PA Leadership and PA Actions
Written and Compiled by Itamar Marcus

PA Minister Saeb Erekat's Duplicity: Glorify Suicide Terrorism in Arabic, Condemn it in English
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, March 4, 2004

The Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, is the latest PA official to demonstrate that PA leaders send one message to their people in Arabic and an entirely different message to the world media in English.

Upon hearing that three Palestinian children, aged 13, 14 and 16, were caught by Israel on the way to a suicide mission, Erekat was quick to create the impression for the English media that the PA opposes such actions.

"That's absolutely unacceptable," Erekat told the Associated Press. "Our children should have hope and a future and should not be suicide bombers. We want them to be doctors and engineers."

The great hypocrisy of Erekat's statement is that he and the PA leadership have been the driving force indoctrinating PA children to aspire to Shahada - death for Allah. As Palestinian Media Watch has reported, it was only a few months ago that Erekat and other top PA leaders, including Yasser Arafat, sponsored a soccer tournament honoring 24 shahids (people who have died for Allah), including such arch-terrorists as Yechya Ayash, the first Hamas suicide-bomb maker; Adin Al-Kassam, the name of the suicide terrorist wing of the Hamas; Raid Carmi, a regional head of a suicide terrorist unit; Jamal Mansour of Hamas; and Salah Drowza, also of Hamas.

As a sponsor, Saeb Erekat was present at the tournament honoring the terrorists, and personally distributed the trophies.
[See Al-Ayyam, September 21, 2003 and Al-Quds, September 29, 2003]

The coverage by the PA media of the foiled suicide mission is also telling. Although all three Palestinian dailies - Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Al-Ayyam and Al-Quds - covered the capture of the teenagers, there were no reports in these papers or in other PA Arabic media of any comments by Erekat opposing the idea of teenagers as suicide bombers.

So, while in English, Erekat's diversion for the media is, "We want them to be doctors and engineers," Palestinian children see suicide terrorists as the role models created for them by Erekat and the PA leadership. We have yet to read that Erekat or the PA has sponsored a tournament named for doctors and engineers.

Finally, two additional PA reactions to the capture of the three teenagers are noteworthy

1. "The Prisoner's Club called on all the legal institutions to act to stop [Israel's] policy of arresting children and minors... which is a violation of all conventions and international humanitarian agreements."
[Al-Ayyam, March 3, 2004]

2. The parents of the three children "called for legal and humanitarian organizations to intervene for their release so that they could continue their education."
[Al-Ayyam, March 3, 2004]

Instead of focusing on why the teenagers were arrested, Palestinians present these would-be assassins as victims - just as Palestinian society, at the same time that it promotes and glorifies terror, continues to present itself as the victim.

PMW has extensively documented the ways in which the PA and PA-controlled media have consistently motivated Palestinian children to seek Shahada. For more information check out the following links:

• Music videos the PA broadcast hundreds of times defining Shahada as "sweet"
• PMW bulletin on a soccer tournament for 12-year-old boys named for the suicide terrorist who killed 31 in 2002
• PMW bulletins on summer camps named for woman suicide terrorists

New Palestinian Minister of Justice Incites to Murder Israelis and to Hate Americans
November 27, 2003

Introduction

Nahidh Muneer Al-Ris, the new Palestinian Minister of Justice, has a long record of hateful incitement, including incitement to murder Israelis through suicide terrorism. He distorts Jewish history in order to deny Israel's right to exist, and de-legitimizes Israel's existence as a state with expressions like the "occupation" 50 years ago. In addition he has a history of hateful incitement towards the US and its political and Christian leaders. Bush and Rumsfeld, he calls "bloodthirsty beasts" and he repeatedly libels American Evangelical Christians, attributing to them deep hatred of Muslims. In addition, Al-Ris recently participated in a ceremony in a summer camp - named for a 17-year-old girl suicide bomber. PMW will continue to monitor the actions and behavior of the new Justice Minister, to determine to what degree his behavior as Justice Minister reflects his hate beliefs.

It is noteworthy that an individual with such outspoken hatred of the US has been appointed to such a senior PA position. While his hatred of the US certainly follows the official PA ideology, which even promoted murder of US soldiers in Iraq through its controlled media, senior PA officials are usually more discreet. As a rule, ministers do not express American hatred publicly, so as not to endanger US political and financial support. It is thus surprising that the new PM, Ahmad Qerei, chose such an outspoken terror supporter and America hater for a senior position in his cabinet. It may be that the PA has learned that in spite of US and Israeli verbal demands to stop incitement, US and Israeli policy has been to ignore incitement, in all policy decisions towards the PA.

