Voices of Palestine: Nabil Shaath

January 11, 2012 By 31 Comments

As for Hamas and its potential reconciliation with Fatah–a deal-breaker regarding any peace agreement–Shaath remains equally obstinate. Last May, he said that Hamas should not be asked to recognize Israel. “Many others agree with us that the old rules of the quartet were not logical, and are not workable,” Shaath said. “They have no place” in the current formula anymore. “Stop asking Hamas,” he added. During the same interview with Israel Radio, Hamas deputy foreign minister in Gaza, Razi Hamed, claimed Hamas wants peace, but that “the occupation is the root of all [the Palestinians'] problems.” He contended that peace can only be realized by a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital, and the ability of all Palestinian refugees to “return to their homes” in Israel.

Despite this non-starter, an effort was made by Shaath as recently as last Sunday to continue reconciliation efforts with Hamas. He contends that Hamas is “moderating its positions” due to the weakening of the Syrian government that has long supported the terrorist organization. He went so far as to label Khaled Mashaal, leader of Hamas’s military wing, the “dove in Hamas.”

Thus, despite all the rhetoric about the peace process, it remains clear that the only “peace” the Palestinians are interested in is one that completely excludes Israel’s existence and/or its ability to defend itself. Despite this, a meeting was held yesterday between Palestinian and Israeli peace negotiators for the first time in more than a year. True to form, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened to take “harsh” measures against Israel if they didn’t meet his conditions for resuming negotiations, even as Hamas called on Abbas to cancel the meeting. In Gaza, Hamas leader Ismail al-Ashqar warned that if talks continue, they would “totally blow up the Palestinian reconciliation.”

As for Shaath, he remains duplicitous. Speaking with Wolf Blitzer on September 21st, he contended that Palestinians are “subject to occupation, and we want it to end in order to be in peace with Israel, as neighbors, two states side by side.” This completely contradicts what he said during the interview on Lebanon TV earlier in the year. Why the difference? In the former interview he was speaking in Arabic, the latter, English. Former colleague and PLO head Yasser Arafat was a master of such double-speak.

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About

Arnold Ahlert is a former NY Post op-ed columnist currently contributing to JewishWorldReview.com, HumanEvents.com and CanadaFreePress.com. He may be reached at [email protected]

  • muchiboy

    "What "moderate" Palestinians say when they think the West isn't listening."

    Can't be much worse then what Israelis say when they know the West is listening.muchiboy

    • jacob

      And what do Israelis say when the West IS listening, Muchiboy ???

      That the West can go to hell if it expects Israel to commit suicide ????

      What is a shame is that the israeli leadership stinks loudly, as it should bring
      hell upon GAZA to make them run to the land of who placed them there, EGYPT,
      the way Jordan's HUSSEIN made them run at BLACK SEPTEMBER, when they
      tried to dethrone him….

      And as to the "Moderate" the West believes this "gentleman" is, shouldn't it be
      rubbed on the noses of both WHOOPI GOLDBERG and JOY BEHAR for them
      to acknowledge the kind of "moderates" they rant and rave about, like those
      dancing and giving out candy in the streets of QUEENS while people were
      jumping to their deaths from the WTC on 9/11 ???????

      • muchiboy

        For the most part,I don't disagree with your assessment and condemnation of Arab regimes.That is why the west would like to see the Arab Spring succeed.However,the crimes or actions of the Arab regimes against their own and the Palestinians is as unconscionable and reprehensible as the actions and crimes of Israel against the Palestinian people.
        While the presence of Zionist Israel serves both to stabilize and destabilize the entire region,the Arabs and Palestinians would do well to acknowledge the value of millions of Jews who feel secure and at home there.As Jews are a "value added" asset where ever they call their home (with the qualified exception of Zionist Israel),their loss to the region would be catastrophic for all,the Palestinians most of all.

        • Larry

          What Israeli crimes would those be, oh dog licker?

        • stern

          muchiboy, unfortunately, your forced stay in the looney bin (that's where I assume you've been lately) has not helped you clear your mind. How can "Zionist Israel" both "stabilize and destabilize" the region?

          How can Jews be a "value added" asset except in Israel – and their loss be "catastrophic to the region" if that's what you're advocating?

          Are you trying to sound more moderate than you did before? Are you trying to say that you understand where we are coming from, but we still need to go the other way?

