PLO: "everyone believes the model of the first Intifada is the most efficient, strongest, most effective, and shortest model in order to achieve the Palestinian people’s rights"

Official PA TV program Topic of the Day

Palestinian National Council Secretary Fahmi Al-Za’arir: “Popular resistance (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence and terror) is perhaps one of the most talked about causes. Everyone believes that the model of the first Intifada (i.e., Palestinian wave of violence and terror against Israel, approximately 200 Israelis murdered, 1987-1993) is the most efficient, strongest, most effective, and perhaps the shortest model in order to achieve the Palestinian people’s rights.

A report was submitted by the popular resistance committee in the Palestinian National Council (i.e., the legislative body of the PLO), and other reports were submitted by a number of members in the [PLO] Executive Committee who are working in this field. Actually, [PLO] Central Council members in general spoke about this topic for the simple reason I said at the beginning, that there is a belief that popular action, peaceful or non-peaceful popular resistance… is itself the topic, it has the ability to realize the Palestinian people’s aspirations in the shortest timeframe.

But [the first Intifada] was based on a simple sentence: ‘morality of the means.’ If we use the so-called concept of ‘morality of the means’ and work according to it on the ground, then world public opinion and all its elements will be closer to the Palestinian people. The Palestinian popular resistance that is talked about includes a number of fundamental causes, including expanding the scope of participation and gradually increasing its pace to the point of what may be called a comprehensive rebellion against the Israeli occupation. Peaceful popular resistance similar to the first Intifada has the potential to realize the Palestinian people’s aspirations in the shortest time.”

The terms "peaceful uprising/resistance,” and “popular uprising/resistance" are used by PA leaders at times to refer to peaceful protest and at times to refer to deadly terror attacks and terror waves. For example, ‎Mahmoud Abbas defined as “peaceful popular” the murderous terror during the 2015-2016 ‎terror wave (“The Knife Intifada”), in which 40 people were killed (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans and 1 Eritrean) and hundreds wounded in stabbings, shootings, and car ramming attacks. Abbas said: "We want peaceful popular uprising, and that’s what this is." https://palwatch.org/page/9276

The first Intifada - Palestinian wave of violence and terror against Israel 1987-1993, approximately 200 Israelis murdered