By Eyad Khalifa
Albawaba.com - Amman
Attacks on civilians anywhere are unacceptable, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Nayef Hawatmeh, told Albawaba.com this week in the wake of the devastating terrorist attacks in Washington and New York.
While reiterating his rejection of attacks on civilians, Hawatmeh also said that his resistance group had been focusing since the 1960s on the struggle against decades of Israeli military occupation.
In an interview with Albawaba.com, the PFLP leader ruled out the possibility of the world reaching a point where the Palestinians’ national liberation struggle would be described as terrorism.
“Our operations are legitimized by international and UN resolutions,” said Hawatmeh.
The PFLP leader added that Israel would face rising resistance to its escalation of attacks on Palestinians, which are aimed at taking advantage of a world distracted by the terrorist attacks in the US.
Following are excerpts from Albawaba.com’s interview with Hawatmeh:
Q. At the beginning of the recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the US accused the PFLP of being involved. What reasons does the US have to accuse your front?
A. Subsequent events quickly debunked this rumor, and those who promoted the rumor from inside Palestine rushed to apologize. Everybody knows that the PFLP refuses, on principle, to take part in any action beyond the battle with Israel inside Palestine.
We have announced repeatedly since the 1960s that there would be no operations outside Palestine because we did not want to inflict casualties on innocent people.
Q. It seems that Israeli premier Ariel Sharon has set conditions for accepting a meeting between Arafat and Peres, including the arrest of some Palestinians from the opposition. Do you expect any of PFLP members to be arrested?
A. The Palestinian Intifada has achieved unity among all Palestinian factions, so we don’t feel anything will take place along the lines you just suggested.
Q. Twenty Palestinian martyrs were killed while the whole world was busy with the recent attacks in the US; do you expect Sharon to target Palestinian leaders?
A. The Israeli government has recently revealed its terrorist policy, which aims at destroying the Palestinian Authority’s infrastructure at all levels. Sharon’s government said explicitly that it would exploit the events in the US in order to intensify its brutal and terrorist operations against the Palestinian people.
The Israeli defense minister himself announced that the many Palestinian martyrs who were killed in Jenin did not spur any international reaction because all attention is focused on the US.
Q. Some observers believe that what happened in the US may negatively impact the Palestinian resistance and struggle. What are your comments on that?
A. The Palestinian national resistance against occupation is a principle engraved on the conscience of the Palestinian and Arab people and humanity throughout the world. Therefore, this cause will not be affected by any developments, even those in the US.
Naturally, attention will be temporarily distracted from the Palestinian crisis to the current developments in the US, but the Palestinian issue will enter the spotlight again soon.
