Abbas advisor calls stabbings and shootings "non-violent resistance:" "We adhere to non-violent resistance. However… we have the right to defend ourselves and fight"
Excerpt from Al-Quds (Palestinian Fatah newspaper in Lebanon) interview with [Advisor to PA Chairman Abbas on NGOs and] Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu Al-Einein, published in Falestinona, website of Fatah's Information and Culture Commission in Lebanon:
Headline: "Sultan Abu Al-Einein: The continuation of the popular uprising is wearing the occupation down and making it lose sleep"
"The popular uprising in Palestine against the occupation is entering its third month, and at the peak of events there are people who think the uprising is about to end, and that the official standpoint and the factions' standpoints are not sufficient, and that they need to be more active. In order to respond to these considerations, and to assess the situation in Palestine, the Al-Quds (Palestinian Fatah newspaper in Lebanon -Ed.) interviewed [Advisor to PA Chairman Abbas on NGOs and] Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu Al-Einein.
Q: What is your response to what some of the commentators are saying about the situation calming down, particularly in Jerusalem, and that the lack of active popular leadership of the uprising is liable to weaken its power and bring it to an end?
A: Those who think that the popular uprising or the activity of the young are likely to end, or that its effects are likely to end, are deluded, because the reasons that led to the uprising still exist. This is because it [the uprising] was originally created for specific goals, and those reasons still exist, in light of what is happening in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and throughout Palestine, where Israel exaggerates in its systematic racist elimination of the dreams of children not yet born. What is being carried out daily against our Palestinian people is what stirs the emotions of our people in the street and what causes them to seek a knife. In my opinion, those seeking knives today will seek rifles and weapons tomorrow due to this [Israeli] terror. If the power and pace of the uprising wane a bit, that does not mean it has been stopped, but rather that it is preparing for stronger waves of rage against the Zionist enemy... On the other hand, this activity (i.e., the uprising) is characterized by the fact that it was spontaneously created, and anyone from among the Palestinian political powers who claims to be its legal father is piling lies on the suffering and pain of these young. It could be that it is an honor for some of the political powers to participate, but they have no ability to stop it or restrain it. President Martyr Yasser Arafat, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 'I belong to a mighty people,' and we are seeing at this moment how this people is mightier than all of us together.
Q: In your opinion, will the lack of material support affect the popular uprising?
A: It might be that some will not like my answer, but I call on all of the Palestinian political powers, without exception, to provide material support to this activity, even just a little. Regarding the remaining expenses, they come out of the pockets of the young who are participating in this activity. However, this activity requires two things in order to continue. First it needs a source of authority and political leadership with a clear, courageous, insightful view to develop this activity according to clear political goals... In addition, the activity needs leadership in the field in order to develop, so that it will have the means to develop itself in conflict, in a way that will make the Israeli enemy's presence on our land costlier and more painful, as Palestinian mothers cannot remain the only ones who cry. Almighty Allah said: 'And do not weaken in pursuit of the enemy. If you should be suffering - so are they suffering as you are suffering, but you expect from Allah that which they expect not.' (Sura 4:104, Sahih International), and therefore the occupation, all parts of it that are on our Palestinian land, must suffer...
Q: How authentic are the statements according to which the Palestinian leadership is trying to calm the present situation?
A: It is shameful to accuse the Palestinian leadership of efforts to stop this activity, as the Palestinian leadership is protecting it and preventing it from becoming military and armed, and this position is shared by the entire Palestinian leadership and our Palestinian people. This, while emphasizing the right of our people to protect itself with all the force at its disposal against all attacks against our peaceful villages and Palestinian towns, so that Muhammad Abu Khdeir will not be burned again, and so that there will not be among us each day another Dawabsheh family burned anew... (Khdeir was a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who was kidnapped and burned to death by Jewish extremists, three members of the Dawabshe family were also murdered when a Jewish extremist set fire to their home -Ed.)
Q: How do you respond to the statements according to which the young [Palestinian] people and children who go to areas of conflict with their chests bare to throw rocks are essentially throwing themselves to their death in front of an armed army?
