PLO official on Fatah-Hamas unity talks: Hamas will not be allowed to keep their weapons
Official PA TV program State of Politics, on the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation process and the security situation of Egypt, hosting Secretary-General of the terror organization Palestinian Popular Struggle Front and PLO Executive Committee member Ahmed Majdalani
Secretary-General of the terror organization Palestinian Popular Struggle Front and PLO Executive Committee member Ahmed Majdalani: "We have not yet begun the discussion about Hamas' weapons. We have given top priority to dealing with the matters of the lives and daily needs of the people who are in distress after 10 years of siege [on the Gaza Strip]. Therefore, we have primarily focused on the processes connected to establishing the [Fatah-Hamas unity] government. However, this subject must be discussed from start to finish.
The matter of the weapons is not an end unto itself. We are all in the PLO, we are all armed factions, all of us. [We had weapons] 25 years before Hamas, or more than that. When Hamas, or the Muslim Brotherhood movement, discovered the [armed] struggle, they joined it. Therefore, the subject of [armed] resistance is not a monopoly of one faction or another. And no faction has the sole right or ownership over it.
The resistance is the resistance of the Palestinian people, in all forms of resistance, and not just the armed struggle. The resistance has tangible forms, according to the actual circumstances. The actual circumstances – which we agreed upon with the Hamas Movement in the national unity document in 2006 – are popular resistance. And therefore we are not opening a discussion about the weapons of Hamas or another [organization] now, as we wish for the success of the [Hamas-Fatah] reconciliation [and] the success of the national effort for our people…
The experience of Hezbollah in Palestine is unacceptable and we must not repeat it. Lebanon has its own given circumstances, and it is not an example that can be implemented in another place...
If the intention [in raising Hamas' weapons for discussion] is the opening of an early campaign and enlisting Palestinian public opinion in order to maintain the weapons of a particular faction so that it will have preference over another Palestinian faction – we say: This talk is incorrect and unacceptable, because then it would be the right of every faction to establish a militia tomorrow, and to say: These are the weapons of the resistance, and they cannot be touched – and then there is no state. We are talking about one state, one regime and law, and one [authority over the] weapons. That is the end of the process… This subject is not on the table now. If someone wants to raise it now, we will say sincerely: If your goal is to thwart the reconciliation, then look for something else. If you want to discuss this subject early, we will say: Do not throw the experience of Hezbollah at us. We are very clear on this matter.
They come to us and say: [The weapons that are] above ground are yours, and [the weapons that are] underground are mine – we should be forgiven for this too."
PA TV host: "This is rejected?"
Ahmed Majdalani: "Of course, it is rejected. There is one authority, above ground and underground, and one law above ground and underground. There cannot be two regimes and two governments within one state, regardless of what we call it. Did Iran allow there to be any armed faction within Iran? […]
No state, and especially Iran, allows any faction, under any circumstances, to be armed. Not even to resist America. Therefore, no one should export their [weapons and politics] to us.
We, in the internal Palestinian sphere, in our relations with Hamas and other organizations, will only have dialogue, dialogue and agreement. There is no going back… Nobody should look for a reason or excuse now to shirk the commitments of the national agreement that was achieved under Egyptian patronage."
Secretary-General of the terror organization Palestinian Popular Struggle Front and PLO Executive Committee member Ahmed Majdalani: "We have not yet begun the discussion about Hamas' weapons. We have given top priority to dealing with the matters of the lives and daily needs of the people who are in distress after 10 years of siege [on the Gaza Strip]. Therefore, we have primarily focused on the processes connected to establishing the [Fatah-Hamas unity] government. However, this subject must be discussed from start to finish.
The matter of the weapons is not an end unto itself. We are all in the PLO, we are all armed factions, all of us. [We had weapons] 25 years before Hamas, or more than that. When Hamas, or the Muslim Brotherhood movement, discovered the [armed] struggle, they joined it. Therefore, the subject of [armed] resistance is not a monopoly of one faction or another. And no faction has the sole right or ownership over it.
The resistance is the resistance of the Palestinian people, in all forms of resistance, and not just the armed struggle. The resistance has tangible forms, according to the actual circumstances. The actual circumstances – which we agreed upon with the Hamas Movement in the national unity document in 2006 – are popular resistance. And therefore we are not opening a discussion about the weapons of Hamas or another [organization] now, as we wish for the success of the [Hamas-Fatah] reconciliation [and] the success of the national effort for our people…
The experience of Hezbollah in Palestine is unacceptable and we must not repeat it. Lebanon has its own given circumstances, and it is not an example that can be implemented in another place...
If the intention [in raising Hamas' weapons for discussion] is the opening of an early campaign and enlisting Palestinian public opinion in order to maintain the weapons of a particular faction so that it will have preference over another Palestinian faction – we say: This talk is incorrect and unacceptable, because then it would be the right of every faction to establish a militia tomorrow, and to say: These are the weapons of the resistance, and they cannot be touched – and then there is no state. We are talking about one state, one regime and law, and one [authority over the] weapons. That is the end of the process… This subject is not on the table now. If someone wants to raise it now, we will say sincerely: If your goal is to thwart the reconciliation, then look for something else. If you want to discuss this subject early, we will say: Do not throw the experience of Hezbollah at us. We are very clear on this matter.
They come to us and say: [The weapons that are] above ground are yours, and [the weapons that are] underground are mine – we should be forgiven for this too."
PA TV host: "This is rejected?"
Ahmed Majdalani: "Of course, it is rejected. There is one authority, above ground and underground, and one law above ground and underground. There cannot be two regimes and two governments within one state, regardless of what we call it. Did Iran allow there to be any armed faction within Iran? […]
No state, and especially Iran, allows any faction, under any circumstances, to be armed. Not even to resist America. Therefore, no one should export their [weapons and politics] to us.
We, in the internal Palestinian sphere, in our relations with Hamas and other organizations, will only have dialogue, dialogue and agreement. There is no going back… Nobody should look for a reason or excuse now to shirk the commitments of the national agreement that was achieved under Egyptian patronage."