Issue No. 605
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26 Sept. - 2 October 2002 Issue No. 605 Special |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Resistance, but with a vision of peace
Hassan Asfour, PA minister for NGOs, told Taghreed El-Khodari that suicide attacks harm the Palestinian cause
Hassan Asfour, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and head of Palestinian Commission of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) Affairs, has taken part in nearly all the rounds of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians since the signing of Oslo in 1993. He speculated that the Intifada would continue as long as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remained in power, and confirmed that the majority of Palestinians continue to back their leader, President Yasser Arafat.
It's now been two years of Intifada. How would you evaluate it?
Israel has succeeded in realising the Likud vision against the Oslo Agreement: to destroy the peace process, security, and stability, and to deepen the hatred and aggression that have stimulated the Palestinian people's fight for their national dignity and real Palestinian independence. Israel has demonstrated that it is still a state that is unable to live in the region.
Does that mean that Oslo is dead?
Hassan Assfour
Not dead: Oslo is not an agreement on paper. Oslo had to be implemented to reach its ends. But since [former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu came to power, the Likud has been turning the wheel back very slowly. As a result, we are back to the atmosphere that existed before the Oslo agreement. Right now, the point [is] that Sharon and his military gangs, with their stupid allies from the Labour Party, [have] succeeded in imposing military power on the Palestinian people. But despite all the destruction and reoccupation of the Palestinian lands, the people have decided not to turn Sharon's dreams into facts, realising that the price will be high, and may be very high when it comes to the number of Palestinians killed as martyrs or injured or detained. We do realise the importance of not letting the Zionists win.
Are you saying the alternative for the Palestinians is not negotiation but resistance?
The issue now is not to search for a way to save or revive Oslo, but to search for ending the occupation and fulfilling Palestinian rights, which is the establishment of a Palestinian state along 1967 borders, including Arab Jerusalem, and finding a just solution for the refugees. I believe the battle will continue as long as the Zionist gangs led by Sharon and [Defence Minister Binyamin] Ben Eliezer rule Israel. It's time for the Israeli people to decide what they want: to support the occupying force, or to support the force that aims to continue down to the establishment of two states, which is the sole road to stability in the region. We do realise that Israeli military power may equal all the power that exists in the region, but that won't guarantee Israel's security forever. The battle is not a traditional war, where the winner is the one with the tanks and planes. The winner is the one who has the will and the ability not to surrender. It's the nature of the Palestinians not to surrender.
The latest polls showed that more than two thirds of the Palestinians believe that armed confrontations have helped achieve Palestinian national rights in ways that negotiations could not. What do you think?
[The polls are] not true. The majority of Palestinians are looking for peace through political negotiation. The attacks that target Israeli civilians are not receiving the same public support, especially after 11 September. There is a wide Palestinian debate about the usefulness of such attacks. Resisting the occupation in Palestinian lands is our legitimate right, but military operations inside Israel that target civilians are a controversial subject. Emotionally, such attacks attract people because of the Zionist crimes, but from the political point of view, there is an awareness that these attacks don't serve our struggle. Personally, I think that there are many in the Arab world who support these attacks because they avenge the Arab regimes' lack of dignity.
How would you evaluate the United States administration's position?
The question to be raised here is not why the US always stands by Israel, but why there is no public debate in the Arab world on how to make America change its stand. Why do Arabs provide America with wealth, when America provides Israel with wealth? It's an equation that requires deep reflection: a friend to the Arabs cannot be the main defence force for the Israelis. This is an unnatural equation. America's interests are regional, not Israeli.
Do you agree with reports that Hamas has been gaining more support lately?
The issue is not who is supporting whom. The real battle is that Israel has succeeded in undermining the Palestinians' aspiration for peace. Therefore, some parties have been trying to market their position, as though it was the only right choice. But that is political deception. What is the percentage of Hamas's support? 20 per cent? That doesn't reflect that Palestinians are turning away from the peace process. It is the nature of the Israeli crimes that give Hamas its margin of manoeuvre. In a frame of a political vision, Hamas is not able to present a political programme, and could only raise slogans. Hamas doesn't have a real vision. Sharon and his party don't want to achieve peace or end the occupation. I wish that Hamas leaders would realise that, because now is a time for national interest, not for imposing visions on people. After ending the occupation, Hamas can prove itself through democratic elections.
Can you see a Palestinian state in the near future?
Not soon. But Palestinians have proved to be survivors, despite all the conspiracies from 1948 until now.
Do you have any faith in the Israeli public?
Part of the Israeli public wants to end the occupation in order to live in peace. Our goal is not to kill Israelis. Rather, it is resistance. We want from them to stand beside us; to end the occupation of the lands taken over in 1967. Then we can live in peace and security.
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