This week’s Gaza Strip clash between a Palestinian resistance group and the guards at a Palestinian security checkpoint was an “accident” related to Israeli undercover operations, according to Palestinian Authority Minister of Communications Emad Falouji.
In an interview with Albawaba.com on Tuesday, the top PA official said he had called on all Palestinian factions to abide by the instructions of the security forces.
Falouji also described the demonstrations and clashes with the guards of Palestinian intelligence chief Moussa Arafat as an expression of “democracy” in Palestine.
The minister also warned that the Israeli reinforcements deployed around the Occupied Territories were “not for entertainment purposes,” and forecast grim prospects for peace if the international community continued to tolerate the killing of Palestinians.
Following are excerpts from the interview:
Q. Sharon’s government has decided to assassinate the activists of the Al Aqsa Intifada. What are you doing to confront these actions?
A. This policy is not a surprise to us, because we already know that Sharon came into office with a bloodthirsty mindset and history. We are fully aware, and the whole world sees, that this man is committing all kinds of devastating actions, assassinations, bombardments, home demolitions, and even destroying livestock and agriculture.
Israel is now implementing its destructive plans, and for our part, we take very seriously the information that has leaked out about the Israeli army’s plans to destroy the Palestinian Authority and people. Sharon and his gang openly threatened that they would continue with such plans, but we as Palestinians decided to resist and confront this aggression with all means available.
We have decided to preserve every accomplishment we have achieved on the ground. We won’t allow Sharon or any other Israeli leader to force us to forfeit any accomplishment we have achieved under any circumstances.
So we are defending by all possible means our land, authority and every accomplishment achieved through the blood of the Palestinian martyrs.
Q. But it seems that leaders in the field have not yet taken any precautionary measures to protect themselves. Isn’t this evident in the ongoing deaths of martyrs, despite the fact that you take the Israeli threats so seriously?
A. We attempt to protect our people as much as we can. The security authorities play their role very effectively. We are on full alert and monitor the situation closely, but we certainly can’t claim that we have all the resources the Israelis have.
We know that Israel has created its own spies over the years of occupation, and exploits them to the extreme, as has been proved by many previous assassination attempts. The Palestinian surveillance agencies are working day and night and have stopped many Israeli attempts to assassinate Palestinian leaders. We are dedicating all our resources to protecting our people and our national and Islamist leaders. We hold meetings with all the Palestinian factions and local leaders and offer the necessary guidance, so that everybody involved takes precautions.
We have launched an intensive awareness campaign among our people, but despite all this, we can’t claim to surpass Israel in the fields of military might and technology. Unfortunately, Israel is a security-oriented state that receives full support from the world’s super power, and the green light for its brutal crimes from the international community, amid a horrible complete international silence over Sharon’s massacres. The whole world is not serious about confronting the Israeli premier and his arrogance, and so it has given him enough time to implement his bloody plans, besiege the Palestinians and use all types of weapons against them. Despite this long siege and bombardment, the PA is still intact and the Palestinian people’s resistance is growing. The Palestinian people have made their decision to remain on this land with dignity or die on it with dignity. This is the reason for the ongoing Palestinian resistance, which will eventually win.
Q. Despite the Israeli troops massing around the Palestinian cities, it seems that there have been US and European assurances that the occupation forces won’t take any military action inside PA territory. But are you really reassured by what has been conveyed to you?
A. We can expect anything from this extremist and terrorist Israeli government. The reinforcement of the Israeli forces around our cities is not for entertainment purposes. We won’t believe any reassurances as long as the Israeli forces are surrounding us.
Sharon is a madman who has neither a political agenda, nor the intention to reach a peaceful agreement with the Palestinian leadership. Therefore, he’s massing his troops and commits massacres on a daily basis. There are daily funerals for the Palestinian martyrs. We are fully aware of the new game, which is the settlement game.
Giving settlers the green light to commit massacres under the protection of the Israeli army is very well known to us, with all the dangers it involves. What is going on now in Hebron and in other parts of the Palestinian lands provides extensive evidence of this. So I believe that no power on earth can give us reassurances as long as the Israeli army continues besieging the cities and villages of our beloved homeland with all these troops.
Q. A new trend has emerged: extremist settlers have issued statements admitting to their crime of killing a whole family in Hebron. How do you assess the dangers of such gangs?
A. What is going on now is exactly what we warned the international community about: that there would be no peace with the settlements and the settlers remaining on our lands. They are a bomb that will explode in the way of any peace agreement.
We reiterate that there will be no stability as long as the settlers remain on our land.
Israel is trying now to create an armed settlers’ entity parallel to the Palestinian entity, which is a very serious plan. Sharon is trying to bypass and trick the whole world by claiming that he can’t control these gangs. Israel’s foreign minister, Shimon Peres, cleverly called on these criminals to surrender to the police, as if he did not know who they were. We are aware that there are ministers in Sharon’s cabinet, like Liberman and others, who support these settlers. Sharon provides these criminals with arms to kill innocent Palestinian civilians. We know that the Israelis are drifting towards extremism, which has resulted in the creation of the settler dilemma.
We, as Palestinians, reiterate that these mercenaries will never succeed in terrorizing our people, as they have been trying to do so ever since the establishment of this deformed structure (Israel) in 1948.
Q. Disturbing news reports from Palestinian territory describe clashes between the resistance committees and Qassam Battalions on the one hand, and a Palestinian checkpoint team on the other. Can you explain what went on?
A. That incident took place as part of the precautionary security measures taken by the PA, which I mentioned earlier.
Unfortunately, reports spread in Gaza saying that a group of Israelis disguised as Arabs had entered the city. The PA security forces were put on full alert everywhere. Our forces saw masked men driving a car at full speed, and when they disobeyed an order to stop, the security forces shot at the car, thinking that the people in it were the Israelis in disguise.
Unfortunately, there were some casualties among our brothers in the car, who were later discovered to be a group of fighters returning to their base after carrying out an operation.
This type of incident takes place everywhere, and I believe the matter has been settled and we as leaders understand such circumstances.
The other incident also shows how our security forces are in a state of alert. I hope all Palestinian factions will respect these kinds of emergency measures, because any mistake can happen under such circumstances. Photos of the Arabists kidnapping one of the Popular Front members hung up in Jenin, Nablus and Ramallah have created tension and aroused suspicions about any fast cars whose driver refuses to stop when ordered by Palestinian security forces.
Q. Hasn’t there also been a clash with the guards of Palestinian intelligence chief, Mousa Arafat?
A. There are groups which express their opinions as part of our Palestinian democracy. I hope that everyone will be patient with this democracy.
Every faction has the right to express its own views and thoughts as part of the Palestinian society’s uniqueness. I believe that a society with such openness represents our democracy. I hope we will overcome this crisis and remain united. The only winning card in our hands is our consolidated internal structure, national unity and Palestinian harmony. We are trying to open dialogue and contact everybody in order to cope with the serious circumstances of our people.