          Whatever you think you're saying, you're not making any sense at all. Clearly, anti-Semitism has poisoned your mind to such an extent that it's dying.

          • muchiboy

            "forced stay in the looney bin"
            Some might say the entire world is a looney bin of sorts,Stern.

            "How can "Zionist Israel" both "stabilize and destabilize" the region?"
            Firstly,Israel is a qualified "democracy",if you ignore the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.It is a fine example of entrepreneurial success in a region solely lacking in this area.Israel has many of the qualities and values we regard as essential to a democracy (again,if we ignore the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people).On the other side of the coin,and depending on how well you can read between the lines,you will have guessed this,that by the very act of occupation by the Diaspora and the Zionist inspired ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people with the resultant sequalae the entire region becomes more chaotic and unstable.

            " Jews be a "value added" asset except in Israel – and their loss be "catastrophic to the region"
            Jews,Israeli /Diaspora have obvious skills and abilities that are put to good use wherever they are.For the most part they are good citizens worldwide (added value e.g.nobel prizes,creators of wealth,etc.,that benefit their respective countries).Ironically,and tragically,when it comes to the re-created homeland of Zionist Israel,the very skills and abilities that benefited the citizens of non-Jewish countries,allowed Jews of the Diaspora to occupy Palestine and ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people from their homeland.Far from benefiting from the said skills,abilities and values of the Diaspora,Palestinian Arabs have had their homeland and birth right stolen by Jews.

            "understand where we are coming from, but we still need to go the other way"
            God never promised you a Rose Garden,Stern.And you can't in all moral honesty carry on as though you are a moral people while you commit reprehensible crimes against the Palestinian people (and Humanity).The moral high ground cannot be held by those who act unconscionably towards those who previously held the same ground,but were ethnically cleansed by the occupiers.

            "anti-Semitism has poisoned your mind"
            Stern,until you are able to acknowledge the essential distinction between ant-Semitism and anti-Zionism you will be unable to appreciate our honest and valid argument showing the darker side of Zionism, the recreation of Israel and the culpability of the Jews in Palestinian suffering.The analogy of an accused murderer refusing to acknowledge that the "corpse is dead" comes to mind.I'm surprised you can't smell the corpse,Stern,it stinks to high Heaven.muchiboy

          • ziontruth

            "…if you ignore the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people."

            The Jews are the only true Palestinian people. Arab settler-colonist land-grabbers out of Palestine for the sake of a just and viable peace!

            "…the essential distinction between ant-Semitism and anti-Zionism…"

            The distinction between turd and turd wrapper.

    • kafir

      So what would that be, mohamat? What *do* they say?

      • muchiboy

        "So what would that be, mohamat? What *do* they say?"

        Basically,"F_CK YOU,America" and "F_CK YOU,World".

    • zionista

      did you hear yesterday when Israel announced it's ready to take in Syrian refugees if/when they flee from that brutal regime set to topple, or is that another 'zionist conspiracy'? Israel = a shining light in a dark, backwards, murderous region

      • muchiboy

        Never heard that,zionista.If true,that would be a righteous act.Good deeds are always welcomed in that region.muchiboy

    • Nakba1948

      Good effort, muchiboy, but it falls on deaf ears. These Zionist wackos couldn't see the double standard if their lives depended on it.

  • Marty

    Yet another genocidal sociopath from "palestine." he's typical of the two-faced and murderous leadership that arabs produce generation after generation. he's negative and murderous. This creep, like his associates, doesn't want peace, but does want victory and victory means the end of Israel as well as the Jewish people. Then palestine can regress back to the medieval swamp and backwardness from which it was rescued by Jews. No mention is made of the 1.6 palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship, vote in Israeli elections, hold seats in the Israeli parliament, and get to enjoy freedom of speech. These ingrates wouldn't last a day in any arab country, including "palestine" and that is why they don't live there.

  • Nakba1948

    You want to talk about genocidal sociopaths, Marty? How about the terrorists prime ministers Israelis have elected (Begin, Shamir, Sharon)? Answer that one.

    • ziontruth

      "How about the terrorists prime ministers Israelis have elected (Begin, Shamir, Sharon)?"

      International-law-abiding weaklings who never had the guts to re-Nakba the Arab colonist land-thieves out of the Land of Israel more thoroughly the second time round.

