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| ARIEL SHARON | FATAH | AL AQSA MARTYRS BRIGADES | ARAFAT | AHMED QUREIA
[Par-3-Verbatim] "We are and have been a peace-seeking nation, and we will continue our adherence to the choice of peace to the entire region, which will give our people the right of self determination, the return of refugees, and the right to establish an independent Palestinian state with Holy Jerusalem as its capital," President Arafat said.
PA mounts anti-fence campaign (JERUSALEM POST) By BY KHALED ABU TOAMEH AND HERB KEINON 10/03/03)
[Par-4 Verbatim] "I appeal to the international public opinion, the Quartet, the Arab League, and the Non-Aligned countries to stop this destruction of the peace process," he said.
[Par-5 Verbatim] "Until when will they continue to watch these Nazi and racist crimes against our people? The fence devours more than 60 percent of our land. What does all this mean? It means that the Israeli government is sabotaging the peace process."
Criticism for Israel Plan to Boot Arafat (AP) By IAN JAMES JERUSALEM, ISRAEL 09/12/03 3:22 PM)
[Par-2] Yasser Arafat emerged from his office for a second straight night Friday and rallied hundreds of supporters. "To Jerusalem we are going as martyrs in the millions," he told the crowd. Arafat also recited a passage from the Quran.
[Par-3] The crowd of hundreds held photos of Arafat and chanted: "With our blood and souls we will redeem you."
[Par-4] Arafat answered: "With our blood and souls, we will redeem you Palestine
The Jewish Temple (WND-WORLD NET DAILY COMMENTARY) By JOSEPH FARAH 08/14/03)
Similar statements have been made by Yasser Arafat....
[Par-4-Verbatim] He made the assertion again recently in the London Arabic
paper Al Hayat: Archaeologists, he said, "have not found a single
stone proving that the Temple of Solomon was there because historically
the Temple was not in Palestine."
[Par-4-Verbatim] "The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are an integral part of our homeland and we will not give up even one centimeter of our homeland," Qureia said.
[Par-9 Verbatim] "As long as the occupation is still in our land, the intifada (the Palestinian uprising which began in September 2000) and struggle will continue," he vowed.
[Par-11 Verbatim] The Apartheid Wall “will kill the (peace) process. It will kill anyone who speaks of peace. ... Now there is relative quiet. But the terror will start anew. The barrier can´t prevent it,” Qurie said in a separate interview with the Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth on Friday.
AP: New Palestinian PM Hopes for Truce (AP) By KARIN LAUB ABU DIS, West Bank 10/06/03 10:05 AM)
[Par-2 Verbatim] In setting policy, "I will not listen to the Americans. I will listen to our national rights," Qureia told The Associated Press in an interview, just hours after being installed as the head of an eight- member emergency Cabinet by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
[Par-5 Verbatim] "We will not confront, we will not go for a civil war," he said. "It´s not in our interest. It´s not in the interest of our people, and it´s not in the interest of the peace process."
GEORGE W. BUSH: U.S. PRESIDENT
Bush Asserts Israel´s Right to Defense (AP) By TERENCE HUNT WASHINGTON 10/06/03 2:25 PM)
[Par-8 Verbatim] "I made it very clear to the prime minister that...Israel´s got a right to defend herself, that Israel must not feel constrained in terms of defending the homeland."
[Par-1] THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Secretary General; Mr. President; distinguished delegates; ladies and gentlemen: Twenty-four months ago -- and yesterday in the memory of America -- the center of New York City became a battlefield, and a graveyard, and the symbol of an unfinished war. Since that day, terrorists have struck in Bali, Mombassa, in Casablanca, in Riyadh, in Jakarta, in Jerusalem -- measuring the advance of their cause in the chaos and innocent suffering they leave behind.
[Par-6] And on the Palestinian side, Prime Minister Abbas made a good-faith effort to meet the commitments made at Aqaba. Yet, at every turn, he was undercut by the old order. I remain committed, solidly committed to the vision of two states living side-by-side in peace and security. Yet, that would only happen with new Palestinian leadership committed to fighting terror, not compromised by terror.
[Par-16] PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. Arafat has failed as a leader. And as I mentioned, Prime Minister Abbas was undermined at all turns by the old order -- that meant Mr. Arafat. And the people of the Palestinian territory must understand if they want peace, they must have leadership who is absolutely 100 percent committed to fighting off terror. I believed Prime Minister Abbas when he told me at Sharm el- Sheikh, then at Aqaba, then in the Oval Office, he would do everything in his power to fight terror, that he would work to consolidate the security forces so that he could fight terror.
[Par-18] But I´ll remind those who focus on the road map that the first thing the road map said was that there must be security in order for peace to advance, that there must be a collective effort to fight off terror. Mr. Arafat has failed in that effort. And, hopefully, at some point in time, a leadership of the Palestinian Authority will emerge which will then commit itself 100 percent to fighting off terror. And then we´ll be able to consolidate the power necessary to fight off terror.
[Par-25] And the speech I gave on June 24th still stands as, at least the U.S. view, of how to achieve what we want, which is peace, and a Palestinian state. I think a Palestinian state is one of the most hopeful things for a -- for the Palestinian people, and for the Israelis, for that matter.
[Par-8] All parties agree that a fundamental obstacle to peace is terrorism, which can never be justified by any cause. Last month in Aqaba, Prime Minister Abbas committed to a complete end to violence and terrorism. The Palestinian Authority must undertake sustained, targeted and effective operations to confront those engaged in terror, and to dismantle terrorist capabilities and infrastructure.We´re determined to help Prime Minister Abbas as he works to end terror, and establish the rule of law that will protect Israelis and Palestinians alike.
[Par-9] Today, I urge Arab states to follow through on the pledges made in Sharm el-Sheikh, to actively contribute to these efforts, and to reject the culture of extremism and violence from whatever source or place. The rise of a peaceful Palestinian state and the long-term security of the Israeli people both depend on defeating the threat of terrorist groups and ending incitement and hatred.
[Par-39] PRESIDENT BUSH: Me? Okay. First, the most effective way to fight terror is to dismantle terrorist organizations. I fully recognize that. And we will continue to work with all parties to do just that. I mean, I fully understand that the most effective campaign to enhance the security of Israel, as well as the security of peace- loving people in the Palestinian territories, is to get after organizations such as Hamas, the terrorist organizations that create the conditions where peace won´t exist. And therefore, I would hope in the long-term a fence would be irrelevant.
[Par-48 ]And the positive news is that Prime Minister Abbas made a public declaration that we would work together to dismantle terrorist organizations. And that´s exactly what´s going to happen. For those who want peace -- I mean, all around the world have got to understand very clearly, if you´re interested in peace in the Middle East, then all of us must work together to dismantle terrorist organizations, to cut off money to terrorist organizations, to prevent the few from damaging the aspirations of the many.
[Par-5] Reaching this goal will require all sides to meet their responsibilities. We made a good progress last month at the Red Sea Summit in Aqaba. The government of Israel recognized that Israel´s own interests would be served when the Palestinians govern themselves in their own state, a peaceful, democratic state where the forces of terror have been replaced by the rule of law.
[Par-40] PRESIDENT BUSH: As to the settlements, I´ve constantly spoken out for the need to end the settlements. I -- and we´ll continue to work with both sides on this very sensitive issue. Let me make something -- let me say this -- this is necessary. It is necessary for this good man to continue to fight off the terrorist activity that creates the conditions of insecurity for not only Israel, but for the peaceful Palestinian people. In order for us to be able to make progress on a lot of difficult issues, there has to be a firm and continued commitment to fight terror.
