Arafat's close adviser Faisal Husseini in a 2001 interview: The Oslo Accords were a Trojan horse
The reporter of the Nazarene Egyptian weekly, Al-Arabi, Shafiq Ahmad Ali, conducted an interview that became the last press interview of the holder of the Jerusalem portfolio in the PA, Faitlchusini.
Here are excerpts from the second part of the interview:
http://www.memri.org.il/cgi-webaxy/item?380#_ftn1
Oslo Accords: Trojan Horse
What is happening on the ground now is, unfortunately, a natural consequence of Arafat signing the Oslo Accords, which did not explicitly state that the settlements should be removed or even frozen… and did not explicitly state the future of Jerusalem, nor the right of return… but explicitly stated that the PA Boycott the weapons in the possession of Palestinian citizens, in addition to other mistakes that you have only recently begun to admit…
Husseini:… After signing the Oslo Accords… I said three things:
First, after a long "pregnancy" period, we had a baby born smaller than we had hoped for, weaker than we had hoped for, and less beautiful than we had hoped for; But, in spite of everything he is our child and we must nurture him, strengthen him, and correct him, so that he can stand on his two two feet;
Second, we are the Jews of the early twenty-first century. That is, we Palestinians will be the Jews of the beginning of the [previous] century. They infiltrated our country in different ways, with different types of passports and therefore suffered a lot. They even suffered insults and everything to gain an achievement, to enter our country and take root in it, before they expel us from it. We must act like them. To return, to enter, to settle, and to strike new roots in our land from which we were expelled, whatever the price may be.
Third, the Greek army, when disputed and diseased, failed to break into Troy. These troops began to retreat one by one until in front of the walls of Troy, the Greek king's army was left alone and also suffered from diseases and disputes and failed to break into Troy.
But then, the people of Troy climbed the walls of their city and found in front of them no trace of the Greek army, except a huge wooden horse. They rejoiced and reveled in the thought that the Greek troops had been defeated and retreated, leaving behind an innocent loot of wood. They opened the walls and put him in their city. Then what happened happened.
Had the US and Israel not believed, in the days when the Oslo Accords were signed, that all that was left of the Palestinian national movement and the Arab national movement was the wooden horse known as Yasser Arafat or the PLO, they would not have opened their fortified gates and put it inside their walls.
Although we went into the walls to build, while the Greeks went in to destroy, I say to all of you, that is, to all those people who in those days [of the signing of the Oslo Accords] I spoke to secretly: go into the horse's belly, and do not ask what kind of wood it is made of. Enter the horse's belly, and we will make this entrance to the horse's belly for the beginning of construction, instead of the end of hope.
Indeed, there were those who entered the horse's belly and are now in the 'face' [that is, in the PA territories], whether they supported Oslo or opposed it.
Question: But the horse began to ignore all the criticisms made by people who supported and opposed Oslo alike, both regarding the true democracy that should guide the horse's movements and regarding the allegations made against the horse itself, regarding corruption.
Husseini: The things you say remind me of the famous yeshiva that took place three years after Arafat and the PA returned to Gaza, with the participation of all Palestinian factions.
That day - and those present at that meeting are still alive and can testify - I voted and asked for the right to speak. I told everyone: three years ago, I said "get into the horse's belly", and we all got into the horse's belly and the horse itself went into the walls. Now, the time has come to say, "Get off your horse's belly" and start working. Do not stay in the belly of the horse and do not waste time and energy debating whether this horse was good, while you are inside his belly. Here, using this horse you entered the walls. Get down, then, our gaze and start working for the purpose for which you entered the horse's belly. The intifada is, in my opinion, the descent from the horse's belly. This is the beginning of the real work for which we got into the horse's belly. This work could have been better, broader, and more influential, if we had put in our heads in the first place that the Oslo Accords, or any other agreement, is merely a temporary procedure, or a step towards something broader… instead of getting into the old arguments…
Praise be to Allah, we have all now got off the horse, both those who were in opposition and those who were with Arafat. I personally did not come with complaints about them getting into the horse's belly, but I would have come to them with complaints if they had stayed in the horse's belly and not gotten off it. Now we have all got off the horse and I ask you and all the press to put aside all past analyzes, all the old controversies, and come to terms with the people about what they are doing now on the ground… Our motto from now on should be "The Intifada is always right"
The strategic goal: a country from the sea to the river
Question: Which Palestine are you talking about and which "Jerusalem" would you agree to accept as the capital of your country?
Husseini: In this question you are dragging me to talk about what we call the "strategic" goals and the "political" goals, or the phased goals. The strategic goals, are the "overarching goals", the "long-term goals", or the unchanging goals, based on pan-Arab, solid historical rights and principles. "Political" goals, on the other hand, are temporary stage goals that are determined according to the existing international system, the balance of power, your self-ability, and other "changing" considerations and factors from time to time.
