Political advisor to Abbas: Palestinians have the right to resist Israel in any “style that serves the… nation’s cause and harms Israel”
Interview with Nimer Hammad, political advisor to Mahmoud Abbas (addressing Ismail Radwan of the Hamas movement in Gaza).
Hammad: "The resistance is a legitimate right, correct? For every nation. No question. Resistance – permit me to say, is something sacred. I use the word 'sacred' – for every nation against the occupation, but the weapons are not sacred. Therefore the subject of resistance is something broader than the subject of the armed resistance. We – even the expressions, sometimes, the importance of language, sometimes – when someone uses language which can be useful; a word that can be useful. Sometimes, instead of saying 'I want to crack the nut', the word 'crack' could be understood as meaning… 'I want to peel the nut', although a nut is not peeled, but rather cracked. To use this expression – will it harm me? Will it benefit me? The problem [is] that not just you and I are talking to one another; what we say is broadcast to the world; it is exposed to the centers of power. Therefore let us focus: the nation has a right – the Palestinian nation – to resist the occupation without getting into whether you mean the armed struggle? Are you against resistance? There's no benefit in [talking about] that. I ask that at the next stage, we all agree: The Palestinian nation has the right to resist the occupation. Concerning the style of this resistance, it is – the style that serves the Palestinian nation's cause, and harms Israel… Israel is helpless today when we do mass demonstrations. I hope that we will reach the day when every Thursday or Friday or Saturday 100,000 Palestinians will come out successively. And foreigners will come with us, in solidarity and people from the Israeli peace camp will come. This serves the Palestinian nation's cause."
Hammad: "The resistance is a legitimate right, correct? For every nation. No question. Resistance – permit me to say, is something sacred. I use the word 'sacred' – for every nation against the occupation, but the weapons are not sacred. Therefore the subject of resistance is something broader than the subject of the armed resistance. We – even the expressions, sometimes, the importance of language, sometimes – when someone uses language which can be useful; a word that can be useful. Sometimes, instead of saying 'I want to crack the nut', the word 'crack' could be understood as meaning… 'I want to peel the nut', although a nut is not peeled, but rather cracked. To use this expression – will it harm me? Will it benefit me? The problem [is] that not just you and I are talking to one another; what we say is broadcast to the world; it is exposed to the centers of power. Therefore let us focus: the nation has a right – the Palestinian nation – to resist the occupation without getting into whether you mean the armed struggle? Are you against resistance? There's no benefit in [talking about] that. I ask that at the next stage, we all agree: The Palestinian nation has the right to resist the occupation. Concerning the style of this resistance, it is – the style that serves the Palestinian nation's cause, and harms Israel… Israel is helpless today when we do mass demonstrations. I hope that we will reach the day when every Thursday or Friday or Saturday 100,000 Palestinians will come out successively. And foreigners will come with us, in solidarity and people from the Israeli peace camp will come. This serves the Palestinian nation's cause."