Quotes from an Arab spring that make your heart sink

From the Jerusalem post:

"Fatah has never recognized Israel’s right to exist and will never do so, according to Azzam al-Ahmed, a member of the Fatah Central Committee who is closely associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Ahmed, who is also head of the Fatah negotiating team with Hamas, said PA security forces in the West Bank were arresting Hamas supporters to protect them from being targeted by the IDF.

Ahmed’s remarks were made in an interview with the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al- Youm.

Asked whether Fatah had spoken with Hamas about recognizing Israel, the senior Fatah official said, “Fatah has not recognized Israel. I challenge anyone who says that the case is otherwise, whether it’s Hamas or others. Neither Fatah nor Hamas is required to recognize Israel. Only governments and states extend recognition. It was the Palestinian government that recognized Israel, just as the Israeli government recognized us.”

Ahmed said the PLO had recognized Israel with the signing of the Oslo Accords.

“An organization recognized a state and a state recognized an organization,” he said."


@ Angry Arab (AKA As’ad AbuKhalil, former Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC., former free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, and now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus and visiting professor at UC, Berkeley.)

It is clear. There is a pattern in the Western press. They are now orchestrating a campaign (in cahoots with US governments and pro-US dictatorships) to warn of the dangers of democracies in the Arab world. They warn that if Arab democratize it will jeopardize the status of gays and religious minorities in the Arab world. Let me get this straight: the US wants to keep Mubarak and House of Saud and Salih and House of Thani in power because it fears that if they get replaced, the welfare of gays and religious minorities would be undermined? Are you kidding with me?

And this:

"A former deputy chief of Egypt’s court of appeals, Judge Mahmoud al-Khodheiri, recently expressed a common sentiment about the gas deal in an interview with Al Jazeera. “I consider the export of gas to Israel an act of treason, and we should stop it,” he said. “I salute the people who bombed the gas pipe because this is my blood that is being transferred to the enemy.”"


@ Mick Hartley's: :

"Egyptian cleric Mazen Al-Sarsawi, speaking on Nour Al-Khaleejiah TV:

When the mujahideen fight a country, they say to its people: "Covert to Islam. That's our only demand. We don't want anything else from you – we don't want your money or your country. All we want is for you to enter Paradise with us." Is there anything more lofty than this? […]

Do they kill the infidels if they refuse to convert? No, they don't. The Muslims say to them: "Let's remain friends. You pay us the jizya poll tax, and we will make sure you are safe. We could easily fight you and take over your country, so you are better off paying the jizya, and we will protect you." […]

It is said: "If they refuse to pay, seek Allah's help and fight them." You tell them to convert – they refuse. You tell them to pay the jizya – they refuse. That means they have evil intentions. Fine, we will fight them."