Special Dispatch - Syria/Lebanon/Arab Antisemitism Documentation Project
January 23, 2004
No. 649

Lebanese Member of Parliament: 'The Fall of One Jew, Whether Soldier or
Civilian, Is a Great Accomplishment'

Walid Jumblatt, chairman of the (Druze) Socialist Progressive Party and
member of the Lebanese parliament, praised the January 14, 2004 suicide
bombing by a Palestinian woman in Gaza. The following are excerpts from his
statements:(1)

"Yesterday, the Palestinian mother Reem Al-Riyashi sacrificed herself, and
by so doing joined the columns of the brave Jihad warriors and broke the
atrocious and troublesome Arab silence, the helplessness, and the retreat
that precede failure and disintegration. She offered hope in a sea of
complacency, indecisiveness, and fear. It is a new Intifada. It is the
Intifada of the revolutionary Palestinian woman and of the land, opposing
the 'Jewification' [of Palestine], the Jewish reality, and the Arab regimes.
Did it come out of despair?

"No, and again no. It is an act of belief and it is the correct path,
because the fall of one Jew, whether soldier or civilian, is a great
accomplishment in times of decline, subservience, and submissiveness, as a
way to undermine the plan to 'Jewify' all of Palestine.

"I say 'Jew' and I apologize to the Lebanese intellectuals, or at least some
of them, who welcomed the Geneva initiative, applauded it, and considered it
an historical solution to the Middle East conflict. They play word games
[and differentiate] between Jew and Israeli, between Right and Left, and
between doves and hawks. Some of them may have forgotten, or pretend that
they have forgotten, that basically Israel was the product of the Zionist
Left starting with Weizmann, Ben-Gurion, and Peres through Yossi Beilin.
Have they forgotten that the Labor Party went to war in 1967 and since then
began to settle Jews in the West Bank? Even the separation wall today is the
brainchild of the Labor Party during Barak's time... And there are those who
made Rabin into a hero because of an obscure promise that we are still
bragging about [concerning Israel's willingness to withdraw from the Golan
Heights]. Wasn't he the one who instated [the practice of] breaking the
bones of Palestinian detainee

"Reem Al-Riyashi is the last roadblock. What is it that she and other
[women] are seeking or demanding? A few weapons, explosives, or anti-tank
missiles, [and to be able to pass] through Jordan, Rafiah, Lebanon, Syria,
or any other possible doorway in order to prevent the 'Jewification' plan,
or at least to delay it, while the [weapon] depots of the Arab armies are
full to the brim..."

Endnote:
1 Al-Nahar (Lebanon), January 19, 2004.

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