"The two-state solution does not exist...
return to the option of
one Palestine from the river to the sea"
"This is our goal; this is the lantern that lights our way;
these are our principles in the Fatah Movement:
Palestine - Gaza is part of it; the West Bank is part of it;
and it is Haifa, Jaffa, Acre, and it is all of Palestine"
Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Following the unity
agreement between the Palestinian Authority and the terror organization
Hamas, many have expressed concern that Hamas ideology may now become
part of the PA government's policy. However, even before the unity
agreement, PA and Fatah officials have consistently expressed many of
the same messages of terror, hate and denial of Israel's right to exist.
Several times
recently, Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi has openly
rejected coexistence with Israel and called for a "return to the option
of one Palestine from the river to the sea." During an interview on
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV, he stated that "the only solution before us is
the historic solution presented by Fatah in 1968."
"I
repeat my humble opinion once again: I'm telling you that the two-state
solution does not exist. The two-state solution does not exist. The
two-state solution is over. We must return to the option of one
Palestine from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea.
Palestinians, Palestinian leadership, listen to me: The only solution
before us is the historic solution presented by Fatah in 1968."
[Al-Manar TV (Hezbollah), April 2, 2014]
Tirawi reiterated
the same message last week when he said "the homeland... is... all of
Palestine, from its [Jordan] River to its [Mediterranean] Sea":
"Our people, people of Gaza, Gaza of resolve, of nobleness and struggle:
Your freedom is near. Our prisoners' freedom and your freedom are also
near, Allah willing. You will return to the bosom of legitimacy, to the
bosom of the homeland, which is represented by [the] Gaza [Strip] and
the [West] Bank, by Palestine -- all of Palestine, from its [Jordan]
River to its [Mediterranean] Sea. This is our goal; this is the lantern
that lights our way; these are our principles in the Fatah Movement:
Palestine -- [the] Gaza [Strip] is part of it; the [West] Bank is part
of it; and it is Haifa, Jaffa, Acre, and it is all of Palestine, which
will be an independent state for us, Allah willing."
[Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi's YouTube channel, April 20, 2014]
Tirawi said that
"the only solution before us is the historic solution presented by Fatah
in 1968." This can only be understood as another call for Israel's
destruction through armed conflict. The PLO Charter first written in 1964
called for "liberation" of Palestine, meaning the destruction of
Israel, adding that the PLO does not seek "territorial sovereignty over
the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the Gaza Strip..."
However, when the West Bank and Gaza Strip came under Israeli
administration following the Six Day War in 1967, the PLO rewrote its
Charter in 1968, now seeking sovereignty over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as well, lands formerly under Jordanian and Egyptian rule.
The Charter of 1968
also speaks of "armed struggle" or "armed revolution" nine times,
stating that "armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine" and
urging Palestinians to "be prepared for the armed struggle." The PLO and
Fatah were then defined internationally as terror organizations.
The "armed
struggle" to "liberate Palestine," with "Palestine" defined as all of
Israel including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, is "the historic
solution presented by Fatah in 1968" to which Tirawi referred.
The 1968 Charter's
definition of Israel should also be noted. Israel is defined as "the
instrument" of Zionism, which is "a political movement organically
associated with international imperialism and antagonistic to all action
for liberation and to progressive movements in the world. It is racist
and fanatic in its nature, aggressive, expansionist, and colonial in its
aims, and fascist in its methods."
Click to see other statements by Tirawi, denying Israel's right to exist and advocating violent struggle.
See Palestinian Media Watch's website for more examples of the PA expressing that its goal is Israel's destruction.
The following is a longer excerpt of Tirawi's speech advocating one Palestine "from the river to the sea":
Fatah's Forum
for Prisoners and Released Prisoners organized a torch-lighting ceremony
in front of the homes of prisoners Diya and Muhammad Al-Agha in the
Khan Yunis District
Fatah Central Committee Member Tawfiq Tirawi:
"Our people, people of Gaza, Gaza of resolve, of nobleness and
struggle: Your freedom is near. Our prisoners' freedom and your freedom
are also near, Allah willing. You will return to the bosom of
legitimacy, to the bosom of the homeland, which is represented by [the]
Gaza [Strip] and the [West] Bank, by Palestine - all of Palestine, from
its [Jordan] River to its [Mediterranean] Sea. This is our goal; this is
the lantern that lights our way; these are our principles in the Fatah
Movement: Palestine - [the] Gaza [Strip] is part of it; the [West] Bank
is part of it; and it is Haifa, Jaffa, Acre, and it is all of Palestine,
which will be an independent state for us, Allah willing."
[Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi's YouTube channel,
April 20, 2014]
Notes:
Diya Al-Agha -
serving a life sentence for beating Israeli citizen and former elite
Israeli army commando member Amatzia Ben Haim to death with a shovel in
the Gaza Strip (Oct. 11, 1992).
Muhammad Al-Agha - sentenced to 13 years in prison; PMW has not been able to obtain precise information about his crime.
The following is a longer excerpt of Tirawi's statement dismissing the two-state solution:
Fatah Central
Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi: "I repeat my humble opinion once again:
I'm telling you that the two-state solution does not exist. The
two-state solution does not exist. The two-state solution is over. We
must return to the option of one Palestine from the [Jordan] River to
the [Mediterranean] Sea. Palestinians, Palestinian leadership, listen to
me: The only solution before us is the historic solution presented by
Fatah in 1968."
[Al-Manar TV (Hezbollah), April 2, 2014]
No comments:
Post a Comment