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Name
Joseph
- Australia
Profession
Question
What is the likelihood of the Israelis killing Chairman Arafat? I tend to think that the threat of liquidation was only a bluff from Olmert.
Answer
Dear Joseph,
The Israelis view President Yasser Arafat as the obstacle in the path of implementing their colonial project of occupation and dispossession of the palestinian people, because he (Arafat) caused a lot of emabrrassment to all Israeli governments, through his insistance on peace and through his convincing the world to see a Palestinian state next to an Israeli one, exposing the Israeli lies and unravelling the true policies of consecutive Israeli governments.
Therefore, he is viewed by them as the only obstacle to the realization of their Zionist plot. He crushed all the Zionist hopes in the region, and he's the one capable of preventing a Palestinian civil war, as well actively pursuing Palestinian interests, rejecting Zionist ploys, blackmails and threats or anything that serves Israeli policy.
Consequently, President Arafat doesn't serve Israeli policies and greed. He is the biggest obstacle in the way of their schemes, and that's why they're keen on liquidating him in any form. Sometimes they speak about expelling, and other times they talk about assassination, and they preceded that with besieging him, a move that caused the Israelis serious embarrassment with the world.
Name
Daniel P.
- United States
Profession
Question
Your government allegedly is committed to peace. How can you have peace without cracking down on terrorist groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad? Is the PA willing to disarm these groups, and if they refuse to hand over their weapons, will the PA do what is necessary and destroy them?
Answer
Dear Daniel,
We don't have terrorism or terrorists... the terrorists are those who murder the innocent, shell homes and bury its owners beneath them. The terrorists are those who use the US war machine... they're the ones you and your administration support. Those terrorists butchered 20,000 innocent people in Sabra & Shatila in 1982. They use 500 pound bombs to kill the innocent.
The PA doesn't regard legitimate resistance as terrorism. Who said that the PA will crack down on what you call "terrorists"? The Palestinian resistance fighters are not terrorists, because they are practicing their right to fight against the occupation. Hasn't Israel admitted that they're occupying the Palestinian territories? Hasn't the United States admitted that there are Palestinian refugees and that they're entitled to a state? Where's all of that?How can a people get killed everyday and be called "terrorist"?
Your words don't serve Israeli interests or achieve peace for them. If you're keen on the Israelis, you must put pressure on them to end the occupation of Palestine. This is the only way that will bring peace to your Israeli friends, and enough talk about terrorists because you know who the true terrorists are.
Name
ali
- Finland
Profession
student
Question
Why don't you just try to do the same as what the Jews are doing? You have to say it: No negotiations, and that's it. Then see what happens. It won't be just them who end up scared, but the whole world, including America!
Answer
Dear Ali,
Negotiations are nothing to be ashamed of. Those who negotiate, armed with the issues of their people have nothing to be ashamed of, because they're negotiating for their cause.
Having negotiations doesn't mean that we're conceding our rights. We don't live alone in this world. The world testifies that we negotiate and resist the occupation at the same time. We don't refuse negotiations just for the sake of refusal. Grasping your cause and resisting your occupier is the right thing to do.
Turning our backs and refusing to negotiate and not responding to the world is senseless. We build our negotiations on our rights and the power of these rights. When we negotiate, we declare to the world and prove the rights of our people.
Name
Marcus
- Belgium
Profession
Question
Isn’t it about time Mr. Arafat simply step aside? Why is he so desperate to cling to power? Is there no one intelligent enough to run the Palestinian Authority? Why do you Arabs insist on idolizing your rulers and treating them like gods?
Answer
Dear Marcus,
It seems that you don't know the real relationship between Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian people. Since Arafat was a young man, he was struggling for his people. In every country he was in, he was elected, not came as a result of a coup. Yasser Arafat is the only President who never had a demonstration against him. He also showed the Palestinian entity and the Palestinian rights to the world, and his presence served the Palestinian cause and liberty all over the world. Those who hate Arafat are the same ones who say that he must step aside. The Palestinians possess the courage and qualification to deal with him when do something wrong, and the Palestinian arena is the only one with the freedom of speech. President Arafat doesn't rule his people with armies, but rather through the selection of his people to represent them, and he has been keen on their interests. The Palestinians' insistance on keeping with Arafat doesn't mean that there's no intellgient people, but because they look up to him as the symbol, and want him to remain their leader.
