Fatah rally
Fatah rallyFlash 90

A leader in Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement stated that the Palestinian Arabs would never give up the 'armed struggle' against the State of Israel, Palestinian Media Watch reported.

"The rifle will never fall," declared Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki on PA TV, using the anniversary of arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat's death to reiterate that Palestinian Arabs have a UN-protected "right to use the armed struggle."

On PA TV, Zaki quoted Arafat's famous UN speech in 1974, when Arafat said he was "bearing an olive branch and a revolutionary's gun," and asked the UN "not to let the olive branch fall." Zaki explained that specifically Arafat had focused on the image of the olive branch not falling, because "the rifle will never fall, even today."

PMW stated in response: "For years, Palestinian Authority leaders and officials have defended and promoted Palestinian violence by quoting UN resolution 3236, which "recognizes the right of the Palestinian people to regain its rights by all means." The PA claims "all means" includes attacking and killing Israeli civilians, which is why PA leaders claim that Palestinian terrorists are legitimate "freedom fighters" and terrorist prisoners are "prisoners of war.""