Saturday, February 22, 2003
BEIRUT - Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Sha'ath on Saturday ruled out the possibility of a truce in attacks by militant Palestinian groups against Israel until it stops its "aggression and occupation."
Sha'ath spoke to reporters after talks with Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and U.S. threats to attack Iraq. He met with Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Friday.
"The Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people are committed not to stop the intifada (uprising) until the Israeli aggression and occupation are eliminated," he said.
Keep fighting, pal. It's worked out well so far.
He said an upcoming meeting in Cairo with Palestinian factions would seek to agree on a political objective on how to deal with Israel, "which means an escalation or pacification (in intifada) depending on the international situation and depending on the needs and capabilities."
"There is a difference between the cessation of the intifada and agreement on administering it in such a way so as to benefit the Palestinian people," Sha'ath said.
Ahh...there we go. There's the out. Otherwise known as "Peace with dignity."
"aggression and occupation" ...
Of course, as every square inch of Israel is considered to be "occupied Palestinian territory" by our kind friends in the Intifada, this is tantamount to saying "we won't make peace with Israel until it has agreed to cease to exist" - before complaining about the warmongering Israelis, of course. Sigh.