Name
Osama
-
Profession
Question
How does your conscience allow you to arrest and harass the Mujaheddin of Jihad and Hamas? Unlike the Authority, they have never tried to sell Palestine to the Zionists.
Answer
Dear Osama,
You need to learn more. If the PNA were compliant to Israeli threats and forms of seduction, none of our fellow strugglers would remain outside of Palestine.
The PA knows its role, and it's not an authority to arrest, but one of a Palestinian dialogue, logical convincing and sharing in the decision-making. Therefore, you can't frame the PA with allegations taken directly from Israeli propaganda and the enemies of the Palestinian people.
Yesterday, there were demonstrations by Hamas and Islamic Jihad condemning the Israeli decision against President Arafat. President Arafat also condemned any attempt against the resistance fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The Palestinians draw the line at the blood of Palestinians. The Israeli siege of Arafat was because he refused to rein in these organizations or crack down on them, so how can you say that the PA is arresting them?
Name
Abdul Hamid Q
- Qatar
Profession
Question
What happens if Israel makes good on its threat and actually kills Arafat? Who takes over? Who is constitutionally supposed to fill in? What is the mechanism? Would elections be held?
Answer
Dear Abdel Hamid,
In the Palestinian constitution, if the President's office becomes vacant, the chairman of the Palestinian Legislative Council takes his position for 60 days, during which presidential elections would be prepared. In case President Arafat is expelled, he remains our legitimate President, as he would have been deposed or exiled by his own people.
Name
Bahaa
-
Profession
Question
When I read Shimon Perez's "New Middle East," I notice there's hardly a page that goes by without a reference to Abu Alaa... Ahmed Qorei is known as the architect and advocate of an Israeli project for a new middle east, in which the Oslo agreement was signed, at the cost of much blood of Hamas and Jihad... do you therefore think Qorei's prospects are better than Abu Mazen's?
Answer
Dear Bahaa,
The Israeli new Middle East project is not just an Israeli one, but American as well. It's true that it serves Israel and that the Arab states contributed to it by opening their capitals and markets for Israeli investors and businesses, but this is not Qurei's architecture...
Qurei participated in the Oslo agreement, which is based on Palestinian rights, not serving the Israelis. It's not true that he's advocating for Israeli policies.
His chances of success depend on the Israeli's implementation of mutually-signed agreements.
Name
Omar
- Egypt
Profession
Question
It seems that Arafat appointed Abu Mazen with a number of objectives he was expected to fulfill, and in which he failed. I'd like to ask, what are the objectives in Arafat's mind for which he appointed Ahmed Qorei, and do you think he's likely to succeed where Abu Mazen failed?
Answer
Dear Omar,
The objectives President Arafat wanted from Abu Mazen are the same he wants from Ahmad Qurei... the problem is not in the Prime Minister, but in the presence of a side capable of achieving these objectives. These objectives are stated and agreed upon between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which the Israeli refusal along with the US conspiration came in the way of its achievement. the United States must exert pressure on the Israelis to implement these agreements, and if they don't, the fate of Qurei's government won't be better than that of Abu Mazen's.
Name
N
-
Profession
Question
Why is Israel the only country in the world that can threaten to cold-bloodedly kill a President and politician of another people without facing serious consequences from the EU, UN or for that matter the impotent OIC (Organization of Impotent Arab Countries)?
Answer
Dear "N",
The Palestinians, since Israel was established, pleaded their cases to the International courts and human rights organizations, demanding that Israeli killers be prosecuted, tried and put to justice. Every time, the United States stands in their way, such as the pressure on the Belgian government by the United States to prevent its courts from trying the criminal Sharon, and what the US did yesterday when it vetoed a draft resolution banning Israel from expelling Yasser Arafat.