[Par-58] PRESIDENT BUSH: We´ll let my guest end. I just told you that we brought this issue up. I´ve constantly spoken out about the end of settlements. I have done so consistently. It´s very important for us to continue to earn the confidence of each other. And I´m going to tell you point-blank that we must make sure that any terrorist activity is rooted out, in order for us to be able to deal with these big issues.
Bush
vows to crack terrorism (BBC) 07/05/03 02:27 GMT 03:27 UK)
[Par-3] "We are on the offensive against terrorists... The United States will not stand by and wait for another attack or trust in the restraint and good intentions of evil men," he said.
Bush:
´Hamas must be dismantled´ (CNN) WASHINGTON 06/25/03 4:45
PM EDT (2045 GMT)
[Par-2] "In order for there to be peace, Hamas must be dismantled,"
Bush said at a joint news conference with the European Union leadership.
[Par-8] "It´s one thing to make a verbal agreement, but in order for there to be peace in the Middle East, we must see organizations such as Hamas dismantled. And then we´ll have peace, then we´ll have a chance for peace," he said.
[Par-9] "The true tests for Hamas and terrorist organizations is the complete dismantlement of their terrorist networks, their capacity to blow up the peace process."
President
Bush Discussed Middle East in Rose Garden Address (THE WHITE HOUSE) 06/24/02
3:47 P.M.)
[Par-3] In the situation the Palestinian people will grow more and more miserable. My vision is two states, living side by side in peace and security. There is simply no way to achieve that peace until all parties fight terror. Yet, at this critical moment, if all parties will break with the past and set out on a new path, we can overcome the darkness with the light of hope. Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership, so that a Palestinian state can be born.
[Par-4] "I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror."
[Par-5] "And when the Palestinian people have new leaders, new institutions and new security arrangements with their neighbors, the United States of America will support the creation of a Palestinian state whose borders and certain aspects of its sovereignty will be provisional until resolved as part of a final settlement in the Middle East."
[Par-6] In the work ahead, we all have responsibilities. The Palestinian
people are gifted and capable, and I am confident they can achieve a new
birth for their nation. A Palestinian state will never be created by
terror -- it will be built through reform. And reform must be more
than cosmetic change, or veiled attempt to preserve the status quo.
True reform will require entirely new political and economic institutions,
based on democracy, market economics and action against terrorism.
[Par-7] Today, the elected Palestinian legislature has no authority, and power is concentrated in the hands of an unaccountable few. A Palestinian state can only serve its citizens with a new constitution which separates the powers of government. The Palestinian parliament should have the full authority of a legislative body. Local officials and government ministers need authority of their own and the independence to govern effectively.
[Par-8] The United States, along with the European Union and Arab states, will work with Palestinian leaders to create a new constitutional framework, and a working democracy for the Palestinian people. And the United States, along with others in the international community will help the Palestinians organize and monitor fair, multi-party local elections by the end of the year, with national elections to follow.
[Par-23] "As new Palestinian institutions and new leaders emerge, demonstrating real performance on security and reform, I expect Israel to respond and work toward a final status agreement. With intensive effort by all, this agreement could be reached within three years from now. And I and my country will actively lead toward that goal."
( Top of Page )
THE ROAD MAP
A
Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
Conflict (U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE) Washington, DC 04/30/03)
At the outset of Phase I: Security
- Palestinian leadership issues unequivocal statement reiterating
Israel’s right to exist in peace and security and
calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire
to end armed activity and all acts of violence against Israelis
anywhere. All official Palestinian institutions end incitement
against Israel.
- Palestinians declare an unequivocal end to violence and terrorism
and undertake visible efforts on the ground to arrest, disrupt, and
restrain individuals and groups conducting and planning violent attacks
on Israelis anywhere.
-
Rebuilt and refocused Palestinian Authority security apparatus begins sustained, targeted, and effective operations aimed at confronting all those engaged in terror and dismantlement of terrorist capabilities and infrastructure. This includes commencing confiscation of illegal weapons and consolidation of security authority, free of association with terror and corruption.
( Top of Page )
COLIN L. POWELL: U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE
[Par-14 Verbatim] "What we need right now is for the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority to get control of security forces and to use those forces and use the other tools available to him to put down terror and to put down violence. And if that happens and we see that kind of commitment, then I´m confident that we can move forward on the road map."
[Par-16 Verbatim] "If you want to put a fence on something that is a recognized border, the green line [which separated Israel and the West Bank before 1967], then put a fence on your property line. But the more you intrude in Palestinian areas and the more it looks like it could be contiguous intrusion around large sections of Palestinian land that would prejudge subsequent negotiations as to what a Palestinian state may look like, that´s a problem."
[Par-20] So there were some beginning efforts on the roadmap that made it clear that the United States was encouraging Israel and putting pressure on Israel to meet its obligations.
[Par-34] SECRETARY POWELL: Can I have a word? I think the Quartet process has also allowed the different perspectives and different approaches that each of us take to the region to come in to harmony so that we all are united in providing a common front, in the form of a roadmap, to the parties, as opposed to each member of the Quartet and many other individuals and countries and organizations represented by the Quartet would be going off with different plans and suggestions every day of the week.
[Par-35] And it was as a result of the creation of the Quartet that we could then focus on the development of a roadmap. That roadmap is still valid, and we are now waiting to see whether or not the Palestinian people are able to put in place, through their own system, a prime minister who will enjoy political authority and control over all the security forces so that we can start moving again down the path laid out by the roadmap.
[Par-48] SECRETARY POWELL: There have been regular proposals for an international conference, and French colleagues raised it again this week. But I don´t see an immediate purpose in such a conference in the absence of some change in the situation on the ground, and at the moment we don´t have a Palestinian government that is seen as a partner who could participate in such a conference.
[Par-8] Powell, appearing on ABC´s "This Week," said, "Whoever becomes head of the Palestinian Authority must have under his control all of the security forces and he must have a solid political mandate from the PLC (Palestinian legislative council) to go after terrorist organizations."
[Par-7] "I call on Chairman Arafat to work with Prime Minister Abbas and to make available to Prime Minister Abbas those security elements that are under his control so that they can allow progress to be made on the road map -- end terror, end this violence that just results in the further repetition of the cycle that we´ve seen so often," Powell said.
But we need to see a lot more. We need to see a more concerted effort against the capacity for terrorist activity on the Palestinian side. It is not enough just to have a ceasefire, a hudna, as it is called, which could be ended any day. What we really need is a concerted effort on the part of the Palestinian Authority to go after those organizations within the Palestinian community that have the capacity of conducting terrorist acts, organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
We can´t have a situation where, during a time of a ceasefire, those organizations are improving their capability, testing new weapons or creating new factories in order to build more weapons. So we are looking for a concerted effort on the part of the Palestinian security officials to go after the infrastructure, the terrorist infrastructure that exists within the Palestinian community.
With respect to the fence, all of us put fences up when we feel a need for a fence on our property, and we try to do it in a way that does not prejudice anyone else´s property or anyone else´s rights. In the case of this fence, Israel felt there was a need to put up such a fence for security purposes, and the President has said that we understand that.
It is when the fence begins to intrude on land that is not on the Israeli side of the green line, or starts to intrude in a way that makes it more difficult for us to make the case for a viable Palestinian state, or starts to cut off certain towns and villages or in other ways interfere with Palestinian activity in Palestinian towns and villages, then is it appropriate for us to say to our Israeli friends, "Look, we have a problem here," and particularly as they are getting ready for the next stages of this fence construction project.
