PLO chief Yasser Arafat\'s op-ed in yesterday\'s New York Times begins, \"For the past 16 months, Israelis and Palestinians have been locked in a catastrophic cycle of violence...\" In fact, however, the violence was pre-meditated by the Palestinians at the express orders of Yasser Arafat himself. Palestinian leaders have even admitted that the violence was not in response to Ariel Sharon\'s visit to the Temple Mount in September 2000, but was rather initiated much earlier, after the collapse of the Camp David talks two months before. Sample quotes:
* In June 2001, Marwan Bargouti, secretary-general of Arafat\'s Fatah movement in Judea and Samaria, told the Jerusalem Times, \"The intifada did not start because of Sharon\'s visit [but rather] because of the desire to put an end to occupation and because the Palestinians did not approve of the peace process in its previous form.\"
* PA cabinet minister Imad Faluji said at a rally in Lebanon on March 3, 2001, that the violence \"had been planned since Chairman Arafat\'s return from Camp David...\"
* U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Edward Walker was asked at a March 2001 Congressional hearing if it is reasonable to conclude that the violence was planned well before Sharon\'s visit to the Temple Mount. Walker replied, \"They said as much. So I think a reasonable person could assume that.\"
Arafat also wrote, \"[L]et me be very clear. I condemn that attacks carried out by terrorist groups against Israeli civilians. These groups do not represent the Palestinian people... I am determined to put an end to their activities.\" This stands in stark contrast to many public statements uttered by the PA chairman very recently. For instance, speaking to a delegation of Arab leaders that was broadcast on official PA Television this past January 26, Arafat said,
\"Yes, brothers, with our souls and blood we redeem you, O Palestine. This is the decision of the people of exceeding strength. This is a sacred bond. We are up to this duty. You know I am saying this because I know our people. I know what it means that in the midst of this economic crisis, yet none of them complained. However, they said: Allah is great! Glory to Allah and his prophet! Jihad, jihad, jihad, jihad, jihad!\"
Arafat continues in his article, \"The Palestinians recognized Israel\'s right to exist on 78% of historical Palestine.\" He forgot to mention, however, that he considered this \"recognition\" most temporary. In an interview with Egyptian Orbit TV on April 18, 1998, Arafat declared that the Oslo accords are comparable to \"when the Prophet Mohammed made the Khudaibiya agreement...we must learn from his steps...We respect agreements the way that the Prophet Mohammed respected the agreements which he signed.\" Mohammed in fact breached the agreement, pillaging Mecca and killing many of its citizens with whom he had come to the \"peace\" agreement.
PA Minister Abdul Aziz Shaheen told the official PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on January 4, 1998, \"The Oslo accord was a preface for the Palestinian Authority, and the Palestinian Authority will be a preface for the Palestinian state, which in turn will be a preface for the liberation of the entire Palestinian land.\" Asked his view of the Oslo agreement in Jan. 1998, Arafat told Al Ayyam newspaper, \"Since the decision of the Palestinian National Council at its 12th meeting in 1974, the PLO has adopted the political solution [later known as the Strategy of Stages - ed. note] of establishing a National Authority over any territory from which the occupation withdraws.\" [With thanks to the ZOA archives]
Arafat\'s op-ed falsely notes that the Palestinian people are living under \"foreign occupation,\" as in fact 95% of the Arab population in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza currently live under PA control. Arafat also states, \"The Palestinians have endured... an expansion of illegal settlements... and increased restrictions on freedom of movement.\" Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA notes the weakness of these claims: Jewish construction in Yesha is not restricted by the accords, and the restrictions on free movement are the result of Palestinian violence - which itself is quite illegal and against the Oslo Accords.
Arafat writes that the Palestinians have a vision of peace that includes Israel\'s return to her \"1967 borders.\" Israel has already rejected this notion, such that this statement can be construed as a declaration of perpetual war. Furthermore, the Palestinians themselves do not accept this idea, as evidenced, for instance, by the maps hanging in Palestinian classrooms that show only \"Greater Palestine\" where the State of Israel ought to be.
* In June 2001, Marwan Bargouti, secretary-general of Arafat\'s Fatah movement in Judea and Samaria, told the Jerusalem Times, \"The intifada did not start because of Sharon\'s visit [but rather] because of the desire to put an end to occupation and because the Palestinians did not approve of the peace process in its previous form.\"
* PA cabinet minister Imad Faluji said at a rally in Lebanon on March 3, 2001, that the violence \"had been planned since Chairman Arafat\'s return from Camp David...\"
* U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Edward Walker was asked at a March 2001 Congressional hearing if it is reasonable to conclude that the violence was planned well before Sharon\'s visit to the Temple Mount. Walker replied, \"They said as much. So I think a reasonable person could assume that.\"
Arafat also wrote, \"[L]et me be very clear. I condemn that attacks carried out by terrorist groups against Israeli civilians. These groups do not represent the Palestinian people... I am determined to put an end to their activities.\" This stands in stark contrast to many public statements uttered by the PA chairman very recently. For instance, speaking to a delegation of Arab leaders that was broadcast on official PA Television this past January 26, Arafat said,
\"Yes, brothers, with our souls and blood we redeem you, O Palestine. This is the decision of the people of exceeding strength. This is a sacred bond. We are up to this duty. You know I am saying this because I know our people. I know what it means that in the midst of this economic crisis, yet none of them complained. However, they said: Allah is great! Glory to Allah and his prophet! Jihad, jihad, jihad, jihad, jihad!\"
Arafat continues in his article, \"The Palestinians recognized Israel\'s right to exist on 78% of historical Palestine.\" He forgot to mention, however, that he considered this \"recognition\" most temporary. In an interview with Egyptian Orbit TV on April 18, 1998, Arafat declared that the Oslo accords are comparable to \"when the Prophet Mohammed made the Khudaibiya agreement...we must learn from his steps...We respect agreements the way that the Prophet Mohammed respected the agreements which he signed.\" Mohammed in fact breached the agreement, pillaging Mecca and killing many of its citizens with whom he had come to the \"peace\" agreement.
PA Minister Abdul Aziz Shaheen told the official PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on January 4, 1998, \"The Oslo accord was a preface for the Palestinian Authority, and the Palestinian Authority will be a preface for the Palestinian state, which in turn will be a preface for the liberation of the entire Palestinian land.\" Asked his view of the Oslo agreement in Jan. 1998, Arafat told Al Ayyam newspaper, \"Since the decision of the Palestinian National Council at its 12th meeting in 1974, the PLO has adopted the political solution [later known as the Strategy of Stages - ed. note] of establishing a National Authority over any territory from which the occupation withdraws.\" [With thanks to the ZOA archives]
Arafat\'s op-ed falsely notes that the Palestinian people are living under \"foreign occupation,\" as in fact 95% of the Arab population in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza currently live under PA control. Arafat also states, \"The Palestinians have endured... an expansion of illegal settlements... and increased restrictions on freedom of movement.\" Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA notes the weakness of these claims: Jewish construction in Yesha is not restricted by the accords, and the restrictions on free movement are the result of Palestinian violence - which itself is quite illegal and against the Oslo Accords.
Arafat writes that the Palestinians have a vision of peace that includes Israel\'s return to her \"1967 borders.\" Israel has already rejected this notion, such that this statement can be construed as a declaration of perpetual war. Furthermore, the Palestinians themselves do not accept this idea, as evidenced, for instance, by the maps hanging in Palestinian classrooms that show only \"Greater Palestine\" where the State of Israel ought to be.