Bulletin
Feb 28 2008
Palestinian Media Watch
Abbas rejects Jewishness of Israel,
doesn't rule out armed conflict
proud to have taught terror to world

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
Palestinian Media Watch:
p:+972 2 625 4140 e: pmw@pmw.org.il
f: +972 2 624 2803 w: www.pmw.org.il

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that he doesn't
rule out armed conflict against Israel. He also said that he was "honored"
to have fired the first bullet of the Fatah terror organization in 1965, and
to have taught terror tactics around the world, including to such groups as
Hizbullah.

In an in-depth interview published today in the Jordanian daily Al-Dustur,
Abbas said that the PA is "unable" to pursue armed conflict for now, but
said that "in the future stages things may be different."

He rejected Israel as a Jewish state, and said that it was the PA's
rejection of Israel's Jewishness that almost aborted the Annapolis
Conference last November.

Abbas said that he won't demand that Hamas recognize Israel. In fact, as PMW
has reported in the past, he said that the only "recognition" of Israel he
demands of a Palestinian unity government is to recognize Israel as its
adversary.

Here are some highlights from that interview:

The Arab Situation

"Now we are against armed conflict because we are unable. In the future
stages, things may be different... "

We reject the Jewishness of the state

The Palestinian President emphasized his rejection of what is described as
the Jewishness of the state [Israel], and said: "We rejected this proposal
at the Annapolis conference last November in the USA, and the conference was
almost aborted because of it..."

The Resistance [Editor's note: PA euphemism for terror]

The Palestinian President spoke about the resistance, saying: "I was honored
to be the one to shoot the first bullet in 1965 [Fatah terror against Israel
began in 1965] ,and having taught resistance to many in this area and around
the world, defining it and when it is beneficial and when it is not... we
had the honor of leading the resistance.We taught everyone what resistance
is, including the Hezbollah, who were trained in our camps [i.e. PLO camps
in the 60s and 70s]."

Recognition of Israel

"I don't demand that the Hamas movement recognize Israel. I only demanded of
the [Palestinian] national unity government that would work opposite Israel
in recognition of it. And this I told to Syrian President Bashir Assad, and
he supported this idea."

Al-Dustur, February 28, 2008