And that is what we are doing. We have identified some problems with the subsequent stages of the fence, what´s going on, and we are going to be discussing those problems with them.
And so in my discussions with Syrian leaders, and in my visit to Damascus, I conveyed to the President of Syria that we really believe that Damascus should no longer be allowed to serve as a headquarters for terrorist organizations who were determined to defeat the roadmap, who were determined to deny the Palestinian people the opportunity for a better life in their own state. Organizations that have found a place to do their business in Damascus are against peace, are against the desires of the Palestinian people, the needs of the Palestinian people, and we believe Syria should do everything to shut them down.
We also believe that Syria should not be participating in any transshipment of weapons or other materiel to Hezbollah, and a number of other issues that were presented to Syria. They have responded on some of them and I know they are considering other of the items that we presented to them. We are still not satisfied with the performance that we have seen so far, and we are communicating that on a regular basis to our Syrian colleagues.
With respect to Iran, we have made the same point. It is time now to end state sponsorship of terrorism when we have two sides, Israel and Palestine, Palestinians -- Israelis and Palestinians working together to get us to that point where both peoples can live in peace. And why should Iran be continuing to support terrorist activities and organizations that are determined to destroy that dream?
And we will continue to make that point. And we will continue to encourage all of our Arab friends in the region to do their part, as they said they would at Sharm el-Sheikh -- stop funding organizations that are sponsoring or could be sponsoring terrorist activities; speak out strongly for reform; assist the Palestine people; be prepared to work with the Palestinian people and Israelis to help this roadmap work.
One more point: The Arab League Working Committee recently met, and I know part of your question, and they took note of the new Governing Council in Iraq. I wish they had made a stronger statement of welcome and support. But we will be working with the Arab League over the next several weeks as they get ready for their September meeting to make the point that we are on the road in Iraq toward a representative government. And this Governing Council should be seen as an important step and encouraged in their work.
QUESTION: Final question. Can you please state what is our stated policy towards the fence that the Israelis are building right now?
SECRETARY POWELL: You know a nation is authorized and it is within its rights to put up a fence, as it sees the need for one. But in the case of the Israeli fence, we are concerned when the fence crosses over on to the land of others, and if it is constructed in a way which makes it more difficult to move forward on the roadmap, this causes us a problem.
So we are in discussions with our Israeli friends about the fence that they are building. And, as you know, that fence has walls as part of the fence. And we hope that we can find a way of discussing this problem, so that it does not -- the fence -- it does not become a hindrance toward progress on the roadmap.
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, that's one way to graduate. The easy way to graduate and to not be on that list is to stop sponsoring terrorists. And those nations that remain on the list continue to have a record of supporting organizations -- Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a number of others, that support terrorist activities, terrorist activities that make it difficult to reach a peace agreement in the Middle East, terrorist activities that continue to give haven to terrorists who threaten civilized nations.
And as long as these nations continue to support that kind of activity or do not account for past terrorist actions they have been involved in, then I think it is quite appropriate for them to remain on that list. It is not a list we take any joy in keeping. We would hope that all nations would abandon terrorism as a form of political activity and remove any justification for terrorist actions, and that such a list would not be necessary. But the list has served a useful purpose in showing to the world that there are those nations that support terrorist activities that put civilized nations and innocent civilians at risk.
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I am a named official, not an unnamed official. And I can tell you that there is good cooperation with the Saudis, and the cooperation has improved markedly in recent months. All one has to do is follow the news and you can see that the Saudis are arresting terrorists. They are finding caches of weapons and ammunition that were intended to conduct terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
They were at the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit last -- month before last, when they committed themselves to stop funding those organizations that have anything to do with any kind of terrorist activities anywhere. I think this all shows an improving level of cooperation. There are always more things that all of us can do. And when we find areas where we believe the Saudis can do more, we will bring it to their attention, do bring it to their attention, and we have been pleased with their response.
[Par-5] "We must ensure that the Palestinians understand that we will not be satisfied until terror has been eliminated, not just momentarily, not only for a hudna, but permanently," Powell told the Ma´ariv newspaper.
[Par-3] So I hope the people of the occupied territories are seeing an improvement in their daily life in Gaza and in other areas.
[Par-4] We talked about prisoner releases with Prime Minister Sharon and we are expecting the Israelis to take some steps, additional steps, with respect to prisoner releases. It doesn´t reach the number that the Palestinians would like to see right now, but it certainly shows progress along the road laid out in the roadmap.
[Par-5] I also can say that the President was quite clear that he is expecting settlement activity to end, and you have heard the Prime Minister refer to that, and that is one of the essential elements of the roadmap.
[Par-6] The President has concerns about the fence. He has a problem with the fence, as he said to the Prime Minister, if the fence is constructed in a way or continues to be constructed in a way that takes additional Palestinian land and sort of prejudges what might be left for a Palestinian state, or if it complicates our discussions going forward.
[Par-8] Mr. Abbas has also made it clear that he will eliminate all organizations that participate or support in any way with terrorist activities. You can only have one organization, one authority, one government that has control of weapons and control of police forces and militias and military forces within a state. He understands that, but he will do it in a way that is consistent with his approach to it, where it is consistent with doing it in a way that keeps the Palestinian Authority unified behind his efforts.
[Par-31] Now, nobody is going to be satisfied, neither the Israeli side nor the United States, and for that matter, nor will the Palestinian Authority in the presence of the person, Mr. Abbas, be satisfied, if found ourselves a year or two from now, or one month or two months or six months from now, and we still find organizations such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad that are fully capable of undertaking terrorist operations again at a time and place of their choosing.
[Par-35] I remember being asked, “Can Hamas ever transform itself?” We have said, and I have been in the forefront of this, Hamas is Hamas is Hamas. We can no longer make this distinction between their good works and their bad works. The only thing we´re interested in now is good works. And any organization that is tainted by terrorist elements in it or a philosophy of terrorism, we can´t work with. And that has to be eliminated. We won´t be satisfied otherwise. In that light, we are completely in line with all Israelis and with Palestinians.
[Par-36] How do you get that -- how do you get to that point? And the President, when Abbas was in there last week on Friday and they talked about settlements and they talked about prisoners -- all the issues that you know more better than me -- the President kept saying over and over, kept interrupting the conversation to say, "I understand. But it begins with security."
[Par-39] He understood and he knows what Palestinians want. He knows what they think they need, what they say they need. He knows what is -- it is important for us to try to do in order to support Abbas and to increasingly isolate Arafat and show the people of the Palestinian territories, the occupied territories, that Arafat takes you nowhere, this guy takes you somewhere.
[Par-40] And so we know what they expect and need and say that they have to have. But he, at every opportunity, when he listened to them and heard them and said he understood, he says, "It starts with security." So this President, and he said it again yesterday in his press conference, nothing comes before the security of the State of Israel. And he means that.
[Par-44] So they also know what they´re saying to each other and what they´re not saying to each other. But we know that Dahlan must eliminate this capability, and we will expect them and demand that it happen. But we need to show a little bit of patience and flexibility to make sure that it happens in a way that does not result in a situation that undercuts or brings down Mahmoud Abbas, because then where are we?
[Par-49] Nevertheless, Israel has a right to put a fence up. You can´t say you can´t put a fence up. The fence worked in Gaza, as the Prime Minister always responds. The question is, and this is where the President has a problem, and he said so when Abbas was here and he made it clear yesterday as a problem, when the fence is no longer just on your land, but the fence essentially, because of the way it´s being designed or built, and designed or built, it starts to infringe and take over Palestinian land, even if, as Ruby said to me, we pay them for it. Not the issue. No longer available to them.
