about Religion
Responding to a fatwa recently issued by Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, which prohibits Arab officials from visiting Jerusalem as long as the occupation exists, ‘Abbas said: “If Al-Qaradhawi says that visiting Jerusalem is prohibited, he does not understand a thing about religion. Palestinian Religious Endowments minister Mahmoud Al-Habbash pointed out to him that coming to Jerusalem was mentioned in the Koran and the Sunna, saying, ‘Give me one piece of evidence that it is forbidden to visit ,’ and could not produce a single piece of evidence.”
