Former Fatah top official Dahlan: Palestinians lose international support because of “armed struggle”
Former Fatah top official Muhammad Dahlan: “Israel has attempted and succeeded… in removing the legal cover from every Palestinian national action: … from armed struggle, from politics, from protests, from peaceful demonstrations – even if you throw a rose at an Israeli soldier it will be considered forbidden and illegal. Every kind of resistance is turned into a crime. We are a people under occupation, and we have the right to resist the occupation in a way that international law allows. But we prefer different and diverse ways, everything in its proper time and place. The first popular Intifada in 1987 was a popular intifada – children, women, leaders, adults, and youth participated in it – and therefore we achieved international sympathy. We lost in a number of battles in the second Intifada because it was armed.”