When we ask all Palestinian forces and factions to treat the Oslo Accords and other agreements as "temporary" procedures, or stage goals, it means that we are lurking or deceiving Israelis. However, in reality, we do exactly what they do. The proof of this is that they know well and do not hide from anyone that there is nothing that unites them around the area that stretches from the Nile to the Euphrates but their slogan taken from the Torah to say: "These are the borders of the great land of Israel." If for some reason they were forced to temporarily declare their country a "part" of the Greater Land of Israel, they openly state that this is their "political" strategy, with which they were temporarily forced to agree due to international conditions. On the other hand, their "super strategy" is always "Greater Israel".
We're just like them. They agreed in 1947, in accordance with the partition resolution, to declare a state 55% of Palestinian land, then increased it to seventy-eight percent in the 1948 war, and again to one hundred percent in the 1967 war. From the Nile to the Euphrates. We, too, if we agree to declare our country currently only 22% of Palestine, that is, the West Bank and Gaza Strip - then our ultimate goal is to liberate all of historic Palestine from the river to the sea, even if the conflict continues for another thousand years or many generations.
In short, we, just like them, distinguish between the long-term strategic goals and the phased political goals, which international conditions are pressuring us to accept temporarily. If you ask me as a man of pan-Arab nationalism what the borders of Palestine are in the super-strategy, I will immediately answer you "from the river to the sea", all Arab land, the land of the Arab nation, which cannot be sold or bought, and cannot be passed over in silence. Even if it takes time and costs.
If you ask me as someone who belongs to the Islamic faith, my answer is also "from the river to the sea", whole and an Islamic circle that has no seller and can not be bought and can not be passed over in silence for someone stealing it…
If you ask me as a "simple" Palestinian from the "face" or from exile, you will hear the same answer and without any hesitation. But what I can achieve now and live on, in the light of the international system, is not, of course, Palestine "from the river to the sea." In order to fulfill our dreams about her, we must, first of all, wake up from sleep and find out where we stand. On the other hand, if we continue to act as if we are immersed in a dream, we will not find a place on earth at our feet.
As I have said before: our eyes should continue to be focused on the ultimate goal. The real danger is that I will forget [this] and as I move towards my short-term goal, I will turn my back on my long-term goal, which is the liberation of all Palestine from the river to the sea… "
[1] Al-Arabi (Egypt), 24.6.2001. The subheadings are of the translator.
Published by the Institute for Middle East Communication Research MEMRI.
ץ
The reporter of the Nazarene Egyptian weekly, Al-Arabi, Shafiq Ahmad Ali, conducted an interview that became the last press interview of the holder of the Jerusalem portfolio in the PA, Faitlchusini.
Here are excerpts from the second part of the interview:
http://www.memri.org.il/cgi-webaxy/item?380#_ftn1
Oslo Accords: Trojan Horse
What is happening on the ground now is, unfortunately, a natural consequence of Arafat signing the Oslo Accords, which did not explicitly state that the settlements should be removed or even frozen… and did not explicitly state the future of Jerusalem, nor the right of return… but explicitly stated that the PA Boycott the weapons in the possession of Palestinian citizens, in addition to other mistakes that you have only recently begun to admit…
Husseini:… After signing the Oslo Accords… I said three things:
First, after a long "pregnancy" period, we had a baby born smaller than we had hoped for, weaker than we had hoped for, and less beautiful than we had hoped for; But, in spite of everything he is our child and we must nurture him, strengthen him, and correct him, so that he can stand on his two two feet;
Second, we are the Jews of the early twenty-first century. That is, we Palestinians will be the Jews of the beginning of the [previous] century. They infiltrated our country in different ways, with different types of passports and therefore suffered a lot. They even suffered insults and everything to gain an achievement, to enter our country and take root in it, before they expel us from it. We must act like them. To return, to enter, to settle, and to strike new roots in our land from which we were expelled, whatever the price may be.
Third, the Greek army, when disputed and diseased, failed to break into Troy. These troops began to retreat one by one until in front of the walls of Troy, the Greek king's army was left alone and also suffered from diseases and disputes and failed to break into Troy.
But then, the people of Troy climbed the walls of their city and found in front of them no trace of the Greek army, except a huge wooden horse. They rejoiced and reveled in the thought that the Greek troops had been defeated and retreated, leaving behind an innocent loot of wood. They opened the walls and put him in their city. Then what happened happened.
Had the US and Israel not believed, in the days when the Oslo Accords were signed, that all that was left of the Palestinian national movement and the Arab national movement was the wooden horse known as Yasser Arafat or the PLO, they would not have opened their fortified gates and put it inside their walls.
Although we went into the walls to build, while the Greeks went in to destroy, I say to all of you, that is, to all those people who in those days [of the signing of the Oslo Accords] I spoke to secretly: go into the horse's belly, and do not ask what kind of wood it is made of. Enter the horse's belly, and we will make this entrance to the horse's belly for the beginning of construction, instead of the end of hope.