[Par-59] SECRETARY POWELL: We didn´t tell him -- the President didn´t tell him to stop building the fence. He made it clear, though, the issues that I just mentioned to you there were problems with the fence. So the President said that a week ago with Abbas. The President didn´t change his mind yesterday.
[Par-67] SECRETARY POWELL: Yes, we have been encouraging the Israeli side to meet the commitments that it´s made and to meet them as high up in the ladder as they can. There has been a movement on release of prisoners. The Palestinians would like to see thousands out. The Israelis can´t do that at this point, they say.
[Par-15] SECRETARY POWELL: Any organization that has a terrorist component to it and supports that kind of terrorist activity cannot have a place in the peace process. Now, if an organization that has a terrorist component to it, a terrorist wing to it, totally abandons that, gives it up, and there´s no question in anyone´s mind that that is part of its past, then that is a different organization. But right now, Hamas still has a social wing to it that does things for people in need, but, unfortunately, its good works are contaminated by the fact that it has a terrorist wing that kills innocent people and kills the hopes of the Palestinian people for a state of their own. And I think that covers it rather well.
[Par-42] So organizations such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, if they think they have a role to play, the role has to begin with the elimination of all capability to conduct terrorists activity. They had to stop that, to give it up.
[Par-43] They have to end the Intifadah, otherwise we will never develop the kind of confidence needed between the two sides, so that they could go forward into the next stages of the roadmap. And so I think, ultimately, those organizations have to foreswear the use of terror and eliminate the capability to conduct terrorist activities.
[Par-8] SECRETARY POWELL: I´m talking about Hamas. I´m talking about the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. I´m talking about the Al-Aqsa Brigades. They have entered into a ceasefire. But as long as they have the capability to conduct these kinds of attacks, they can come out of a ceasefire at some time in the future. So we hope they´ll stay with the ceasefire, but ultimately, we are going have to convert this kind of organization into organizations that no longer are interested in using terror as a political weapon.
[Par-10] MR. HUME: The President has spoken of dismantling Hamas. Can that be done?
[Par-11] SECRETARY POWELL: Well, it remains to be seen what Hamas chooses to do as it moves forward. Hamas has a social wing to it where it provides services to people, but it has this armed militant wing that is determined to destroy the state of Israel. These two wings cannot live separate lives. They are one organization. And until Hamas abandons all efforts to conduct terrorist activity and all intent to conduct terrorist activity, then we have to be hard on all of Hamas.
[Par-4 ]And then we also note that Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Fatah have declared ceasefires. A ceasefire, in and of itself, isn´t enough, but at least it´s a beginning. What we really want to see is the elimination of the terrorist capability of those organizations, and we´ll be working toward that end.
[Par-8] But it depends upon best efforts and best intentions and actual performance on the part of the Palestinian Authority to bring these groups under control and disarm them. Otherwise, the hopes of the Palestinian people will be dashed once again, and, for that matter, the hopes of the Israelis for an opportunity to live in peace once again in their communities.
[Par-10] Now, just looking at the terrorist organizations a whole, Hamas in particular says they have a military wing and they have a political wing. Is there a difference?
[Par-11] SECRETARY POWELL: I don´t think we can acknowledge that difference any longer. Hamas, over the years, has provided funds to people in need. It has a social component to it. It provides help to people. But, you know, you can no longer separate it out. If it is a terrorist organization, it is a terrorist organization. If it has a military wing that is killing innocent Israeli citizens, how can you separate that out from its social wing or its civilian wing?
[Par-11] And so it is time for all terrorist organizations to be
abolished, to give up that capability. And I believe that Prime
Minister Abbas understands that if he is going to have a state, a Palestinian
state, then all militias and all organizations with the capacity to conduct
terrorist activities have to be dismantled. All arms have to
be under the power of the state, not under the power of terrorist organizations
that are not answerable to the state. That is what a democratic state
involves. And we will have to reach that point.
Remarks
by Secretary Colin L. Powell at the (AIPAC) American Israel Public Affairs
Committee´s Annual Policy Conference (U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)
Washington, DC 03/30/03)
[Par-42] "The President´s vision puts clear obligations on the Palestinians. The Palestinian state must be based on transformed leaderships and institutions that end terror."
( Top of Page )
[Par-14] Palestinians must accept that they can only achieve their goals through negotiation. That was the essence of the agreements made between Israelis and Palestinians in Madrid, and again in Oslo in 1993. There is no other way but direct negotiation in an atmosphere of stability and non-violence.
U.N. Envoy Calls on Israel to Abandon Settlements (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS 09/15/03 12:19 PM ET)
[Par-3] "The two key issues in the peace process are terrorism and occupation," Roed-Larsen told a U.N. Security Council meeting.
[Par-4] "Without popular support, no Palestinian prime minister can at this stage counter terrorism and terror organizations in an effective manner," he said. "This essential public support could best be achieved, under the current circumstances, through abandonment of settlements."
[Par-8] The U.N. envoy also criticized a decision in principle by Israel´s Security Cabinet to "remove" Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, calling Arafat "the legitimate leader of the Palestinians."
[Par-9] "He embodies Palestinian identity and national aspirations. He is now far from irrelevant," Roed-Larsen said.
Annan
reiterates his support for latest developments in Middle East (UN-UNITED
NATIONS) 07/01/03)
[Par-2] "The decision of the Palestinian groups (terrorists) to agree to a ceasefire is important. I want to see a situation where all these movements and groups are transformed into political parties to play a role in democratic Palestine."
New York, 30 July 2003 - Secretary-General´s mid-year press conference (UN-UNITED NATIONS) 07/30/03)
[Par-14] Q: I would like to ask two questions. The first question is on the Middle East – the Palestinian Authority has done what seems to be a creditable job of maintaining the truce, yet we see no commensurate concessions on the Israeli side. On the contrary, it now seems that President Bush has endorsed Ariel Sharon´s demand that the Palestinian Authority start to dismantle Hamas and other militant groups before he can take bigger steps. Does this development worry you? Could it undermine support for the road map?
[Par-16] SG: Let me start with the Middle East. I think the Middle East peace process and the road map have made some progress – some progress in the sense that we now have a ceasefire which has held for a couple of weeks. The Israeli Government has withdrawn from some parts of Gaza and Bethlehem, and I hope other withdrawals will follow. The road map demands of the parties parallel action for us to make progress: parallel action that is reinforcing – actions that give hope to the Palestinians that there could be a State at the end of the process, and steps that also give assurances to the Israelis that steps are being taken to end violence and terrorism.
[Par-17] I do not think one should condition one´s own action in the way that your question implies. This is something that has worried those of us who worked on the road map: that past efforts failed because some of it became so conditioned that it was conditioned to death. We felt, on this one, there should be parallel steps by the parties; the Quartet stands by that approach and we would want to encourage that.
[Par-41] On the question of the fence, I know that it is conventional wisdom that fences make good neighbours. But that is if you build a fence on your own land and you do not disrupt your neighbour´s life.
( Top of Page )
MAHMOUD ABBAS: X PALESTINAN AUTHORITY PRIME MINISTER
Palestinians
disappointed with Bush (JERUSALEM-TIMES.NET) By TJT Staff 07/31/03)
[Par-3] Abbas said that he ended a series of meetings with US officials having clarified the Palestinian position on a truce by Palestinian factions. The United States "has its approach to the matter. It wants us to dismantle the radical groups. We told them that if the truce remains in place, why should we use force against our own people?" Abbas said.
