Fatah official: Negotiations must be reinforced by “armed struggle”
An interview on Al-Mayadeen TV (Lebanon) with Tawfiq Tirawi, member of Fatah Central Committee:
Tirawi: “There is no way a Palestinian state will be established in the West Bank and [the] Gaza [Strip] within the next twenty years. No way. Impossible. Whoever thinks it will be possible to establish a Palestinian state within the next twenty years is mistaken. The negotiations are giving us nothing. The only thing that is possible is [what is called] the ‘sphere of activity’. We – all Palestinian organizations – must return to the ‘sphere of activity’.”
Al-Mayadeen TV host: “What you are saying is important. Let me say that this is new…”
Tirawi: “When we enter the ‘sphere of activity’, I’m telling you: lots of things will change.”
Host: “’Sphere of activity’, that is to say…”
Tirawi: “Resistance.”
Host: “Resistance.”
Tirawi: “All forms of resistance. My dear brother, what is resistance? Standing firm is resistance; negotiating is a kind of resistance; but there has to be something in the field to aid and reinforce it, right?”
Host: “Weapons.”
Tirawi: “Weapons or popular resistance. There are a hundred ways of resistance. [So] let’s get on with the resistance. But [this doesn’t mean] every organization can engage in resistance in whatever way it wants. It doesn’t work that way. There has to be a Palestinian strategic national plan, one that is acceptable to everyone – both to those in the PLO and to those outside the PLO and which will be implemented by Palestinians. At that point, we will see what method of resistance is appropriate for that stage, and we will act accordingly.”
Host: “This is something new, Tawfiq Tirawi, that we are hearing from Fatah - about the return of Fatah to the ‘sphere of activity’, about the issue of the Palestinian state, and about the resolution [of the conflict]: that there will be no Palestinian state within the next twenty years… [interrupted]”
Tirawi: “No, no. There is a point [I want to make] – allow me to interrupt you. What you are hearing from Fatah isn’t anything new. . [Remember that] at our Sixth Convention, held in Bethlehem, we did not rule out any of our options for resistance, of which armed struggle is one.”
Tirawi: “There is no way a Palestinian state will be established in the West Bank and [the] Gaza [Strip] within the next twenty years. No way. Impossible. Whoever thinks it will be possible to establish a Palestinian state within the next twenty years is mistaken. The negotiations are giving us nothing. The only thing that is possible is [what is called] the ‘sphere of activity’. We – all Palestinian organizations – must return to the ‘sphere of activity’.”
Al-Mayadeen TV host: “What you are saying is important. Let me say that this is new…”
Tirawi: “When we enter the ‘sphere of activity’, I’m telling you: lots of things will change.”
Host: “’Sphere of activity’, that is to say…”
Tirawi: “Resistance.”
Host: “Resistance.”
Tirawi: “All forms of resistance. My dear brother, what is resistance? Standing firm is resistance; negotiating is a kind of resistance; but there has to be something in the field to aid and reinforce it, right?”
Host: “Weapons.”
Tirawi: “Weapons or popular resistance. There are a hundred ways of resistance. [So] let’s get on with the resistance. But [this doesn’t mean] every organization can engage in resistance in whatever way it wants. It doesn’t work that way. There has to be a Palestinian strategic national plan, one that is acceptable to everyone – both to those in the PLO and to those outside the PLO and which will be implemented by Palestinians. At that point, we will see what method of resistance is appropriate for that stage, and we will act accordingly.”
Host: “This is something new, Tawfiq Tirawi, that we are hearing from Fatah - about the return of Fatah to the ‘sphere of activity’, about the issue of the Palestinian state, and about the resolution [of the conflict]: that there will be no Palestinian state within the next twenty years… [interrupted]”
Tirawi: “No, no. There is a point [I want to make] – allow me to interrupt you. What you are hearing from Fatah isn’t anything new. . [Remember that] at our Sixth Convention, held in Bethlehem, we did not rule out any of our options for resistance, of which armed struggle is one.”