Fatah official: Fatah never recognized Israel and never will
Segment first aired on Fatah-run Awdah TV
Fatah-run Awdah TV host: “Has the Fatah Movement recognized Israel in its platform until now?”
Fatah Spokesman and Fatah Revolutionary Council member Osama Al-Qawasmi: "Certainly not. This has not been required of us, and we will not do so.”
Host: “It has not been required of any faction to express its opinion on recognition or non-recognition [of Israel].”
Al-Qawasmi: “Certainly . The Hamas Movement goes to CNN of its own free will and talks about the issue of recognition [of Israel]. Who asked you [to do that]? And they come to us [in interviews] in Arabic and say: ‘We will not recognize Israel.’ Who asked you? You want to make claims against us and say that we are requiring you to recognize Israel.
No, I declare this clearly and in a satellite channel broadcast: My friends, Hamas, do not recognize Israel, it is not required of you. The PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, decided on mutual recognition with the government of Israel on Sept. 12, 1993. This is not required of you. We in the Fatah Movement have not changed our position. At the Seventh [Fatah] Conference, under threat of the occupation's weapons, we did not change [our position]. We said that the popular resistance and the armed resistance and all of the forms [of resistance] are also permissible, but we chose popular resistance as the means that we see as the most effective means under the present circumstances."
Fatah-run Awdah TV host: “Has the Fatah Movement recognized Israel in its platform until now?”
Fatah Spokesman and Fatah Revolutionary Council member Osama Al-Qawasmi: "Certainly not. This has not been required of us, and we will not do so.”
Host: “It has not been required of any faction to express its opinion on recognition or non-recognition [of Israel].”
Al-Qawasmi: “Certainly . The Hamas Movement goes to CNN of its own free will and talks about the issue of recognition [of Israel]. Who asked you [to do that]? And they come to us [in interviews] in Arabic and say: ‘We will not recognize Israel.’ Who asked you? You want to make claims against us and say that we are requiring you to recognize Israel.
No, I declare this clearly and in a satellite channel broadcast: My friends, Hamas, do not recognize Israel, it is not required of you. The PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, decided on mutual recognition with the government of Israel on Sept. 12, 1993. This is not required of you. We in the Fatah Movement have not changed our position. At the Seventh [Fatah] Conference, under threat of the occupation's weapons, we did not change [our position]. We said that the popular resistance and the armed resistance and all of the forms [of resistance] are also permissible, but we chose popular resistance as the means that we see as the most effective means under the present circumstances."