Israel, Palestinians Fight Over Towns (AP) By MARK LAVIE JERUSALEM, ISRAEL 07/30/03 11:31 PM)
[Par-5] Interviewed on the Arabic satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera on Wednesday, Abbas said he told Bush during their meeting on Friday that Israel must allow Arafat freedom of movement. "He is our president and we don´t accept any other one," Abbas said.
[Par-14] In the Al-Jazeera interview,
Abbas said, "The truth is that the fence ... could not provide
security," he said. "It is a racist fence of separation,
uncivilized and at the same time it is built on Palestinian land."
Interview with Mahmoud Abbas: ‘We Want Our Own State’ (NEWSWEEK) By Lally Weymouth 07/27/03)
[Par-3] Do you accept as written the so-called Roadmap to a Palestinian
state?
We accepted the Roadmap in letter and spirit. And we didn´t ask
for any amendments.
[Par-13] Does [Palestinian President Yasir] Arafat have to approve the
actions that you take?
All the actions, all the actions. He is the leader of the Palestinian
people.
[Par-15] People say that you have only about 30 percent of the security
forces under your control and that Arafat controls the rest. Is that accurate?
We are working to unify the security apparatuses. We have no problem
with other apparatuses that are not under our control.
[Par-19] What lessons do you draw from the U.S. operation in Iraq? Reportedly,
Iraq was sending money to the territories.
They [the Iraqis] did send money. I think [the Palestinians] should be
compensated by the international community because Iraq sent the money
for social aims, for social affairs. So we need the money for social affairs,
for the victims and for the martyrs.
[Par-30] Do you feel that you have completed your obligations under Phase
One of the Roadmap?
We have started fulfilling our obligations in a clear way, but the
Israelis didn´t start.
[Par-35] Does that mean you think you can turn Hamas and Islamic Jihad
into democratic citizens?
Why not?... We will try. We have started talking with these
factions about being integrated into the Palestinian society. If so, why
should we go to civil war or confrontation with these people?
[Par-16] Don´t they say that they´re dedicated to the extinction
of the Jewish state?
[They can] keep their slogans. I believe that if [Israel can be
confined] within the ´67 borders,[Hamas] will live with it and will
accept it. It´s only 22 percent of the historical Palestine.
[Par-21] Reform and institution-building are an internal Palestinian priority. We do not merely seek a state, but we seek for a state that is built on the solid foundations of the modern constitution, democracy, transparency, the rule of law, and the market economy.
[Par-22] We continue to negotiate with Israel on the implementation of its obligations. Some progress has been made, but movement needs to be made in terms of freeing prisoners, lifting the siege on President Arafat, Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian areas, and easing up freedom of movement to Palestinians.
[Par-25] If the settlement activities in Palestinian land and construction of the so-called separation wall on confiscated Palestinian land continue, we might soon find ourselves at a situation where the foundation of peace, a free Palestine state, living side-by-side in peace and security in Israel is a factual impossibility.
[Par-21] PRIME MINISTER ABBAS: The cease-fire is only -- not even three weeks old. And we have started from zero. In order for us to implement the law, we need capabilities and resources. And honestly, we will not enter a civil war with Palestinian organizations.
[Par-22] MS. COURIC: It´s been said that you´d rather work through persuasion than armed conflict.
[Par-23] PRIME MINISTER ABBAS: Yes, that is better and this methodology is better. If I can bring them by persuading them, why should I confront them?
[Par-24] MS. COURIC: Is that why you´d like to see Hamas and Islamic Jihad become a legitimate political entity?
[Par-25] PRIME MINISTER ABBAS: I have no objection to that. If they make political parties and they practice their political work, there´s no shame to that.
[Par-26] MS. COURIC: Do you believe members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad are responsible, law-abiding citizens who want peace?
[Par-27] PRIME MINISTER ABBAS: Yes. Yes.
[Par-29] MS. COURIC: Are you concerned, when the cease-fire ends at the end of September, there will be a return to violence and suicide bombings?
[Par-30] PRIME MINISTER ABBAS: This will depend on Israeli behavior. The more they respond to our demands, the more the cease-fire will become permanent until we reach permanent peace.
Abbas
to Ask Bush for Peace Plan Schedule (AP) By JILL LAWLESS JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
07/22/03 9:39 AM)
[Par-14] "Cracking down on Hamas, Jihad and the Palestinian organizations is not an option at all," Abbas said after his meeting with Moussa in Cairo. "We are applying the law which we accepted under the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, and that is what we will do."
[Par-33 ] Israel says it will release no prisoners "with blood on their hands." Mr. Abbas rejected that limitation, saying both sides were guilty of violence. "We were in war," he said.
[Par-12] "The most important of these issues are the prisoners, the Jewish settlements, the separation wall, closures...and the need for setting free Brother Abu Amr, to allow him to travel wherever he wants, whenever he wants," Abbas said, using Arafat´s nomme de guerre.
Jihad
Leader Says Group Accepts Truce (AP) By JASON KEYSER JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
06/28/03 11:02 AM)
[Par-22] Coming out of his office to speak to the noisy crowd, Abbas told them he would raise their demands with Rice. Handed a loudspeaker by an aide, Abbas shouted: "There will be no peace or security if even one Palestinian prisoner remains behind bars."
[Par-5] Referring to Hamas´s decision, Abbas said: "There is no alternative to negotiations, and this is the choice that the Palestinian government has made to achieve peace"
[Par-7] "Perhaps the Aqaba statement was misunderstood. We think that the dialogue is the only way to achieve our goal. Through this dialogue, we want to achieve calm, not civil war." He added.
Abbas:
No Force Against Arab Militants (AP) By LARA SUKHTIAN
RAMALLAH, West Bank 06/09/03 9:47 AM)
[Par-15 ]Abbas said Monday that he will not order a crackdown on the militias under any circumstances because he wants to avoid civil war. "There is absolutely no substitute for dialogue," Abbas said at his first news conference since taking office April 30, adding he still believes the armed groups would change their minds.
INTERVIEW:
Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah - `U.S. told us to ignore Israeli
map reservations´(HA´ARETZ NEWS) By Akiva Eldar 05/28/03)
[Par-5] "We do not accept each side picking and choosing only
those specific elements that are convenient for them in the road map.
[Par-17] "We cannot accept relinquishing the right of return. The Arab League initiative refers to a just and agreed solution, based on UN decisions. That is a very clear statement." But then he adds immediately, "this does not mean we want to destroy the state of Israel - we recognize it in the borders drawn by [Resolution] 242."
[Par-28] He rejects the charge that Islam encourages terrorism."Islam is a religion that preaches tolerance and terrorism is foreign to it. The U.S. and entire West should look at the reasons for the terror and its roots. If oil was an important element in the war in Iraq, the lack of a solution to the Palestinian problem will be the most important factor in the Arab and Islamic world for terror and regional instability.
[Par-35] Abbas says now he does not believe it will be possible to achieve quiet in the territories "as long as the settlers continue their provocations. At this stage we are only demanding an end to the construction in the settlements and to remove the illegal outposts. But it must be made clear that at the final stages of the negotiations, we will demand that all the settlements be dismantled, because they are illegal."
Palestinians Ready to Start on Peace Plan (AP) By BARRY SCHWEID JERICHO, West Bank 05/11/03 4:43 PM)
[Par-2] "We have accepted it as it is," Abbas said. " True, maybe we have some reservations. But in order to give a way for the peace process, we have dropped down all our reservations, and we said that we accept it as it is."