Another proof is when the US stood in the face of a UN resolution to send a team of international fact-finders to investigate what happened in Jenin, and in the face of sending international peace-keeping force to monitor the implementation of agreements worked out or made by the USA. Isn't this enough to indicate that the United States safeguards and sponsors Israeli terrorism and prevents any resolution condemning it?
As for the Arabs, their weakness is enough and doesn't need a comment.
Name
Qasem
-
Profession
Question
Do you expect that the new Palestinian cabinet, headed by Mr. Qurei can achieve more for the Palestinians than Abu Mazen's cabinet?
Answer
Dear Qasem,
Any Palestinian Prime Minister is very keen on achieving something for the Palestinians, but these achievements normally collide with Israeli intransigence and the American unwillingness to implement agreements.
As for internal affairs, the cabinet's agenda will be discussed by the PLC, and if this agenda doesn't fulfill the Palestinian's aspirations, it will not be passed. All the proposed agendas take into consideration Palestinian interests, but they're faced by the Israeli.
Name
Jean
- France
Profession
Question
What is the role of Egypt in the current situation? Are they pressuring the Palestinians to make concessions to the Israelis (again) or are they actually doing something constructive?
Answer
Dear Jean,
Egypt is really putting a lot of effort in reaching peace between the two parties. Among those efforts that they succeeded in was reaching the ceasefire agreement. But the Israelis don't want Egypt to take part in that. Sharon said that the ceasefire is a Palestinian affair and doesn't concern us, then he said that the Egyptians are not qualified to play this role, but that they should release the Israeli spy Azzam Azzam.
The Egyptians are still keen on playing this role, whether through hosting the Palestinian negotiation teams in Cairo, Taba or Sharm Al Sheikh, or through their efforts to reach peace between the two parties.
Name
Talib
- Iran
Profession
Question
Many people assumed Mahmoud Abbas would crack down on Hamas and Jihad, but he didn't do so. Does that suggest that he (Abu Mazen) was unwilling to crack down on the resistance, or that Arafat was opposing such a crackdown and effectively blocking it from behind the scenes through his security apparatus?
Answer
Dear Talib,
It's not Abu Mazen or anyone else. There's nobody among the Palestinian people and its leadership convinced of the need for cracking down on any resistance figures, except if they perpetrate a crime punishable by law, but arresting someobdy only for the sake of arrest or because he resists the occupation, this is not on the Palestinian agenda.
Name
Gregory
- Poland
Profession
Question
Will we see a new truce in the near future?
Answer
Dear Gregory,
We might see a truce if it is signed by the two sides, but if it is to be a unilateral one, we will not see it, because when the Palestinians declared a ceasefire, the Israelis said that they don't care as it's an internal Palestinian affair. So we won't go back to the unilateral ceasefire, unless Israel commits to it, and it has guarantees and mechanisms for implementing the goals of the truce, or it would be for nothing and a sign of weakness that would serve only the Israelis.
Name
Michael
-
Profession
Question
Being the head of the Palestinian follow-up committee, why can't Palestinians form a national coalition government, including members of the resistance?
Answer
Dear Michael,
What is now proposed is to form a unified national government to formulate policies, which would be much wider than a cabinet, as the cabinet is only for internal affairs. It would also have representatives of some factions. We seek a broader formula, including all the national and Islamic factions representing the Palestinian people and its institutions, inside and outside the Palestinian territories, and we have gone to great lengths in that.
We are waiting to name the representatives of these factions in the unified Palestinian leadership.
Name
The guest's closing comments...
-
Profession
Answer
I would like to thank those responsible for the website and those concerned for our cause, and I would like to stress our honesty and care in answering your questions in detail and as candidly as possible.
We also confirm that Palestinian blood draws the line for us, and that our country will never witness an inter-Palestinian conflict.
We also confirm for those trying to fish in shallow waters that their efforts will be futile, and we call on all media outlets to seek credibility and the truth, and to not be affected by the American or Zionist media.
We accept any advice or ideas coming from those who sincerely care. We’re prepared to work by it, because we’re in need for every noble person and every noble word and courageous stand. Thank you and see you on some other occasion.
