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“We are willing to die; for them every death is a tragedy…”
[Huseini:] Oslo is dead and buried. The Palestinian youth, especially in the refugee camps, wants to start fighting again, and we are having a great deal of trouble holding them back. Despite everything, we have decided to be patient until the end of the five-year interim period so that nobody can say that it was us who sabotaged the peace process. But on 4 May 1999, we will announce the independence of the Palestinian state. We will forcefully open up our borders with Jordan and Egypt, which are currently controlled by the Israeli army. There will be violent confrontation and death, but this time on both sides. Are the Israelis more numerous and better equipped? Yes, but the superiority of us Palestinians lies in the fact that we are willing to lay down our lives, whereas for them every death is a tragedy that society cannot bear. We have no other solution. But watch out If, yet again, the world lets Israel do what it wants, and if the PLO leadership fails in its last fight, then it will fall because the people will no longer have confidence in it. The only alternative will be Hamas. The fundamentalists are waiting; they are prepared to take power. Where Jerusalem is concerned they are capable of mobilizing Muslims from around the world — from Iran, Pakistan, and Morocco. There will be popular reactions everywhere; no Middle East government will be secure. The political map of the region will be sent into turmoil, and then Israel will have real reasons to be afraid!
As for the Western capitals, none of them will be safe. Nobody will be able stop the suicide attacks carried out by these young people who have been made desperate by years of sacrifice that have led to nothing. And since in Israel, the Jewish fundamentalists, who are already very powerful, will take power — that will mean a clash between two versions of fundamentalism. Unless the Palestinian question is resolved, then what we are seeing today is nothing compared to what could happen. Given Israel’s means of destruction, as well as those held by several Muslim countries, the entire world will be in danger.