A: When the enemy provokes us, are we expected to go out to the field with white flags, and do they expect to hear our shouts and film us as we wave white flowers?! We are in a state of constant confrontation with the occupation, and when there is any type of confrontation there is no choice but to confront the enemy directly, and keep him in a state of vigilance, anxiety, and fear. However, I am in favor of distancing children who have not fulfilled their dream of becoming Martyrs through any activity, and I am against turning them into the spearhead. At the same time, I am in favor of them participating, but at a great distance from the danger, in order for them to learn the ways of confronting the occupation. Likewise, most of those who have died as Martyrs did not pose any danger to the lives of the occupation's soldiers, but they [the soldiers] are thirsty for our sons' blood, and this is the military and political education provided by the Israeli enemy's army, and we have a right to educate our children to avenge our pure blood that is being spilled. Look at the 13-year-old girls who are being murdered in cold blood, and afterwards they throw knives by their sides that were not in their possession at all, in order to find excuses to kill them and claim to be heroes over the body of a boy or girl, who had in their possession only their clothing, their honor, and their innocence.
Unfortunately, our Palestinian media, and primarily the social media... unintentionally presents us as the aggressors, and not the victims, and in reality we are the victims, and it is the right of the victim to protect himself before he breathes his last breath. However, the social media pages boast about operations (i.e., terror attacks) and the like, and those carrying them out are liable to fall victim to our visual and written media. Therefore, the Palestinian media must present our land, our trees, our young, and our children as they actually are - victims of the imperialism that has taken over our land with weapons, and victims of the ongoing organized aggression against our Palestinian people for more than 68 years (i.e., since the creation of Israel in 1948), and we are not the ones that started the war, but rather the ones legitimately protecting ourselves.
Q: What is your response to the criticism regarding the performance of the Palestinian factions, including the Fatah movement, in this popular uprising, and the description of their role as 'inadequate'?
A: Have those who speak this way about the Fatah movement conducted a census of the Martyrs and injured? I call on them to count the injured and Martyrs and record those who were in confrontations, and only then they will learn what faction had the honor of confronting [the enemy] in the field. It could be that many of them had no political affiliation until now, but you will find that all of their families have the honor of belonging to the Fatah movement. Likewise, I have to say that whoever claims that the Palestinian political powers have made a joint decision regarding a stabbing or car-ramming operation is laughing at the Palestinian people, as no one asks anyone's permission, and no one provided them with a knife or paid their travel expenses. Even their families and those closest to them did not know what they were about to do, and most of the Martyrs set out in an unorganized manner, not even based on a decision, because they suffered greatly from the occupation. We in the Fatah movement are proud of all the Martyrs, regardless of their [political] affiliation, and we will not allow their families to be harmed, as these Martyrs are our children just as they are their children, and we will rehabilitate their homes, which the Israeli occupation destroys, regardless of the cost.
Q: The Palestinian leadership has adopted the peaceful uprising as its way of confronting the occupation. Is it enough in light of the increasing Israeli violence?
A: We adhere to non-violent resistance. However, if they use violence against us and attack our peaceful homes, we have the right to defend ourselves and fight. I will mention that there is an American law in the state of Texas that gives every American or every resident of that state the right to shoot to death any armed person that he sees on his land or close to his house, as it is possible that he is coming to kill him with this weapon. In other words, I will kill him before he kills me. The Israelis say in their Hebrew media that the Palestinian has the right to implement the law practiced in Texas, and if the Hebrew media allows this right, how can we not take advantage of it? This is particularly the case because the occupation murders with no reason or excuse, and with no legal justification...
Q: Do you have any final words for our people carrying out intifada in Palestine?
A: Blessings to all of our Martyrs, to the residents of Jerusalem who had the honor of igniting the first spark of this activity, to all those who followed in their footsteps in the rest of the homeland, and to the residents of the Hebron district, who have sown fear in all of this cancerous Israeli body. (Many of the terrorists have come from the Hebron district -Ed.) We bow before every drop of blood that has dripped from our children and women, and bow the head before every Martyr and Martyr's mother, who carried her child in her belly and brought him up until he became a young man, and when they notified her of his death as a Martyr, she let cries of joy loose to the Heavens. Mothers like these will not be defeated, and this is our people about whom President Martyr Yasser Arafat said that it is 'a people of giants.'"