    • MixMChess

      Lets talk about genocide… how about Haj Amin Husseini the Arab leader who helped Hitler perpetrate the Holocaust. How about Nasser of Egypt who tried to perpetrate a second Holocaust in Israel in 1956, 1967, and 1973? What about Arafat who insisted that Arab children be taught to hate and kill Jews? What about Ahmed Yassin who taught that Arabs should drink the blood of Jews? Answer that one…

  • Nakba1948

    I love the irony inherent to the "But they won't recognize Israel as a Jewish state argument." Israel won't recognize Palestinian statehood in ANY form, and you fascists want the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a "Jewish state"? How can Israel be a democracy (hah) if they legally elevate one group over all others? Israel knows that getting the Palestinian leadership to consent to the "Jewish state" nonsense means the instant death of the Palestinian Right of Return. Now why would we give up the right to return to the ancestral homes from which we were violently expelled so that a bunch of supremacist whackjobs can sleep more comfortably at night? Would you may that deal? I doubt it.

    • ziontruth

      "Israel won't recognize Palestinian statehood in ANY form,…"

      States are for nations. For real nations. Not contrived fabrications for the sake of propaganda like the non-Jewish "Palestinian nation" that had never been mentioned in any mainstream publication or atlas before 1960.

      "How can Israel be a democracy (hah) if they legally elevate one group over all others?"

      It can be a democracy for its nation, easily enough. The State As Its Nation's Castle. Multicultural experiments of putting multiple nations under the same political roof have failed just about everywhere, and failed disastrously in many places, including Lebanon, Yugoslavia, Rwanda and now Western Europe.

      The more pertinent question is how one call himself a humanitarian if he advocates the genocide-prone formula of the Proposition Nation. A well-functioning nation-state needs to protect its nation by giving political rights only to members of the nation. A state that malfunctions as a free-for-all dumping-ground for everyone to come aboard and then be automatically regarded part of a "nation" on the basis of geography alone is like those cooperative multitasking operating systems of old: It's a miracle when one process doesn't bring it all crashing down.

      "Now why would we give up the right to return to the ancestral homes…"

      No problem. Back you go to the Arabian Peninsula, leaving Palestine to the indigenous Palestinians—the Jews, and only the Jews.

      "…so that a bunch of supremacist whackjobs can sleep more comfortably at night?"

      Yes, the Jewish State deserves to be free of worrying about the Islamic supremacist whackjobs threatening it. That's why, under a truly Jewish government, all the Islamic supremacist whackjobs squatting on the Land of Israel are going to get the boot.

    • MixMChess

      "How can Israel be a democracy (hah) if they legally elevate one group over all others?"

      You're an idiot Nakba1948. Israel is a democracy in the truest sense. All citizens of Israel are guaranteed equal civil rights regardless of background. No group (be it Jew, Arab, Armenian or Christian) is elevated over any other in Israel. If anything, Arabs are elevated above Jews when you consider the special affirmative action programs in place for its Arab citizens.

  • muchiboy

    "These Zionist wackos couldn't see the double standard if their lives depended on it."

    Most posters here are true Zionists,as it should be on such a site.Do not forget it is us who venture into their lair,and they give us fair warning.While I am at odds with the neo-conservative agenda of FPM,I am grateful to be allowed to express my opposing and mostly unwelcomed opinions.The more we engage in dialogue the less we engage in a shouting match.The more we engage in shouting the less effort we will expend throwing rocks.The more time throwing rocks the less time we will engage in warfare.And my grammar has improved somewhat,thanks to the kindness of my debaters in pointing out my grammatical errors.muchiboy

    • Amused

      Hmmm …"zionist " – a member of the movement formerly to reestablish , now for supporting,the Jewish national State of Israel . YOU BETCHA !
      ESPECIALLY taking into consideration that jews were in the land ,as well as the Jewish kingdoms of Judea and Samaria , atleast 2500 years before Mohamad , Islam and Christianity , and atleast 2500 years before the arab/muslim hoards struck out from the Arabian Peninsula . Deal with ity nakba48 and muchiboy ….the jews ain't going away , Israel's not going away .
      "nakba " [disaster] ? yes for arabs muslims and jew haters .. . It will forever be your "disaster " …SO BE IT .

  • Ghostwriter

    Another "Voices of Palestine,"another raving lunatic.
    Also another day,another bunch of disgusting anti-Jewish tirades from those like muchiboy and Nakba1948.

