Following are two recent references by senior Palestinian officials to the US missile strikes against Sudan and Afghanistan:
"Question: Tell me, does the Palestinian Authority support the American
action against targets in Sudan and Afghanistan?
Sufian Abu Zaida: Of course not. Of course not.... We do not agree and we
shall not agree. I do not think it would be right for us to agree with the
American attack on Afghanistan and Sudan. It would be a disgrace if a
Palestinian or an Arab were to agree to this, since there was no proof. The
United States can not be both the guardian of law in the world and the one
who enforces it.
Question: ...So you come and say that we can not totally rely on American
intelligence?
Sufian Abu Zaida: That is the answer. That is the answer - to kill Sudanese
and Afghan civilians - that is the answer? Let us say that Bin Laden is a
terrorist, let's assume that he is a terrorist and that he did it. So
Clinton is also a terrorist who kills Afghan and Sudanese innocents. That
is the answer?!"
"These air operations against a sovereign country like Sudan and also against a sovereign country like Afghanistan are a serious precedent in international relations. It is an aggression against the sovereignty of these countries.... I say that this precedent might open the door to the return of the law of the jungle governing relations among countries... We view these efforts as harmful to peace efforts, to stability in the Middle East. They also show that some quarters in the US administration might be more inclined to adopt the policy of force instead of the policy of settling issues peacefully."
Following are three recent references in the official Palestinian media to the bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania:
"One should not be surprised by the attacks and the anti-American violence. The Americans are the ones who created this violence and utilized it for a long period of time. They have no one to blame but themselves."
"The Israeli haste in sending a rescue team to Africa with American approval was in order to create solidarity among the victims for Israel... What the Israelis are doing is attempting to Judaize every tragedy on the face of the earth and erase the ongoing tragedies occurring to the Palestinian people. This is a despicable act from the point of view of turning the facts on their head, exploiting emotions and directing accusations at the victim. It is giving credit to the hangmen, the murderers and the thieves who have stolen land."
"We say to the United States: If you are not willing to accept a protest letter at your consulate in eastern Jerusalem [concerning the Congressional decision to require official American documents to state "Jerusalem, Israel"] and you are not willing to accept the explosions at your embassies and consulates, then how can the oppressed and the swindled make their voices heard?... [America's] racist oppression and pro-Israel policy, and its support for the occupation will not in the end lead to the safeguarding of American interests... I say to the Arab and Islamic nation that history proves that the fate of those who exploited and behaved corruptly with Jerusalem was always destruction. This too will be the fate of the Jews..."
Following are excerpts from an August 21, 1998 article in the official Palestinian Authority newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda:
"One who knows the anonymous soldiers who set the Monica-gate scandal in motion, and one who knows the power of the Zionist lobby in the United States and the operational methods of Jewish pressure groups who blackmail American presidents, knows that what is currently happening is little more than the use of democracy in the service of the conspiracy. The pretty President charged with engaging in relations with a former White House intern upon her consent, or perhaps her initiative, is not a skirt-chaser as he is described in the American media, which is controlled and managed by the Jews... President Clinton is an angel compared to President Kennedy and his brothers... but Marilyn Monroe did not approach an independent prosecutor to litigate the president because she was not a Jew of Polish background and was not connected to AIPAC and Jewish pressure groups.
There was a need to reduce the American pressure on the Israeli government,
and there was a need to convey a clear message to Clinton that he can not
boycott Netanyahu and refuse his calls, and there was a need for the
American administration to forget its initiative for an Israeli withdrawal
from the occupied Palestinian lands and to forget its positive initiative
to lessen the pressure on Iraq, and so the stained dress was pulled out of
the AIPAC warehouse."
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