[Par-11] "From the beginning there is a big question mark on the road map because Israel doesn´t want to implement it," he said.
[Par-18] "We want to stop it. We need a calming period for our people to allow them to rebuild what was destroyed," he said, referring to Israeli strikes in response to Palestinian attacks.
[Par-2] Abbas said he rejected Israel´s "prerogatives" regarding the right of return for Palestinian refugees. "This is one of Israel´s dreams (giving up the right of return)," he added. "The right of return, or the issue of the refugees, is part of the final status issues and we shouldn´t be talking about them now."
[Par-12] On the internal front, the Palestinian prime minister said he was determined to disarm Palestinian militias. "There is one authority and there won´t be weapons in the hands of any other authority," he said. "We won´t allow any other weapons other than those which are in the hands of the Palestinian Authority and that are used to defend the Palestinian people."
Abbas
denounces Israeli tales of feud with Arafat (TIMES OF OMAN)
NICOSIA 04/21/03)
[Par-3] “Arafat is the legitimate leader elected to lead the struggle. And we are in complete harmony,” said Abbas.
( Top of Page )
- ABDEL
AZIZ RANTISI: HAMAS MASTERMIND
[Par-5-Verbatim] "We realize that Bush is the enemy of God, the enemy of Islam and Muslims. America declared war on God. (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon declared war on God and God declared war on America, Bush and Sharon," he said.
[Par-6-Verbatim] "The war of God goes on against them and I can see victory arising from the land of Palestine by the hand of Hamas," Rantissi said of the militant faction behind suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of Israelis.
Hamas denies cease-fire initiative (UPI ) VIA-WASHINGTON TIMES) GAZA 01/28/04)
[Par-5-Verbatim] Al-Ranteesi who escaped an attempt on his life last June, reiterated his denial of this report, asserting, "Hamas has shown in its charter that freeing Palestine requires the efforts and support of the Arab and Islamic nations and not just the Palestinian people."
[Par-6-Verbatim] "Hamas would never consider giving up the lands of Palestine or even acknowledge what is called as the state of Israel, and we assert that the conflict and struggle is not over," said al-Ranteesi in his written statement.
Thousands of Palestinians mark Hamas´ 16th birthday (AFP-FRANCE PRESSE) GAZA CITY 12/19/03)
[Par-8 Verbatim] "We say to (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon that the raids against our houses and cars don´t scare us and we vow before God to pursue the fight," he added.
[Par-9 Verbatim] Rantissi also heaped scorn on the United States, which he slammed as "the enemy of the Palestinian people, the Palestinian cause, the Arab peoples and Islam".
[Par-10 Verbatim] Mahmud al-Zahar, another senior official, told AFP Hamas "would not allow a single inch of Palestine to be pawned off.
[Par-11 Verbatim] "We refuse to make any concessions over our holy places and our national rights. We are in favour of jihad and martyrdom," said Zahar, who survived an Israeli assasination attempt in September.
[Par-3 Verbatim] "Bodies of Qassam men (Hamas suicide bombers) will continue to blow up in the depth of the Zionist entity," the group´s top official, Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, told a cheering crowd in Jabalya refugee camp.
[Par-5 Verbatim] "We will not allow any of those burnouts to sell out Palestine," Rantissi said in an apparent allusion to Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie, who on formally taking office last month vowed to restart the stalled plan if Israel reciprocated.
[Par-7 Verbatim] "I tell those that signed the Geneva Accord that Palestine (Israel and the occupied territories) will never be Jewish," Rantissi told a crowd including dozens of gunmen.
[Par11 Verbatim] "I tell the Palestinian people not to be deceived by the relative calm," Rantissi said. "Jihad is coming and Sharon and his Zionist gangs will realize Palestine has its own fighters."
[Par-4 Verbatim] "I swear to Allah that not one Jew will remain on our land of Palestine," the movement's political leader in the Palestinian territories, Abdelaziz Rantissi, told the swelling crowd.
[Par-5 Verbatim] "We will never make concessions on our absolute right to the whole of the Holy Land, to the whole of Jerusalem and to the right of return of all our refugees," he said.
[Par-2-Verbatim] "The martyrdom operations come as waves so there are gaps between the waves," Hamas chief spokesman Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi told Reuters in an interview. "We are just in the period of a gap between waves."
[Par-4-Verbatim] "Everything is changed. Locally, regionally and internationally," Rantissi, a co-founder of Hamas, said. "The problems of America and the situation of America in Iraq and Afghanistan has its effect on the situation in Palestine. I believe that Palestinian people are stronger than before."
Palestinian Leaders Seek New Cease-Fire (AP) By LARA SUKHTIAN RAMALLAH, West Bank 08/23/03 1:22 PM)
[Par-11] A Hamas leader, in an interview with Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV that was broadcast in Israel, called President Bush an enemy of Islam because the U.S. government froze assets of leaders of the militant group in response to a the Jerusalem bus bombing. "President Bush has become Islam´s biggest enemy," Abdel Aziz Rantisi said.
[Par-12] "We love martyrdom and we seek martyrdom," Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, a Hamas leader who survived an Israeli assassination attempt in June, told the crowd, which shouted "revenge, revenge."
[Par-13] He told The Telegraph: "We are still committed to the ceasefire and we will not initiate actions. But we will respond to each Israeli terrorist action. This is not a contradictory position."
Hamas threatens retaliation to IDF Nablus raid (JERUSALEM POST) By MATTHEW GUTMAN 08/09/03)
[Par-3] "There will be a military reaction," stated Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantici in a telephone interview. "The military wing, Izzidin Al Qassam, declared this [on Friday]. I don´t know what form or when the military reaction will come," he added.
[Par-4] "But we are still committed to the truce. From the start we said there will be a reaction for the terrorist actions of Israel. The reaction [revenge attack] will occur but the hudna will continue," he said cryptically.
[Par-6] "We are still committed to the truce but we will react against the Zionist enemy crimes," senior Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi told Reuters
[Par-7] "Hamas´s military-wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, has decided to react against the Nablus crimes," he said.
[Par-13] "Hamas is rejecting any call for cease-fire under occupation," senior Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi said in Gaza City. "The word cease- fire is not in our dictionary. We are being attacked, the Palestinian people, our land, our religious sites are being attacked by Zionist terrorists. This is a situation of self-defense and we will continue to defend ourselves." Islamic Jihad also rejected the proposal, describing it as "trick."
[Par-8] Militant leaders derided the prisoner release as a ruse. Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi said Israel had refused to free long-serving prisoners and this "will affect the (truce) very hard."
[Par-12] "The Bush statement reflects the total bias of the United States in favor of the Zionist enemy," Rantisi told The Associated Press, "and it reflects also the failure of Prime Minister Abbas´ visit to Washington."
Rantisi says ´hudna´ will prove why uprising must go on (JERUSALEM POST) By MATTHEW GUTMAN 07/17/03)
[Par-3] According to Rantisi, the hudna was engineered "so that
Palestinians should understand the real situation that a hudna will not
be of any benefit to them." The hudna, and the violent awakening
from a few weeks or months of quiet, is to reaffirm "Palestinians´
belief in the intifada as the only option for them,"
he said.
Palestinian
Groups Vow to Defy Cease-Fire (AP) By LOUIS MEIXLER JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
07/13/03 4:10 PM)
[Par-13] In Gaza, Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi told the AP, "Our initiative to temporarily stop our operations does not mean that we will give up our weapons."
