Introduction:
The two burning tasks of the Arab world today are the total destruction of Israel and the fight against the US in Iraq, according to the official Palestinian Authority [PA] daily, Al Hayat Al Jadida. The call for Israel´s destruction, a basic and widespread Arab view, was to have been rejected by the PA after the Oslo Accords, yet it continues to be promoted in the tightly controlled PA media. It should be noted that the refusal to recognize Israel´s existence is expressed in the article by the rejection of the name Israel, as well, as references to Israel are placed in quotation marks as follows - "Israel" - implying - "so called Israel".

The article depicts Israel and the US as parallel and prime enemies of the Arab world and this is consistent with the opinions of the general Palestinian population according to the poll PMW released last week in Washington. That poll found that 87% of Palestinians thought either the US or Israel "is the single greatest threat to world peace". [51% answered Israel, 36% answered the US]. The article´s call to fight Americans in Iraq is likewise consistent with PA opinions as the poll found that 42% of the Palestinians support the Iraqi attacks on Americans and 74% of Palestinians supported Saddam Hussein in the war.

The following is from the article in the PA daily:

"During these moments in history it is extremely important to adopt a direct and decisive position regarding imperialism, and especially regarding the Zionist entity. There is no option but resistance to imperialism... There is a need to crystallize a position regarding the imperialist-Zionist project in the Arab region. The resistance - that is meant to bring the expulsion of the American occupation in Iraq - should be supported by all means. The same applies to the struggle against the Zionist entity until the Zionist project is defeated, it´s entity is eliminated, and a free and Arab Palestine is established as a first step towards uniting the Arab homeland and striving towards independent development and socialism. There are no other fundamental solutions to the Arab problem, but this one... ...The two state solution, a binational state, or even one democratic state outside the Arab dimension, will not be capable of getting rid of the contrast between the Arab masses and the Zionist-imperialist project in the Arab region ...

[There is] another issue, that the world movement should decide and take a standpoint: There are no "progressive Israelis". Every person, who is part of the Zionist-imperialist project, even if he is "opposed" to Zionist policy, is part of the structure of “Israel” ... A person cannot be simultaneously both progressive and part of the Zionist entity - Zionist project...

...Israel is an illegitimate state. This definition applies to organizations and individuals that represent [Israel] or recognize it. Therefore, in order to emphasize this illegitimacy, all ties with the "Israelis" should be canceled, and in other words: normalization with Zionists should be opposed on a world level, not only in the Arab homeland...

...There is no option other than the elimination of the imperialist- Zionist project... The meaning of resisting Israel is resisting Globalization, and vice versa..."

[Op. Ed. by Dr. Hisham Al-Bustani, a Jordanian columnist, in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, official PA daily, Oct. 25, 2003] (PMW.ORG.IL 10/27/03)