Abbas the “moderate”

Abbas rejects Jewishness of Israel, doesn’t rule out armed conflict and is proud to have taught terror to world

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, Palestinian Media Watch

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that he doesn’t rule out armed conflict against Israel. He also said that he was “honored” to have fired the first bullet of the Fatah terror organization in 1965, and to have taught terror tactics around the world, including to such groups as Hizbullah.

In an in-depth interview published today in the Jordanian daily Al-Dustur, Abbas said that the PA is “unable” to pursue armed conflict for now, but said that “in the future stages things may be different.”

He rejected Israel as a Jewish state, and said that it was the PA’s rejection of Israel’s Jewishness that almost aborted the Annapolis Conference last November.

Abbas said that he won’t demand that Hamas recognize Israel. In fact, as PMW has reported in the past, he said that the only “recognition” of Israel he demands of a Palestinian unity government is to recognize Israel as its adversary.

Here are some highlights from that interview:

The Arab Situation

“Now we are against armed conflict because we are unable. In the future stages, things may be different… ”

We reject the Jewishness of the state

The Palestinian President emphasized his rejection of what is described as the Jewishness of the state [Israel], and said: “We rejected this proposal at the Annapolis conference last November in the USA, and the conference was almost aborted because of it…”

The Resistance [Editor’s note: PA euphemism for terror]

The Palestinian President spoke about the resistance, saying: “I was honored to be the one to shoot the first bullet in 1965 [Fatah terror against Israel began in 1965] ,and having taught resistance to many in this area and around the world, defining it and when it is beneficial and when it is not… we had the honor of leading the resistance.We taught everyone what resistance is, including the Hezbollah, who were trained in our camps [i.e. PLO camps in the 60s and 70s].”

Recognition of Israel

“I don’t demand that the Hamas movement recognize Israel. I only demanded of the [Palestinian] national unity government that would work opposite Israel in recognition of it. And this I told Syrian President Bashir Assad, and he supported this idea.”

February 28, 2008 | 2 Comments »

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  2. Abbas promises to fight Israel

    Speaking to al-Dustur newspaper in Jordan, a country at peace with Israel, Abbas announced that his opposition to fighting Israel is temporary, because Palestinians cannot succeed now, and that in the future the situation will change.
    It is unbelievable that Israeli government sees that gangster as a peace partner. As Rabbi Kahane remarked, moderate Arabs kill Jews moderately.

    Bush:
    http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N28640409.htm

    Asked about Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad statements that he would like to destroy Israel, Bush said, “If I were an Israeli, I would take his words seriously.” On whether the U.S. would respond militarily if Iran attacked Israel, he said, “I have made it clear that the — absolutely, that we will support our ally Israel if attacked by Iran.”

    ”

    What’s important is, you have to have a partner who is committed to peace, and we believe that President Abbas is,” Snow said. “And therefore we are committed to working with this new emergency government.”

    http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-06-18-mideast_N.htm

    Olmert already has said the new Palestinian government has created a “new opportunity” for peacemaking and said he is eager to bolster Abbas — most likely by releasing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax transfers that Israel cut off after Hamas took power, and by easing checkpoints and travel restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank. It remains unclear, however, how much peace talks could accomplish, given the uncertainty in Gaza.

    Netanyahu to Bush: Israel has only ‘virtual partner’ in Abbas

    http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/943722.html

    Netanyahu sought to impress upon Bush the historical importance of Jerusalem to the Jewish people by giving him a coin discovered there. It was struck in the third year of the Great Revolt by the Judeans against the Romans and contained Hebrew writing.

    “It’s an expression of our deep connection. Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people and will remain under Israeli sovereignty for eternity,” he said.

    There seems to be a disconnect between statements. who and what are we then to
    believe? and then why?