Abbas
, Yassin discuss prisoners issues (JERUSALEM-TIMES.NET) By Hatem Lutfi
06/10/03)
[Par-5] "The meeting itself reflects the continuation of Hamas and other factions to stress their will to preserve unity in the Palestinian state," Rantissi said. Palestinian sources, commenting on the talks, said that Abbas had asked Sheikh Yassin for his support towards a conciliatory approach on the prisoners issue.
Analysis:
Hamas gives peace a chance (UPI )VIA-WASHINGTON TIMES) By Saud Abu Ramadan
GAZA 07/10/03)
[Par-18] "I´m sure that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would violate the hudna," Hamas´ Ranteesi told United Press International. "He doesn´t want to release 6,000 prisoners from Israeli jails; he wants to keep settlements; he doesn´t want to withdraw from the territories he occupied; and he wants only to extend the period of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority without giving them anything beneficial."
Israel,
Palestinians OK Troop Pullbacks (AP) By JASON KEYSER JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
06/27/03 6:15 PM)
[PAR-12] "I believe that it will be a good document," said Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi. "It will serve the interest of the Palestinian people and will preserve Palestinian unity and the option of resistance."
- Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
[Par-6-Verbatim] "The fact that a woman took part for the first time in a Hamas operation marks a significant evolution," Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the group´s founder, told Palestinian reporters in Gaza after the attack. "Women are like the reserve army -- when there is a necessity, we use them. Today we needed her because there are a lot of problems for a man to reach out to Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza."
[Par-22-Verbatim] But Sheik Yassin said Wednesday that "there is no truce, operations will continue."
Hamas chief Yassin rejects coexistence with Israel (HA´ARETZ NEWS) By DPA Hamburg, GERMANY 12/06/03)
[Par-2-Verbatim] In interview excerpts slated for general distribution Monday in Der Spiegel, the elderly cleric opposed a two-state solution in which a Palestinian state would side by side with Israel, which would withdraw to its 1967 borders.
[Par-3-Verbatim] "That would not work," he said. "The Israelis claim 80 per cent of the territory and will only let us have 20 per cent. It would only be an interim solution."
[Par-7-Verbatim] Asked if there was no place at all for a Jewish state, he said, "They could set up a state in Europe."
- Hamas representative Muhammad Nazzal +
[Par-9-Verbatim] Hamas representative Muhammad Nazzal said his group is demanding international guarantees that Israel would stop its military operations once the Palestinians accept a cease-fire. "We can´t speak of a truce as long as the [Israeli] enemy has not stopped its attacks," he said.
[Par-10-Verbatim] "Speaking of a truce is illogical. The enemy must stop its aggression first, and then we can speak of a truce. We have no guarantees."
[Par-11-Verbatim] "This means that we will stop targeting Israeli civilians if Israel stops targeting Palestinian civilians and fulfills other conditions. We can´t accept a broader cease-fire at this stage, because we want to see what [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon will offer in return. Therefore, the issue of a hudna is not on the table at this phase."
Muhammad al-Hindi, a senior Islamic Jihad official in the Gaza Strip, confirmed that the Cairo talks had failed to reach an agreement on a total cease-fire. "The most significant achievement of the [Cairo] talks is that we have agreed to the principle of sparing civilians from this war," he said.
- Mahmoud Zahar - Senior Hamas leader Gaza Strip
[Par-8-Verbatim] "Hamas will not renounce the path of jihad or resistance and freedom, even at the cost of sacrificing our sons and our wives," he (Mahmoud Zahar) said.
[Par-4-Verbatim] "She is not going to be the last (attacker) because the march of resistance will continue until the Islamic flag is raised, not only over the minarets of Jerusalem, but over the whole universe," Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said.
Hamas talks of new ´hudna´ (JERUSALEM POST) By KHALED ABU TOAMEH 11/14/03)
[Par-6] Of the "Geneva Initiative," hammered out between Israeli left-wing politicians and Palestinian intellectuals, Zahar said: "Our position is clear: all of Palestine. Every inch of Palestine belongs to the Muslims. Some marginal elements in the Palestinian Authority have begun trading with the Palestinian cause as they did in Oslo."
[Par-7] He denied his group was involved in the roadside bomb attack on a US convoy in the Gaza Strip last month, in which three Americans were killed. "Undoubtedly, the whole world hates the US because of its aggression against our people and the people of Iraq," he said.
- Ismael Haniya: Hamas leader
[Par-8-Verbatim] "This will not stop the resistance of our people or change the position of Hamas which advocates the pursuit of battle until the end of the occupation and the recovery of the rights of the Palestinian people," leading Hamas figure Ismail Haniya told AFP.
[Par-33] But, he added, "this situation was born as a result of Israel´s refusal to commit to the Palestinian [truce]."
[Par-4] "We feel they are not committed to implementing the ceasefire conditions,” said Hamas leader Ismael Haniya after talks with Abbas.
[Par-8 ] "We appeal to all the national and Islamic forces to
prepare themselves for a confrontation of the arrogance of that criminal
enemy that denied the right of freedom for our hero prisoners,"
Hamas said in a statement.
- Muhammed Al-Hindi:
Islamic Jihad Spokesman
Hamas threatens retaliation to IDF Nablus raid (JERUSALEM POST) By MATTHEW GUTMAN 08/09/03)
[Par-15] Other Palestinian leaders viewed the Nablus operation more gravely. The "countdown for the end of the hudna" has begun, Islamic Jihad spokesman Muhammed Al-Hindi told Abu Dhabi TV on Friday, hinting that much-touted cease-fire might not reach its September 29 expiration date.
[Par-16] "The Israeli violations jeopardize the hudna," he continued, "we hold Israel responsible for the deterioration and this time the Palestinian people may embark on a "prisoners´ intifada not an Al Aqsa intifada."
[Par-18] Al Hindi added, that contrary to the Israeli security establishment´s frequent assurances that the terrorist infrastructure is all but defeated, the Palestinian terrorist groups "do not need to be rehabilitated or refreshed. We are ready to act swiftly and restart our resistance."
- Sheikh
Ahmad Yassin: Hamas Spiritual Leader
[Par-15] "In the eyes of Bush, terrorism is embodied by Islam and Muslims. But he must understand that believers are not worried by threats and that Islam is stronger than Bush and his country and that Islam will be victorious."
[Par-9] "The weapons that our people carry to defend our land and our people, nobody can confiscate them," he said." We can only talk about this after liberating the land. Taking weapons means surrender and defeat."
[Par-11] "There is no place to talk about a truce because the enemy is continuing his aggression, killing and settlement activities," Yassin said, but stopped short of saying there would be continued Hamas bombings and shootings.
[Par-14] "We refuse to be part of any government under (Israeli) occupation," Yassin said. "If this government wants to liberate our land and our sacred places, we will surely welcome it. But if it wants to push us to surrender, we will reject it."
[Par-15] "We assured them we are committed to the initiative which we announced (the truce)," Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin said after meeting with the Egyptian delegates.
[Par-16] "We put the Egyptian delegation in the picture about Israeli violations and aggression and we told them we will have patience and tolerance but told them that our patience is limited."
- Ismail Abu Shanab: Hamas official
Israel
May Free Jailed Islamic Militants (AP) By JOSEPH COLEMAN JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
07/18/03 3:01 PM)
[Par-15] "The limit of the cease-fire is three months and we hope that the Israelis and the Palestinians reach an agreement to release all the Palestinian prisoners, and not just gestures like what the Israelis are doing now," Abu Shanab said.
