Senior Fatah leader: Marwan Barghouti is "the example and symbol of this [the second] Intifada," which Arafat and Fatah started
Interview with Muhammad Dahlan, member of the Fatah Central Committee:
PA TV host: “Yesterday or the day before, Mahmoud A-Zahar, the Hamas leader, said that they [Hamas] used to carry out operations (i.e., terror attacks) at the request of the late President, Yasser Arafat. In other words, there was high-level coordination [between Fatah and Hamas]. What is your response to that?”
Dahlan: “I’m not surprised at these reckless statements by A-Zahar… These are not the words of a responsible person, or a person who appreciates what responsibility is. It’s also humiliating, because the President, Arafat, didn’t lack fighters. In the Intifada, when Arafat wanted something, he asked his security services, 40% of which were either killed, Shahids (Martyrs) or prisoners. I want to take advantage of this opportunity to express all our love, honor and gratitude for the role of those brothers who died as Shahids in the second Intifada from among Fatah and from among the Palestinian civilians and fighters, who defended our national rights. And also those who have paid a heavy price in the Israeli prisons, first and foremost Marwan Barghouti, who served as the example and the symbol of this Intifada, while Hamas was still hiding, thinking that Arafat brought about the Intifada because he wanted to cover up the secret agreement that had been drawn up at Camp David. Those are A-Zahar’s statements, by the way… The second Intifada – Hamas joined it late. We [the PLO and PA security services] are the ones who started it.”
Note: Marwan Barghouti - serving five life sentences for orchestrating terror attacks against Israeli civilians. When arrested in 2002, he headed Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. After he was convicted and imprisoned, he was re-elected member of the Palestinian Authority parliament.
PA TV host: “Yesterday or the day before, Mahmoud A-Zahar, the Hamas leader, said that they [Hamas] used to carry out operations (i.e., terror attacks) at the request of the late President, Yasser Arafat. In other words, there was high-level coordination [between Fatah and Hamas]. What is your response to that?”
Dahlan: “I’m not surprised at these reckless statements by A-Zahar… These are not the words of a responsible person, or a person who appreciates what responsibility is. It’s also humiliating, because the President, Arafat, didn’t lack fighters. In the Intifada, when Arafat wanted something, he asked his security services, 40% of which were either killed, Shahids (Martyrs) or prisoners. I want to take advantage of this opportunity to express all our love, honor and gratitude for the role of those brothers who died as Shahids in the second Intifada from among Fatah and from among the Palestinian civilians and fighters, who defended our national rights. And also those who have paid a heavy price in the Israeli prisons, first and foremost Marwan Barghouti, who served as the example and the symbol of this Intifada, while Hamas was still hiding, thinking that Arafat brought about the Intifada because he wanted to cover up the secret agreement that had been drawn up at Camp David. Those are A-Zahar’s statements, by the way… The second Intifada – Hamas joined it late. We [the PLO and PA security services] are the ones who started it.”
Note: Marwan Barghouti - serving five life sentences for orchestrating terror attacks against Israeli civilians. When arrested in 2002, he headed Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. After he was convicted and imprisoned, he was re-elected member of the Palestinian Authority parliament.
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