Click to view bulletin
Headline: "Sultan Abu Al-Einein: The continuation of the popular uprising is wearing the occupation down and making it lose sleep"
"The popular uprising in Palestine against the occupation is entering its third month, and at the peak of events there are people who think the uprising is about to end, and that the official standpoint and the factions' standpoints are not sufficient, and that they need to be more active. In order to respond to these considerations, and to assess the situation in Palestine, the Al-Quds (Palestinian Fatah newspaper in Lebanon -Ed.) interviewed [Advisor to PA Chairman Abbas on NGOs and] Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu Al-Einein.
Q: What is your response to what some of the commentators are saying about the situation calming down, particularly in Jerusalem, and that the lack of active popular leadership of the uprising is liable to weaken its power and bring it to an end?
A: Those who think that the popular uprising or the activity of the young are likely to end, or that its effects are likely to end, are deluded, because the reasons that led to the uprising still exist. This is because it [the uprising] was originally created for specific goals, and those reasons still exist, in light of what is happening in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and throughout Palestine, where Israel exaggerates in its systematic racist elimination of the dreams of children not yet born. What is being carried out daily against our Palestinian people is what stirs the emotions of our people in the street and what causes them to seek a knife. In my opinion, those seeking knives today will seek rifles and weapons tomorrow due to this [Israeli] terror. If the power and pace of the uprising wane a bit, that does not mean it has been stopped, but rather that it is preparing for stronger waves of rage against the Zionist enemy... On the other hand, this activity (i.e., the uprising) is characterized by the fact that it was spontaneously created, and anyone from among the Palestinian political powers who claims to be its legal father is piling lies on the suffering and pain of these young. It could be that it is an honor for some of the political powers to participate, but they have no ability to stop it or restrain it. President Martyr Yasser Arafat, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 'I belong to a mighty people,' and we are seeing at this moment how this people is mightier than all of us together.
Q: In your opinion, will the lack of material support affect the popular uprising?
A: It might be that some will not like my answer, but I call on all of the Palestinian political powers, without exception, to provide material support to this activity, even just a little. Regarding the remaining expenses, they come out of the pockets of the young who are participating in this activity. However, this activity requires two things in order to continue. First it needs a source of authority and political leadership with a clear, courageous, insightful view to develop this activity according to clear political goals... In addition, the activity needs leadership in the field in order to develop, so that it will have the means to develop itself in conflict, in a way that will make the Israeli enemy's presence on our land costlier and more painful, as Palestinian mothers cannot remain the only ones who cry. Almighty Allah said: 'And do not weaken in pursuit of the enemy. If you should be suffering - so are they suffering as you are suffering, but you expect from Allah that which they expect not.' (Sura 4:104, Sahih International), and therefore the occupation, all parts of it that are on our Palestinian land, must suffer...
Q: How authentic are the statements according to which the Palestinian leadership is trying to calm the present situation?
A: It is shameful to accuse the Palestinian leadership of efforts to stop this activity, as the Palestinian leadership is protecting it and preventing it from becoming military and armed, and this position is shared by the entire Palestinian leadership and our Palestinian people. This, while emphasizing the right of our people to protect itself with all the force at its disposal against all attacks against our peaceful villages and Palestinian towns, so that Muhammad Abu Khdeir will not be burned again, and so that there will not be among us each day another Dawabsheh family burned anew... (Khdeir was a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who was kidnapped and burned to death by Jewish extremists, three members of the Dawabshe family were also murdered when a Jewish extremist set fire to their home -Ed.)
Q: How do you respond to the statements according to which the young [Palestinian] people and children who go to areas of conflict with their chests bare to throw rocks are essentially throwing themselves to their death in front of an armed army?
