Speeches Denounce Violence
then Calls for Martyrdom
(December 2001)
On December 16, 2001, increasing international
pressure persuaded Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to address
the issues of terrorism.
Speaking in Arabic on Palestinian television,
Arafat called on the Palestinian people to
end "all military activities" against
Israel. He also said, "I renew the call
to completely halt any activities, especially
suicide attacks, which we have condemned and
always condemned."
In a warning to Hamas and Islamic
Jihad, Arafat said he would "only
allow one authority" in the areas under
his control. "We must not allow anyone
to shake the credibility" of the Palestinian
Authority´s "leadership and its
decisions," he said and vowed to prosecute
those who ignored his directives. "We
will punish all planners" of terror attacks,
Arafat said. "We will hunt down the violators
firmly."
Arafat also accused Israeli officials of
"launching a brutal war" against
the Palestinian Authority and its institutions,
and urging them to return to peace talks.
Almost immediately after the speech, militant
Palestinian groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, rejected Arafat's call
for an end to terrorism.
Just two days later (December 18, 2001),
however, Chairman Arafat delivered a vastly
different speech to rally in Ramallah. In
that speech, he stated the following:
With God´s help, next time we will meet
in Jerusalem, because we are fighting to
bring victory to our prophets, every baby,
every kid, every man, every woman and every
old person and all the young people, we
will all sacrifice ourselves for our holy
places and we will strengthen our hold of
them and we are willing to give 70 of our
martyrs for every one of theirs in this
campaign, because this is our holy land.
We will continue to fight for this blessed
land and I call on you to stand strong.
Sources: JTA |