The Fatah Reference Secretary in the Palestine, Hussein al Sheikh, said resistance by the Palestinians of the Israeli occupation including the martyrdom operation is legitimate. Following are excerpts from an interview with Hussein:
Q. What are your comments on the reports claiming that the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have halted martyrdom operations?
A. I wouldn’t like to comment on an unknown person who issued statements in the name of the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades but I would like to affirm that resistance is a legitimate right for Palestinians and it will continue until the occupation is ended.
Q. Does the Palestinian resistance movement need time to rebuild itself after it has lost many of its fighters in the latest Israeli attacks?
A. You have to remember that the Israeli forces which invaded the Palestinian lands could have devastated and led to the surrender of more than one Arab capital had these forces attacked the Arab capitals. We as Palestinians are not afraid of the Israeli tanks because our aim is to get rid of occupation through resistance. Anybody who thinks killing and imprisoning thousands of Palestinians by the Israeli occupation forces would halt the resistance and Intifada is mistaken and the coming days will prove that.
Q. Do you anticipate that Sharon will attack Gaza in the same way he attacked the West Bank?
A. Sharon announced in the Israeli Knesset that the second stage would be attacking Gaza.
Q. Is the resistance in Gaza ready to learn from what happened in the West Bank?
A. I think our people in Gaza are prepared to defend every inch of our land. This issue cannot be argued and as I said they can occupy the Palestinian lands in a matter of hours but they cannot occupy our minds.
Q. Do you make contacts with President Arafat in his besieged headquarters in Ramallah?
A. I have today spoken to President Arafat and felt he was in high morale. This leader is a legend in this bad time and darkness, which the Arab nation is witnessing. The Palestinians will not accept any other leader brought on an Israeli tank because we as Palestinians do not at all have people like Beshir al Jomayyel, Anthony Lahad or Hamid Karzai.
Today there was a big demonstration in Ramallah supporting Arafat, the only leader for our nation who is resisting in this small area of Ramallah besieged by the Israeli occupation forces. Sharon’s conspiracy to bring a new leadership has failed.
The devastation by the occupation forces is immense and rebuilding will take years because the infrastructure in the Palestinian lands has been destroyed completely. The brutality of the Israeli enemy will never stop our resistance because this is a liberation war. (Albawaba.com)