  • MixMChess

    Should the rantings of Nabil Shaath really come as any surprise to anyone? The Palestinians are terrorists whose entire invented culture is premised on racism and xenophobia. Palestinians teach their children that hating and killing Jews and Christians is "their highest purpose in life." I'm still not sure why the rest of the world insists on creating a nation of sociopaths next to Israel.

  • Amused

    muchiboy and nakba , just remember this , as long as the language in the palestinian National Charter , the Hamas Charter , which unmistakably call for the destruction of Israel and the removal of jews from the land ….THERE WILL NEVER BE A PALESTINIAN STATE . You both are spitting into the wind .
    Removal of that language was the FIRST STEP required by any and all negociated settlements , agreements etc . It was brought up before the Palestinian National Council ,no less than THREE TIMES , and rejected THREE TIMES
    And if you think throwing rocks is productive as a lesser evil than warfare [oxymoron ] then please get you Mom , little brother and sister , and let them be stoned .

  • muchiboy

    "nakba " [disaster] ? yes for arabs muslims and jew haters .. . It will forever be your "disaster " …SO BE IT .

    They say the Nakba is the Palestinian equivalent to the Jewish Holocaust.So you throw the Nakba in the face of the Palestinians? If you are indeed a Jew you are guilty of both unconscionable ignorance and shameful arrogance.I would spit in the face of anyone who made such a nasty remark about Jews and the Holocaust.I spit in your face,amused.You are indeed an a$$hole.muchiboy

    • Western Canadian

      notmuchofaboyandevenlessofaman, ‘they say the nakba is …. equivalent to the…. holocaust’. The only people who say that, are those who helped to establish the holocaust. You know, lying murderers.

  • muchiboy

    "Palestine was behind 9/11"
    I don't think any of the hijackers were Palestinian,mah29001.It would surprise me if there were no Palestinians in al Qaeda at the time.I may have seen a reference to a Palestinian financial advisor? I do not think the PA nor Hamas support al Qaeda,either. Anyway,the Nakba and American support for Zionist Israel was almost certainly a motive behind 911.I lay this directly at the feet of Zionists and Jews.So I guess you could say Israel was behind 911,mah29001 (does this mean there are 29000 other mah's out there,mah 29001?Very original.).One would have thought that a true friend of America would not have placed that friend in such a difficult and morally reprehensible position.Talk about self serving. Interestingly,I have seen it said that America's 9/11 is Palestine's 24/7.

    • Western Canadian

      Again, notmuchofaboyandevenlessofaman offers up his load of complete garbage, thinking himself (herself?) clever.

      Anyone dim enough to come out with a comment such as:*

      Interestingly,I have seen it said that America’s 9/11 is Palestine’s 24/7.*

      is either blowing smoke, or hangs out with pathelogical liars and blood thirsty bigots and is one himself. Oh, wait, both would be true in his case.

  • Ghostwriter

    Again,more Jew hatred from muchiboy. Still can't get enough anti-semitism,can't you?

  • TimUpham

    The only solution is a two-state solution. The plan of 1947 was to partition Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state. We must go back to that plan. Already the Palestinians do U.S. $3 billion dollars worth of business with Israel. Israel is the Palestinians largest trading partner. Israel has done a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, in the West Bank the Israeli settlers can either go back to the 1967 borders of Israel, or stay and become citizens of Palestine. If economic parity can be created, then political parity will follow. There is so much more potential for creating joint business ventures. By this way, the Palestinians can really become free.

  • Ed Frias

    Dont forget, Nabil Shaath was one of the biggest Pallywood liars about a massacre in Jenin in 02.
    We all know this was another lie the Terrortinians lied about.
    The Guaridan which is a Palestinian propaganda paper did its best to lie about Jenin also.
    Here is an amazing article which documented all the lies the Guaridan said about an Israeli massacre in Jenin in 02, then when it was realized the Palestinians made up the whole massacre claims, the Guardian refused to apologize for their lies about Israel. http://hurryupharry.org/2012/04/14/ten-years-sinc…

    Here is the liar Shaath.
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/apr/17/israe…
    A senior Palestinian, Nabil Shaath, accused Israel of carrying out summary executions and removing corpses in refrigerated trucks. He said close to 500 people had been killed. Israel says 70 Palestinian fighters died in the fighting. "The Israeli army took six days to complete its massacre in Jenin and six days to clean it up," Mr Shaath said.