Abbas: "We are not able" to wage another Intifada
Excerpt from interview with Mahmoud Abbas, initially published in Al-Hayat (London), September 26, 2010, and reprinted in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, September 27, 2010:
Interviewer: [Concerning the definition of Israel as a Jewish state] “In fact, this means that the State of Israel would be for Jews only, and the significance of that is-“
Abbas: “That has great significance. When they say ‘a Jewish state’, they want to rid themselves of all the Arabs who are among them… We shall not agree to a solution to the problem at the expense of the Arabs. Their presence in Israel preceded the establishment of the Israeli state, hundreds of years before the Jewish presence in Israel. It is their [the Arabs’] right to remain, and it is their right to be citizens with equal rights and obligations in that state.”
Interviewer: “Do you suspect that Israel is considering forced expulsion, collective expulsion?”
Abbas: “It has been proposed, by Liberman.”
Interviewer: “You are referring to the exchange of inhabitants for territory?”
Abbas: Yes. The question of exchanging inhabitants and territories – that is also something they [Israel] should forget about.”
Interviewer: “They should forget about it?”
Abbas: “Yes, they should forget about it. We absolutely won’t accept it.”
Interviewer: “… You don’t want a military Intifada (PA terror campaign, 2000-2005), and when you say, ‘We won’t accept it’, what tools do you possess, Mr. President…?”
Abbas: “I possess the right/justice. I hold the right/justice, and proof of that is that the whole world is on my side, without exception. They are in favor of my right, and in favor of demanding my right. I haven’t heard of a single country or organization in the world that does not agree that the Palestinian people have the right to a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, and implementation of international legitimacy… And concerning the issue of the militarization of the Intifada – we tried militarization of the Intifada, and it led us to ruin and the other things that it led to. We shall not go back to that again; we’re not able.”
Interviewer: “How can you halt Israeli measures like these, should they occur, when we know that ten years ago there was ethnic cleansing in the heart of Europe, in Bosnia, and no-one was able to stop it? How are you so confident that you will be able to stop it?”
Abbas: “Every circumstance has its response. When Israel wants to do that, the Palestinian people will defend its rights.”
Interviewer: [Concerning the definition of Israel as a Jewish state] “In fact, this means that the State of Israel would be for Jews only, and the significance of that is-“
Abbas: “That has great significance. When they say ‘a Jewish state’, they want to rid themselves of all the Arabs who are among them… We shall not agree to a solution to the problem at the expense of the Arabs. Their presence in Israel preceded the establishment of the Israeli state, hundreds of years before the Jewish presence in Israel. It is their [the Arabs’] right to remain, and it is their right to be citizens with equal rights and obligations in that state.”
Interviewer: “Do you suspect that Israel is considering forced expulsion, collective expulsion?”
Abbas: “It has been proposed, by Liberman.”
Interviewer: “You are referring to the exchange of inhabitants for territory?”
Abbas: Yes. The question of exchanging inhabitants and territories – that is also something they [Israel] should forget about.”
Interviewer: “They should forget about it?”
Abbas: “Yes, they should forget about it. We absolutely won’t accept it.”
Interviewer: “… You don’t want a military Intifada (PA terror campaign, 2000-2005), and when you say, ‘We won’t accept it’, what tools do you possess, Mr. President…?”
Abbas: “I possess the right/justice. I hold the right/justice, and proof of that is that the whole world is on my side, without exception. They are in favor of my right, and in favor of demanding my right. I haven’t heard of a single country or organization in the world that does not agree that the Palestinian people have the right to a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, and implementation of international legitimacy… And concerning the issue of the militarization of the Intifada – we tried militarization of the Intifada, and it led us to ruin and the other things that it led to. We shall not go back to that again; we’re not able.”
Interviewer: “How can you halt Israeli measures like these, should they occur, when we know that ten years ago there was ethnic cleansing in the heart of Europe, in Bosnia, and no-one was able to stop it? How are you so confident that you will be able to stop it?”
Abbas: “Every circumstance has its response. When Israel wants to do that, the Palestinian people will defend its rights.”