A top Palestinian security official warned Israel against escalating the confrontations that are going on for the second week in the Palestinian territories, and threatened that if the Jewish state invades the territories, the Palestinians will move the battle into the Israeli inhabited areas.
“The Palestinian forces have the potential and the readiness to determine the duration of the war,” said Jibril Rjoub, head of the West Bank preventive security, in a telephone interview with Albawaba.com.
Following is the full text of the interview:
Q: In light of the latest development, observed closely by the world, what will happen next?
A. The region is about to explode. However, future developments depend on how the Israelis behave on the ground. It depends on how they would deal with the issue, with the [Palestinian] negotiators and with any developments in Jerusalem on Friday.
This long chain of events since last week was started by the Israelis, and the escalation [of violence] is also attributed to the Israelis due to the way they treat the Palestinians, and handle the whole Palestinian issue.
The inauspicious visit by Sharon to Al Aqsa Mosque was a challenge to the Islamic, Arab and Christian worlds. In fact, I believe it came in defiance of the will for peace. If there were a true willingness for peace on the part of the Israelis, they would have barred Sharon from taking that provocative step.
Today it was tense, and witnessed clashes in many parts [of the territories]. I think that unless the Israelis rethink their history, and the way they have dealt with the Palestinians, the region is approaching a very difficult situation in Palestine and abroad.
Q: There are expectations that Israel will cordon off the roads to Jerusalem to block Palestinians from performing prayers at Al Aqsa. There are also Palestinian statements expecting a massacre today. Have the Palestinians made any preparations for this?
A: In the first place, the closure of Jerusalem is a living proof that there is no possibility [for the two people] to coexist without transferring east Jerusalem under the Palestinian authority and sovereignty. In my estimation, what happened in Jerusalem, and the events that followed, have shortened the life of the occupation. The countdown for the existence of occupying forces in east Jerusalem started with Sharon’s visit to Al Aqsa last week.
Our readiness for all possibilities is there, and so far the Palestinian security institution has been dealing with the events which were taking place in areas under the Palestinian sovereignty.
I want to say here that the Israelis are not playing chess on their own. There is a Palestinian side, and the Palestinians are able to create facts on the ground; Facts that will cause pain to the other side that has to learn its lessons from the Palestinian people’s determination to gain freedom and independence within the framework of international legitimacy, and to implement its political program, which is supported at the Arab and international level. The ball is
now in the Israeli court, and that of the Americans who are the most able to make Israel accept international legitimacy [resolutions].
Q: There are people who believe the Palestinian forces are exercising maximum self-restraint.
A. We are dealing with things in friction points in areas under the Palestinian control. The Israelis, on the other hand, are dealing with us with aircraft and tanks. There is unevenness in the armament balance, and wide difference in capabilities. Are we to face the aircraft and tanks with a Klashinkov? I think that those who ask for that push the Palestinians to committing suicide in return for nothing.
Q: There are fears that the Palestinians will run out of weapons and ammunition. If this happened, how would it be possible to defend the Palestinian people?
A: We are protected by our strong will and our naked chests. We hope the Arab and Islamic nations, who see the massacres on their TVs, will take stands that go beyond media campaigns. We want a serious Arab position. At least an Arab summit should be held to put an end to the suppression of the Palestinian people round the clock.
Q: On the same topic, is the Palestinian leadership satisfied with the Arab reactions so far?
A: We cannot decide for the Arabs how they deal with our cause. However, we believe that the Palestinian cause is the cause of all the Arabs. It’s the Palestinian people who are defending the Muslim’s holy site, and the other Christian sites.
Q: The PNA has been the subject of accusations, and you were personally critisized by the opposition.
A: Definitly there are people like Ibrahim Ghosheh, but in fact, if there were not people like him, there must be something wrong. There are enemies for us inside Palestine and outside, and I’m sorry to say that some are satisfied to be manipulated by others.
I emphasize here that we have achieved national unity, and will dedicate all efforts to reinforce it for now and in the future. We hope our brothers in the opposition will learn the lesson and reformulate the relationship between the two wings of the leadership inside and outside (Palestine). This is not, of course, based on what could create frictions and divisions, but on the assumption that logic and sense of responsibility will prevail in dealing with our people’s cause. I don’t think that a man currently in Tehran would take decisions for someone in Gaza, Hebron or Nablus. This is the problem of the opposition, yet we didn’t interfere in its affairs inside the occupied homeland. We based our dealings in the past, and will continue to do so, with all political powers whether they were Islamic, national, or pan-Arab because of our sense of responsibility for all the Palestinian people. Our history and struggle stand as safeguards to our people. So, comments made by Ibrahim Ghosheh or anyone else do not disturb us, on the contrary, this might be a source of power for the Palestinian people.
I believe that we (Fateh movement) were the fathers of the armed struggle, we initiated Al-Intifada and led it. We are the protectors of this national project who set the guarantee for promoting democracy, respect of human rights, and the right of expression through commitment to the institution and the higher interest of the Palestinian people.
Regardless of strange voices against us here and there, we want to say to our brothers at this stage, may God forgive you.
Q- Israel has accused you personally of having agreed to Sharon’s visit.
A. This is no accusation, I heard this talk, but I want to assure you, and I hope you will read again my statements of last Wednesday (the day before Sharon visited Al-Haram El-Sharif) that I had warned that if Sharon entered Al-Aqsa, an explosion will erupt in the region, in and outside Palestine, and this is what I officially conveyed to the Americans.
The Israelis say they have asked me for permission for Sharon to visit Al- Aqsa. I hope things will reach this point and that Sharon will ask us to visit Al-Aqsa in the future, then we will give his request our serious consideration.
I hope the Arabs living abroad will not fall victim to Israeli triviality. Had the Israelis requested that, then it means that I’m in charge there (in Jerusalem), but I want to emphasize that he didn’t ask me. Should he request it, then we will give it serious thought.
Q- Let’s go back to the issue of prisoners’ release, is there any intention to free the remaining prisoners?
A- Rest assured that there is no one in prison who should not be there, and rest assured that we are dealing with this issue in the national and (Fateh) manners and not according to Ibrahim Ghoshe’s manners.
Q- Barak refused to sign an agreement and went back to Israel making threats. Does it mean that if there was a flare-up tomorrow (Friday), the Israelis will overrun the Authority’s territories?
A- I’ll tell you something, If the Israelis overrun the Authority’s territories, then the confrontations and the battle will move to become fierce, to Israeli residential areas and compounds. Barak will be able to start a battle to overrun the Authority’s territories, but he will not succeed and will not be able to control its course and stages, and the result as I said will be to move the battles to their areas. We are prepared and ready, and we have capabilities at hand.
Q- What do you call the new Intifada, is it Al-Aqsa uprising or the independence war?
A- Both, the Aqsa uprising and the independence war, I’ve said that the countdown for the occupation started the minute Sharon entered Al-Haram Al-Sharif.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