The following are some of the recent opinions of PA Justice Minister, Al-Ris, in his own words:

On support of suicide terrorism
"The Palestinian Arab nation, and its vanguard the **Shahada-Seekers, are not terrorists in any way."
[**lit: Death for Allah-Seekers, PA term of honor for suicide terrorists. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 16, 2003]

On Palestinian support for suicide terror
"Most [Palestinians] understand that the Shahada-Seekers and the uprising fighters preserve honor for everyone... The public is convinced that uprising fighters are the most just and the farthest from corruption. Only a minority believes that the fighters should be restrained, for fear of provoking the rage of Sharon..."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 16, 2003]

On erasing Jewish history in Israel
Israelis have no history in the Land - because they are "Khazars, who are not connected to the land but to the words of the Torah".
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 16, 2003]

On the illegitimacy of Israel
"... during the occupation of Palestine 50 years ago..."
[Ed: Israel's creation as a state is stigmatized as if it is an "occupation". Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, August 4, 2003]

On US President Bush and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld
"[They] are human beings whose ambitions have turned them into bloodthirsty beasts."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 3, 2003]

On the US involvement in Iraq
"They are fighting a cruel war".
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 3, 2003]

On US Christian leadership
"Pat Robertson is one of the main figures of the most extremist Evangelistic Zionists."
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, August 4, 2003]

"Publications in the US about the Second Coming of Jesus gained wide distribution and they describe a terrifying Armageddon ... total destruction. As for Jesus and his followers, God will raise them above the clouds ... While their pagan enemies (who fundamentalist Evangelist Zionist supporters interpret as Muslims) will drown in a lake of fire and brimstone... These Zionist supporters give a modern interpretation and interpret it [the fire and brimstone] as atomic bombs to be thrown on Muslims."
[Citing a book in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, August 4, 2003]

On US political leadership
"President Harry Truman was considered one of the most Zionist American Presidents."

"President Jimmy Carter was faithful to the Zionist vision".

"Nixon was an American President who believed in Zionism, and he defined the Jews working in the White House as pigs... He was the one who said concerning the Reagan-Gorbachev summit: 'Russia and America must cooperate in order to strike Islamic fundamentalism'"

"Bush, the father, was the 6th American Zionist President ... and he is one of Pat Robertson's followers."

"In the chain of Zionist American Presidents the last US President Bill Clinton is included... [Clinton] also emphasized that his pastor predicted that he would rule America and charged him with [care for] the Jewish State, because with its blessing he shall win..."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, August 4, 2003]

Participating in an event encouraging children to aspire to Shahada - heroic Death for Allah
"Dr. Ahmad Al-Yaziji, Under Secretary in the Ministry Youth and Sport, participated in the closing ceremony of the **Ayyat Al-Akhras [summer] camp for children. [The camp was] organized by the Shabibah organization of the Fatah... The number of participants was 150 boys and girls, ages 9 to 15. Participants in the ceremony ... included Nahid Al-Ris..."

[**Ayat Al-Akhras, a girl of age 17, was the youngest woman suicide bomber. Al-Quds, August 14, 2003]

A Self Portrait of Mahmoud Abbas
May 19, 2003

Introduction

American and Israeli hopes that Mahmoud Abbas will fight against Palestinian terrorism is paradoxical, as the four terrorist attacks committed by Palestinian terrorists recently, which killed nine Israelis, are all legitimate according to the Abbas doctrine. Abbas has outlined his views regarding terror and violence in recent interviews. The principles include:

1. The use of arms against Israeli civilians within Israel should be stopped for a year due to its current ineffectiveness.

2. The use of arms against Israeli civilians within the Disputed Territories should continue.

The suicide terror attack that killed seven Israelis yesterday in Jerusalem's French Hill, is in a part of Jerusalem that the Palestinian Authority claims, and therefore is within the legitimate target area, according to his recent statements in Arabic.

Abbas has many other problematic opinions that question his potential as a long term peace partner with Israel:

1. His demand for the settlement within Israel of millions of Arabs from refugee camps. Settling these Arabs in Israel would destroy Israel as a Jewish state, as in anathema to the vast majority of people in democratic Israel. 2. His doctoral thesis on the Holocaust was an attempt to deny that 6,000,000 Jews were killed - along with standard Holocaust denial accusations that the Zionist movement created the numbers for profit.

The following spoken and written statements by Mahmoud Abbas reveal aspects of his world outlook.