A: When the enemy provokes us, are we expected to go out to the field with white flags, and do they expect to hear our shouts and film us as we wave white flowers?! We are in a state of constant confrontation with the occupation, and when there is any type of confrontation there is no choice but to confront the enemy directly, and keep him in a state of vigilance, anxiety, and fear. However, I am in favor of distancing children who have not fulfilled their dream of becoming Martyrs through any activity, and I am against turning them into the spearhead. At the same time, I am in favor of them participating, but at a great distance from the danger, in order for them to learn the ways of confronting the occupation. Likewise, most of those who have died as Martyrs did not pose any danger to the lives of the occupation's soldiers, but they [the soldiers] are thirsty for our sons' blood, and this is the military and political education provided by the Israeli enemy's army, and we have a right to educate our children to avenge our pure blood that is being spilled. Look at the 13-year-old girls who are being murdered in cold blood, and afterwards they throw knives by their sides that were not in their possession at all, in order to find excuses to kill them and claim to be heroes over the body of a boy or girl, who had in their possession only their clothing, their honor, and their innocence.
Unfortunately, our Palestinian media, and primarily the social media... unintentionally presents us as the aggressors, and not the victims, and in reality we are the victims, and it is the right of the victim to protect himself before he breathes his last breath. However, the social media pages boast about operations (i.e., terror attacks) and the like, and those carrying them out are liable to fall victim to our visual and written media. Therefore, the Palestinian media must present our land, our trees, our young, and our children as they actually are - victims of the imperialism that has taken over our land with weapons, and victims of the ongoing organized aggression against our Palestinian people for more than 68 years (i.e., since the creation of Israel in 1948), and we are not the ones that started the war, but rather the ones legitimately protecting ourselves.
Q: What is your response to the criticism regarding the performance of the Palestinian factions, including the Fatah movement, in this popular uprising, and the description of their role as 'inadequate'?
A: Have those who speak this way about the Fatah movement conducted a census of the Martyrs and injured? I call on them to count the injured and Martyrs and record those who were in confrontations, and only then they will learn what faction had the honor of confronting [the enemy] in the field. It could be that many of them had no political affiliation until now, but you will find that all of their families have the honor of belonging to the Fatah movement. Likewise, I have to say that whoever claims that the Palestinian political powers have made a joint decision regarding a stabbing or car-ramming operation is laughing at the Palestinian people, as no one asks anyone's permission, and no one provided them with a knife or paid their travel expenses. Even their families and those closest to them did not know what they were about to do, and most of the Martyrs set out in an unorganized manner, not even based on a decision, because they suffered greatly from the occupation. We in the Fatah movement are proud of all the Martyrs, regardless of their [political] affiliation, and we will not allow their families to be harmed, as these Martyrs are our children just as they are their children, and we will rehabilitate their homes, which the Israeli occupation destroys, regardless of the cost.
Q: The Palestinian leadership has adopted the peaceful uprising as its way of confronting the occupation. Is it enough in light of the increasing Israeli violence?
A: We adhere to non-violent resistance. However, if they use violence against us and attack our peaceful homes, we have the right to defend ourselves and fight. I will mention that there is an American law in the state of Texas that gives every American or every resident of that state the right to shoot to death any armed person that he sees on his land or close to his house, as it is possible that he is coming to kill him with this weapon. In other words, I will kill him before he kills me. The Israelis say in their Hebrew media that the Palestinian has the right to implement the law practiced in Texas, and if the Hebrew media allows this right, how can we not take advantage of it? This is particularly the case because the occupation murders with no reason or excuse, and with no legal justification...
Q: Do you have any final words for our people carrying out intifada in Palestine?
A: Blessings to all of our Martyrs, to the residents of Jerusalem who had the honor of igniting the first spark of this activity, to all those who followed in their footsteps in the rest of the homeland, and to the residents of the Hebron district, who have sown fear in all of this cancerous Israeli body. (Many of the terrorists have come from the Hebron district -Ed.) We bow before every drop of blood that has dripped from our children and women, and bow the head before every Martyr and Martyr's mother, who carried her child in her belly and brought him up until he became a young man, and when they notified her of his death as a Martyr, she let cries of joy loose to the Heavens. Mothers like these will not be defeated, and this is our people about whom President Martyr Yasser Arafat said that it is 'a people of giants.'"
Click to view bulletin
» View analysis citing this item