24 - 30 May 2001
Issue No.535
|
Al-Ahram Weekly Online 24 - 30 May 2001 Issue No.535 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
'Confronting a staunch enemy'
Despite increasing talk of a regional war, Ahmed Jibril, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (General Command), speaking to Sherine Bahaa from his headquarters in Damascus, argues that an all-out war is unlikely
"It was clear from the very beginning that our Zionist enemy will never go for peace," said Ahmed Jibril, beginning the interview. His memory flashed back 53 years, to when he was only 10 years old. Jibril was living with his family in Jaffa when the Nakba took place.
A member of the old guard, Ahmed Jibril was back in the news earlier this month when his organisation took responsibility for an arms shipment that was seized by the Israeli navy. Because of the peace agreements signed between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel, PA security forces are allowed only personal fire-arms. Jibril, however, pledged to continue smuggling what he called "defensive" anti-tank, anti-personnel and anti-aircraft weapons to the Palestinians.
"I cannot comprehend what all the hassle is about. If it is only about sending arms to our brothers in Palestine, I think we should have been blamed if we did not do that," Jibril said. According to him, when the Israelis hit Nablus and Ramallah, Palestinians have to hit back. "We have to establish a balance of terror. It is only now that we started hearing about Palestinians using mortar bombs and land-mines."
Jibril did not hesitate to go further, declaring that his organisation is developing secret cells inside the occupied territories. These cells are responsible for the killing of one settler and the injury of two others. He also revealed that his organisation provides a training and logistics base for Hamas activists and played a crucial role in last week's explosion in Netanya. "We are confronting a staunch enemy and we are thinking of nothing else except how to protect our people."
That he made these statements from Damascus was significant, especially as they come shortly after last month's Israeli attack on a Syrian radar station in Lebanon. Though Jibril was keen to show that his organisation acts freely within Damascus, a change in the Syrian attitude is not totally ruled out.
"The Syrians, like the Palestinians, learnt the lesson well. The path of peace proved to be closed, ended. So it is high time for the Syrians to change the rules of the game," Jibril said.
It seems that Syria is not the only country changing the rules of the game, as Arab foreign ministers adopted a much tougher stance towards Israel in their meeting at the Arab league this week. For his part, Jibril commended the statement, hoping that "Arabs will use a much louder voice in confronting the current problem, as it is not only targeting the Palestinians but there are threats to Syria, Lebanon and Egypt."
Israeli talk of attacking Arab targets comes up repeatedly, ranging from Egypt's High Dam to Lebanese and Syrian targets or reoccupying PA-controlled areas. "The Zionist entity has gone really mad. They are sending threats everywhere," reiterated Jibril. However, he added, "The Israeli army is cowardly and incapable of undergoing ground operations. It is using whatever technology it gained from the US to perform airstrikes that would only boost army morale."
Jibril, an old guerrilla fighter, has repeatedly argued that Israel must be exposed to the type of force used in the 1970s and 1980s, when Jibril was involved in hijacking and bombing planes. He was among a group of Palestinian "rejectionists" who disagreed with Arafat's decision to pursue peace negotiations.
"There were Palestinians who believed that giving up 80 per cent of their historical land and building their state within the borders of 1967 would establish peace and they would have their own state in the West Bank and Gaza. They dreamt of a Singapore or Hong Kong kind of state. You see what they reaped now."
While the peace agreements divided the Palestinians into two opposing camps, those for peace talks and those against the talks, the Intifada, according to Jibril, "has established a common ground among all Palestinians. That is why it has to be supported and safeguarded for the sake of our one and only objective: the expulsion of the occupation."
For long decades, "the Palestinian people used to hold tight to international resolutions for protection, which was totally abandoned by the Israelis," Jibril went on.
He was referring to the series of UN resolutions, beginning in 1947 with UN resolutions 182, which provided for the partition of Palestine, and194, calling for the right of return, in addition to the land-for-peace formula which was initiated in Security Council resolutions 242, 338 and 425.
"All these resolutions and many others were confined to paper and a second Nakba took place in 1967 to reinforce the first. And Israel became well established, launching an expansionist phase with its settlement construction policy," Jibril explained.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page