Indeed, there were those who entered the horse's belly and are now in the 'face' [that is, in the PA territories], whether they supported Oslo or opposed it.
Question: But the horse began to ignore all the criticisms made by people who supported and opposed Oslo alike, both regarding the true democracy that should guide the horse's movements and regarding the allegations made against the horse itself, regarding corruption.
Husseini: The things you say remind me of the famous yeshiva that took place three years after Arafat and the PA returned to Gaza, with the participation of all Palestinian factions.
That day - and those present at that meeting are still alive and can testify - I voted and asked for the right to speak. I told everyone: three years ago, I said "get into the horse's belly", and we all got into the horse's belly and the horse itself went into the walls. Now, the time has come to say, "Get off your horse's belly" and start working. Do not stay in the belly of the horse and do not waste time and energy debating whether this horse was good, while you are inside his belly. Here, using this horse you entered the walls. Get down, then, our gaze and start working for the purpose for which you entered the horse's belly. The intifada is, in my opinion, the descent from the horse's belly. This is the beginning of the real work for which we got into the horse's belly. This work could have been better, broader, and more influential, if we had put in our heads in the first place that the Oslo Accords, or any other agreement, is merely a temporary procedure, or a step towards something broader… instead of getting into the old arguments…
Praise be to Allah, we have all now got off the horse, both those who were in opposition and those who were with Arafat. I personally did not come with complaints about them getting into the horse's belly, but I would have come to them with complaints if they had stayed in the horse's belly and not gotten off it. Now we have all got off the horse and I ask you and all the press to put aside all past analyzes, all the old controversies, and come to terms with the people about what they are doing now on the ground… Our motto from now on should be "The Intifada is always right"
The strategic goal: a country from the sea to the river
Question: Which Palestine are you talking about and which "Jerusalem" would you agree to accept as the capital of your country?
Husseini: In this question you are dragging me to talk about what we call the "strategic" goals and the "political" goals, or the phased goals. The strategic goals, are the "overarching goals", the "long-term goals", or the unchanging goals, based on pan-Arab, solid historical rights and principles. "Political" goals, on the other hand, are temporary stage goals that are determined according to the existing international system, the balance of power, your self-ability, and other "changing" considerations and factors from time to time.
When we ask all Palestinian forces and factions to treat the Oslo Accords and other agreements as "temporary" procedures, or stage goals, it means that we are lurking or deceiving Israelis. However, in reality, we do exactly what they do. The proof of this is that they know well and do not hide from anyone that there is nothing that unites them around the area that stretches from the Nile to the Euphrates but their slogan taken from the Torah to say: "These are the borders of the great land of Israel." If for some reason they were forced to temporarily declare their country a "part" of the Greater Land of Israel, they openly state that this is their "political" strategy, with which they were temporarily forced to agree due to international conditions. On the other hand, their "super strategy" is always "Greater Israel".
We're just like them. They agreed in 1947, in accordance with the partition resolution, to declare a state 55% of Palestinian land, then increased it to seventy-eight percent in the 1948 war, and again to one hundred percent in the 1967 war. From the Nile to the Euphrates. We, too, if we agree to declare our country currently only 22% of Palestine, that is, the West Bank and Gaza Strip - then our ultimate goal is to liberate all of historic Palestine from the river to the sea, even if the conflict continues for another thousand years or many generations.
In short, we, just like them, distinguish between the long-term strategic goals and the phased political goals, which international conditions are pressuring us to accept temporarily. If you ask me as a man of pan-Arab nationalism what the borders of Palestine are in the super-strategy, I will immediately answer you "from the river to the sea", all Arab land, the land of the Arab nation, which cannot be sold or bought, and cannot be passed over in silence. Even if it takes time and costs.
If you ask me as someone who belongs to the Islamic faith, my answer is also "from the river to the sea", whole and an Islamic circle that has no seller and can not be bought and can not be passed over in silence for someone stealing it…
If you ask me as a "simple" Palestinian from the "face" or from exile, you will hear the same answer and without any hesitation. But what I can achieve now and live on, in the light of the international system, is not, of course, Palestine "from the river to the sea." In order to fulfill our dreams about her, we must, first of all, wake up from sleep and find out where we stand. On the other hand, if we continue to act as if we are immersed in a dream, we will not find a place on earth at our feet.
As I have said before: our eyes should continue to be focused on the ultimate goal. The real danger is that I will forget [this] and as I move towards my short-term goal, I will turn my back on my long-term goal, which is the liberation of all Palestine from the river to the sea… "
[1] Al-Arabi (Egypt), 24.6.2001. The subheadings are of the translator.
Published by the Institute for Middle East Communication Research MEMRI.
ץ
נורא דליבא היא תנועה ציבורית המאגדת אנשים איכפתיים שוחרי אמת
