Critical Moment: The Palestinian Perspective

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• MARGARET WARNER:

  The Palestinian perspective. We turn to Hasan Abdel Rahman, the chief PLO representative to Washington. Welcome.

• HASAN ABDEL RAHMAN:

  Thank you.

• MARGARET WARNER:

  Until this weekend, Yasser Arafat had refused to issue a public call for an end to the violence. Why has he done so now?

• HASAN ABDEL RAHMAN:

  Well, we realize that at some point things have to come to a conclusion, to a stop. It has become too dangerous and Yasser Arafat took this very courageous step – notwithstanding that that today is the anniversary of Israel's occupation that has completed 34 years of Palestinian territories and Palestinian people.

  You know, when people live for 34 years – two generations – under foreign military occupation, I assure you they will be angry; they will be frustrated. So the source of all the ill between us and the Israelis is really Israeli's military occupation.

• MARGARET WARNER:

  Now, though Hamas claimed responsibility for last Friday night, as you know, the Israeli government blamed the Palestinian Authority and said it had created – I think it was a coalition of terrorism and a certain climate in the areas it controls. What is your response to that?

• HASAN ABDEL RAHMAN:

  That's absolutely nonsense You know when somebody wants to commit suicide, he is not going to consult neither with Yasser Arafat or anybody else; he will go and do it. But when Israel carries on a bombardment of a Palestinian town, it is by instructions of Mr. Sharon and the chief of the Israeli army, so there's a difference between terrorism committed by an individual and a state sponsored terrorism. Having said this, we are interested in bringing all of this to a conclusion.

  We want to live side by side with Israel in peace, but as equals, free, two independent states. That's why we ask Israel to withdraw its army from Palestinian land, because the presence of the Israeli army and the presence of Jewish settlers in Palestinian territories are both provoking the Palestinians.

• MARGARET WARNER:

  What does the cease-fire actually mean? I know Yasser Arafat met with leaders of various factions this weekend. What did he tell them they could do and they couldn't do?

• HASAN ABDEL RAHMAN:

  Well he is telling them he is going to exert all the efforts possible to stop any firing at the Israelis, any shooting of the Israelis, but you know today, for example, the Israeli army went into southern Gaza and started bulldozers and tanks and wanted to erect road blocks in Palestinian territories. This is an act of provocation that's really undermines whatever efforts that we are trying to exert.

• MARGARET WARNER:

  All right. Let me just make sure I understand this. So no shooting but not necessarily no rock throwing? What is the –

• HASAN ABDEL RAHMAN:

  You cannot stop people from protesting an illegal military occupation; you can't and you should not, because foreign military occupation is illegal – is immoral. It should not be tolerated not by the Israelis – not by the Palestinians, not by the Americans. You know, we are at the time in history where no people should be occupied by another people, and I'm really amazed that there is not enough outrage in this country and internationally over Israel's military occupation. That confiscates Palestinian freedom; it confiscates Palestinian dignity; it does not allow us to develop as a free people in our own country.

• MARGARET WARNER:

  All right. But let me go back to this cease-fire; there were Hamas leaders and also leaders of the Islamic Jihad quoted this weekend in any event in the western press saying they didn't plan to abide by this; they certainly wouldn't end the armed uprising. How does Yasser Arafat plan to enforce the cease-fire?

• HASAN ABDEL RAHMAN:

  Yasser Arafat will exert every effort to put in effect the cease-fire. Now, every effort I said; no one can guarantee 100 percent success but you can guarantee 100 percent effort, which we will exert. I hope that the Israelis are not looking for a pretext and they will not provoke the Palestinians, because you know so far it has been the Israeli army and Jewish settlers.

  You have to look at the numbers of casualties; of course we condemn the killing of Israeli children, but we want Israel also to condemn its army's killing of Palestinian children. You know, our children's life is as precious as their children also. We do not want their children to die but we do not want our children also to die.

• MARGARET WARNER:

  Let me ask you about what Israel is asking for here. The Israelis are saying maybe Yasser Arafat can't halt everything, but the one thing he could do to help prevent attacks like Friday night is rearrest some of the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad that he set free last September. Is Yasser Arafat going to do that?

• HASAN ABDEL RAHMAN:

  Well, I said Yasser Arafat will take the necessary steps to ensure that the cease-fire holds true from our side but also we want the Israelis to implement their side of the deal. You cannot ask the Palestinian to stop protesting or resisting Israel's occupation…if the Israeli army continues to attack Palestinian towns; if the Israeli tanks remain in Palestinian towns and in Palestinian population centers; if Jewish settlers carry on their acts of vigilante shooting at the Palestinian or Israel continues to build up settlements in Palestine – both sides have to take steps if we want to come to a peaceful conclusion.

• MARGARET WARNER:

  All right. So if this cease-fire holds, as it more or less has for 48 hours, how long before Yasser Arafat expects and wants to see something from the Israeli side, and what does he want to see in a short time frame?

• HASAN ABDEL RAHMAN:

  I believe that Secretary Powell yesterday said that there has to be a very brief period of cooling off and then Israel has to withdraw its troops from Palestinian towns and villages; stop – cease all Jewish settlement activities in Palestinian territories because Jewish settlement activities are provocations to the Palestinians, and if Israel is serious about reaching peace with the Palestinians, they don't need to take more land from the Palestinians; and allow – stop all those collective punishment measures that you heard the young man talking about, suffocating Palestinians. So – and then we have to go back to the negotiating table.

• MARGARET WARNER:

  When you say a brief cooling period, though, before you want to see these steps, what are you talking about?

• HASAN ABDEL RAHMAN:

  I'm talking about a couple of weeks.

• MARGARET WARNER:

  And if the cease-fire doesn't hold, what then?

• HASAN ABDEL RAHMAN:

  Well, I'm sure that – I hope that it will hold. Again, it requires effort from our side and it requires effort from the Israeli side. And if both do what they need to do, it is going to succeed, and for the sake of both of us, it needs to succeed.

• MARGARET WARNER:

  Spokesmen for the Israeli government and Israeli officials were saying this weekend that if the cease-fire didn't hold, they already had in plan a massive retaliatory strike. If Israel unleashes its full force on the Palestinians, can you withstand it?

• HASAN ABDEL RAHMAN:

  Israel is shooting itself in the foot, because it is not in the interest of anybody. Israel has been – killed thousands of Palestinians in Lebanon; it has been killing Palestinians for the last 35 years. It has imposed its will on the Palestinians for the last 35 years. This does not bring peace. What brings peace is the end of Israel's occupation of Palestinians; it's to respect the right of the Palestinians for self-determination; to live as a free people side by side to Israel; this is the only way that we can have peace.

• MARGARET WARNER:

  Hasan Abdel Rahman, thank you very much.

• HASAN ABDEL RAHMAN:

  Thank you.