- Nizar Rayyan: political leader of Hamas-Jenin
[Par-10] "We will free you all without discrimination," Rayyan said. "You will either be liberated during the truce or we will liberate you through the kidnapping of soldiers."
( Top of Page )
- JACQUES CHIRAC: FRENCH PRESIDENT
EU rejects American demand to halt Hamas funding (HA´ARETZ NEWS) By Aluf Benn 06/30/03)
[Par-4] European leaders discussed links with Hamas at a summit meeting in Thessaloniki some 10 days ago. According to reports emerging from the summit, French President Jacques Chirac "fought with all his might" for Hamas, and objected vehemently to placing limitations on a group "that raises money for charitable causes." Chirac tried to persuade his colleagues that they were misreading the situation, and told them "one day you will have to talk with Hamas."
- REIJO KEMPPINEN: THE CHIEF SPOKESMAN FOR THE EU COMMISSION
EU rejects full Hamas ban (BBC) 06/27/03 16:28 GMT 17:28 UK)
[Par-2] The chief spokesman for the Commission, Reijo Kemppinen, said that although the EU had banned Hamas´ military organisation, it would not act against the group´s political wing.
[Par-10] "You can´t say that the whole of Hamas is a terrorist organisation and certainly that is not our position," he said.
( Top of Page )
- Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah
[Par-4-Verbatim] "All the Palestinian violence is the justified result of the occupation," the Patriarch insisted. Sabbah said that if the present leaders do not succeed in making peace, they should open the way for other leaders who might succeed in doing so. When asked if he was referring to Arafat, Sabbah said that he was first of all referring to the Israeli leaders. However, when pressed, he added that Arafat too should step down if he can not make peace.
- Adnan al-Husseini Heads the Islamic Religious Trust "Waqf"
[Par-16] "(They) wanted to practice their religious rituals and this is rejected by all Muslims all over the world because this is an Islamic site," he said.
- Mufti Ikrima Sabri: Palestinian Authority Mufti in Jerusalem
The Jewish Temple (WND-WORLD NET DAILY COMMENTARY) By JOSEPH FARAH 08/14/03)
[Par-2] For instance, Palestinian Authority Mufti Ikrima Sabri told a German publication just last week, "There is not [even] the smallest indication of the existence of a Jewish temple on this place in the past. In the whole city, there is not even a single stone indicating Jewish history."
- Yasser Arafat: President of the Palestinian Authority
The Jewish Temple (WND-WORLD NET DAILY COMMENTARY) By JOSEPH FARAH 08/14/03)
Similar statements have been made by Yasser Arafat....
[Par-4] He made the assertion again recently in the London Arabic paper Al Hayat: Archaeologists, he said, "have not found a single stone proving that the Temple of Solomon was there because historically the Temple was not in Palestine."
Arafat Criticizes Deadly Israeli Raid (AP) By JASON KEYSER JERUSALEM, ISRAEL 08/09/0310:45 AM)
[Par-4] "Israel is not only violating the truce - it is also destroying the whole peace process," Arafat said Saturday from his headquarters in the West Bank.
- Adnan Al Husseini: Manager of the waqf, or Muslim religious trust.
[Par-2] Adnan Al Husseini, manager of the waqf, or Muslim religious trust, said the minister´s statement was "an unnecessary provocation." He denied there was any agreement between the waqf and the police about allowing "Christian or Jewish" tourists onto the plaza. He said "the waqf is the only authority on the mount and it will ultimately decide who can enter and who can leave."
- Nabil Amr: Palestinian Information Minister
[Par-5] "Despite the joy that every Palestinian feels over freedom for some of the Palestinians in Israeli prisons, the Palestinian Authority ... insists on the release of all Palestinian prisoners" along a fixed timetable, said Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr in a statement.
[Par-4] . Asked about Mahmud Abbas´ speech in the Al-Aqabah summit, Amr says: "As regards the word terrorism, I do not know why when the Palestinians denounce the word terrorism, certain people think that this means resistance. There is no text anywhere that says that the Palestinian people´s resistance is terrorism, which we denounce. President Yasir Arafat said this in Geneva 15 years ago. This is part of our policy. Yes, we denounce terrorism. Anyone who says that denouncing terrorism means denouncing resistance is doing an injustice to legitimate resistance and is in effect labeling it with terrorism. Therefore, the statement that was read in Al-Aqabah is based on a commitment that the PLO made in Geneva, after which the Palestinian-US dialogue started in Tunis." . . . The episode concludes at 1957 GMT.
- Salah Ta´mari, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council from Bethlehem
PA official calls for "intifada" against settlements (JERUSALEM POST) By KHALED ABU TOAMEH 08/07/03)
[Par-3] "Settlements are the most dangerous phenomenon facing the Palestinian people at this stage," he said. "What we need is to start a comprehensive national intifada against the settlements in order to confront the Israeli plans. How can we talk about a Palestinian state when there is no land left?"
- Nabil Shaath Palestinian Authority Minister Foreign Affairs
[Par-3] "There is no other political solution and the return to the homeland is guaranteed," he said. Speaking in Arabic, Shaath stressed that the Palestinian refugees should be allowed to return to their former villages and towns inside Israel. "Let me be clear. The right of return includes the return to the independent Palestinian state and to Palestinian cities inside Israel. Whether they return to Haifa or Nablus, the right of return is guaranteed."
[Par-5] "No condition has been set for a return [only] to an independent Palestinian state. The right of return is no longer an illusion. It is an integral part of the Arab peace initiative, which is one of the reference points in the road map," Shaath said, referring to the Saudi initiative adopted by the Arab League summit in Beirut in March 2002. Israel rejected Shaath´s comments, saying it would never allow Palestinians to return to Israeli towns and villages.
[Par-2] "We are ready to extend the truce through dialogue with Palestinian groups if the Israelis make real steps to implement the roadmap," the Palestine National Authority (PNA) Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath told Reuters after his meeting with his counterpart Silvan Shalom at the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.
[Par-3] Shaath said he and Shalom failed to agree on the idea because "the Israelis asked us to destroy the Palestinian organizations and arrest the leaders of the organizations."
[Par-9] "Their reaction was that they were insistent that this is not enough, and they were insistent on the Palestinians dismantling the militant infrastructure," Shaath told The Associated Press.
[Par-11] "Fatah needs change through holding Fatah conferences and elections. Fatah needs change. Not just the leadership, everything in Fatah needs change. Fatah without democracy cannot continue," Information Minister Nabil Amr said.
[Par-7] "Not only will we not accept them (the reservations), we will not even discuss them," Amr said. "We hope the U.S. administration...lives up to its promise not to change (the road map) because any change will kill the plan."
- Muhammad Dahlan: PA Minister of State for Security
Dahlan says temporary compromise is possible (JERUSALEM-TIMES.NET) By TJT Staff 09/04/03)
[Par-3] Dahlan, who is close to Abbas, stressed that Arafat is his president and respects him as so. "Arafat is the symbol of the Palestinian cause and our elected leader," he added.
Arafat retracts Mukata fugitives´ eviction order (JERUSALEM POST) By KHALED ABU TOAMEH 08/04/03)
[Par] The 17 Fatah fugitives moved into the battered compound in order to avoid capture by the Israeli security forces. Some of them have lived in the compound for months.
[Par-14] "The Israelis repeated their proposal to withdraw from Jericho and Kalkilya, but we insisted on a pullout from major cities such as Ramallah," Dahlan said.
[Par-16] "All these fugitives are committed to the cease-fire and I am against taking measures against them. This will endanger the continuity of the truce," he explained.
[Par-5] “Anyone who wants to break the tr