Excerpts from Arafat’s Speech in Ramallah:

Narrator quoting Arafat: “We are building our state, piece by piece and will continue until our state is established and Holy Jerusalem is its capital. We are only a few steps from Jerusalem. And no one will separate us from even a grain of our land.”

Arafat: “The intifada was seven blessed years. Seven blessed years. Intifada of stones. The children of stones. The Generals of stones. When we chose the peace of the brave, we chose it with trust in the Prophet [who agreed] to the treaty of Hudaybia and we have chosen this agreement Yes we will establish the state on May 4 1999… “Our guns are raised. And we will aim them at anyone who prevents us from going to Jerusalem…
On the 4th of May we are free to declare our Palestinian State… Our new generals are the children of the stones. And they are prepared for any moment.”
[Palestinian Authority Television]

Editorial Article of the Palestinian Authority
Newspaper: Alchayat Aljadeeda

“We commemorate today, in the Legislative Council, the tenth anniversary of the declaration of independence, on this blessed day we reiterate and emphasize the details of the struggle, the contending, the patience and the adherence of the Palestinians against the wicked winds and the clouds of conspiracy and the balls of hatred in the lost wars to eliminate us We stand behind the president in one line and accelerate the steps of our national and holy pathway to a state and a place of the Palestinian flag in Jerusalem. We believe that the Palestinian steps on this pathway are secure despite the thorns and obstacles and despite the landmines, the ambush and the traps that the enemy [Israel] is planting in our people’s path and despite its steps that drowned in the pathways of freedom sealed with blood. We emphasize, today and every day, our full and just belief in the establishment of an independent state with its capital Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, the capital of the prophets of Allah and the capital of believers the world over. We call for a fight for the implementation of the national and historical plan with all the resources at our disposal, both apparent and hidden.” [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, 11/15/98]

Headline: In a Comprehensive Speech on the Tenth Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

“The President [Arafat] emphasized once more the intention of the [Palestinian] Authority to declare an independent state on May 4th next year.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, 11/15/98]

Headline: The Declaration of the State
“The stage was not easy and the pathway to a state still difficult, thorny and ridden with landmines and Israeli conspiracies. But we will get there and wave the state flag in Jerusalem.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, 11/15/98]

Arafat’s Speech
“… the establishment of an independent state with its capital Jerusalem as well as the focus on the refugee problem which are the focus of the struggle and which are one of the pillars of the Palestinian problem since the disaster [of the establishment of Israel] and until the return, if Allah wills. We believe that the state of Palestine, which we will build stone upon stone, inch after inch, we will take her land, sliver after sliver and its institutions will be established one after the other under the most difficult conditions.
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, 11/15/98]

Headline: Manifestos of Support for the Iraqi People

The National and Islamic forces in the Gaza Strip called on all Arabs, nations and governments, to carry out their tasks which can place a limit to the suffering of the Iraqi people and to stand beside it, in order to end its tragedy which is the tragedy of all the Arabs. In the manifesto which was published yesterday, they announced their support for the Iraqi stance in her standing up to the American threats and its just demands to lift from it the embargo of oppression.
[Al-Quds, 11/15/98]

“Alba’arouthi [Member of the Legislative Council] declared our people’s stand by the brother Iraqi people, and demanded to lift the embargo on the children of Baghdad and the Iraqi people. Dr. Issa Ziada added that the declaration of independence was another historical milestone on our long journey, but the date of the upcoming May 4th will be another historical milestone in the declaration of an independent state, something which obligates us to unite and gather our resources. In commemoration of the [anniversary of] independence, the student youth group of the Ramallah and Elbireh regional schools distributed a manifesto on the fact that there is no other option open to us aside from struggle against the arrogance, of what is called the Government of Israel and due to the lack of implementation of the agreements.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, 11/15/98]

The Palestinians often attempt to minimize their terrorist activities by trying to create the impression of themselves as being “David” vs. Israel the “Goliath”. A caricature today shows an armed, tall Israeli soldier threatening a Palestinian child holding only a sling and taking shelter in the shadow of the President of the United States, Bill Clinton, and the soldier turns to the President and says: ‘You must protect me from him’. The title of the caricature is ‘Israel’s Security’.
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, 11/15/98]

“The Bureau of Consecration and Religious Affairs called on all Muslims around the world to support the Palestinian people and to stand by its side in order to guard the holy places and to liberate them and to support the people of Palestine in order that they be able to foil the schemes aimed against them and against their holy places.

A manifesto of the Bureau of Consecrations surveyed the holiness of the Al Aksa Mosque [in Jerusalem] and its connection with the holy mosque in Mecca and its great position among the Muslims, and emphasized that the Muslims will defend Alaksa and the land around it, blessed by Allah, and they will not disregard even one grain of its land, and emphasized the Muslim character of Jerusalem and Palestine.
[Al-Quds, 11/15/98]

Prepared in conjunction with Palestinian Media Watch, under the direction of Itamar Marcus.

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