On opposition to armed struggle when ineffective:
"The armed struggle necessitates certain conditions and opportunities that do not exist for us in Palestine. We cannot equate what is happening in Palestine with what is going on Lebanon or Algeria. Therefore, military activities under these circumstances and means are ineffective. For this reason, we stated that we have no choice but to stop it [i.e. military activities] for a year, which is not a submission from our point of view. As long as the circumstances are not equivalent."
[A-Sharq Al-Awsat, March 3, 2003]

On his support for attacks against Israelis in the Disputed Territories:
"The Intifada must continue, along with the right of the Palestinian people to rise up and use whatever it can to protect its existence and being. I add and say that if the Israelis come to your land to establish a settlement, it is within your rights to protect what is yours ... with every means and weapons, when they come to your homes. This is the right of uprising..."
[A-Sharq Al-Awsat, March 3, 2003]

On the ineffectiveness of the armed conflict:
"After two and a half years of struggle, the result is that we have returned to a point below zero."
[A-Sharq Al-Awsat, March 3, 2003]

On Ariel Sharon:
"We know that right now he [Sharon] wants neither security nor peace."
[Al-Quds, February 25, 2003]

On Palestinian acceptance of the Road Map:
"This is the result of the agreement reached by the International Quartet, and we agreed to it despite our reservations... We would like the 'Map' officially adopted in order to begin its implementation."
[Al-Quds, February 25, 2003]

On Israel's actions vis-à-vis the Road Map:
"When Israel seeks to make changes [in the Road Map] she will open it and then destroy it."
[Al-Quds, February 25, 2003]

If Israel expels Arafat:
"I do not think that they will find people, not even one person to form a new Authority..."

"It is important to stress that any harm done to President Yasser Arafat, or any statements regarding the reduction of his authority or his removal, will spell destruction for the Authority."
[Al-Quds, February 25, 2003]

On settling Arabs in refugee camps only inside Israel:
"It is an obligation for the refugee to return to his own home and to nowhere else in his homeland."
[Al-Quds, January 30, 2001]

"Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] stated that the essence of the Palestinian problem is the refugee problem and there is no alternative to their returning to their homes and properties from where they were expelled, as stated in Resolution 194."
[Al-Ayyam, January 26, 2001]

"Abu Mazen referred to the right of the refugees to return to the homes from where they were expelled in 1948. He stated that the PLO possess five million files that contain detailed information on the refugees, and these documents will be made public at the right time... The PLO will not sign any peace agreement that does not include the restoration of all the rights of the Palestinian people."
[PA TV News, February 2, 2000]

On Israel's 'responsibility' for the refugee problem:
"Abu Mazen demands that the Israeli government should take a firm stand and admit its ethical and legal responsibility for the exile of the Palestinian refugees from their homes."
[Al-Ayyam, January 26, 2001]

On the response of the PA if Hamas and Islamic Jihad continue carrying out terrorist acts within Israel:
"The Authority will convene and decide what would be appropriate while avoiding internal conflict, as we maintain our internal unity."
[Al-Quds, February 25, 2003]

On 'cooperation' between the Zionist leaders and Nazi Germany:
"A partnership was established between Hitler's Nazis and the leadership of the Zionist movement... [The Zionists gave] permission to every racist in the world, led by Hitler and the Nazis, to treat Jews as they wish, so long as it guarantees immigration to Palestine."
[The Other Side: The secret relations between Nazism and the leadership of the Zionist movement, Mahmoud Abbas, 1983, Translation by Simon Wiesenthal Center.]

On the Jews 'raising the number' of Holocaust victims:
"Having more victims meant greater rights and stronger privilege to join the negotiation table for dividing the spoils of war once it was over. However, since Zionism was not a fighting partner - suffering victims in a battle - it had no escape but to offer up human beings, under any name, to raise the number of victims, which they could then boast of at the moment of accounting."

"It seems that the interest of the Zionist movement ... is to inflate this figure so that their gains will be greater. This led them to emphasize this figure in order to gain the solidarity of international public opinion with Zionism. Many scholars have debated the figure of six million and reached stunning conclusions - fixing the number of Jewish victims at only a few hundred thousand."
[The Other Side: The secret relations between Nazism and the leadership of the Zionist movement, Mahmoud Abbas, 1983, Translation by Simon Wiesenthal Center.]

On doubts about the numbers of Jews killed in Holocaust:
"Following the War, word was spread that six million Jews were amongst the victims and that a war of extermination was aimed primarily at the Jews... The truth is that no one can either confirm or deny this figure."

"In other words, it is possible that the number of Jewish victims reached six million, but at the same time it is possible that the figure is much smaller - below one million."
[The Other Side: The secret relations between Nazism and the leadership of the Zionist movement, Mahmoud Abbas, 1983, Translation by Simon Wiesenthal Center.]

Sari Nusseibeh - A Moderate by Whose Standards?
July 29, 2002

Introduction:
Professor Sari Nusseibeh, President of Al-Quds University and the Palestinian Authority's holder of the Jerusalem portfolio has been singled out by many in the West and in Israel as a moderate with whom Israel could make peace. In fact there was significant international pressure on Israel to reopen his offices at the university recently because he is seen as a moderate. However, the term 'moderate' is vague and misleading. Is he a moderate by Western standards - openly rejecting terrorism, promoting peace and reconciliation with Israel through negotiations? Or is he "moderate" only relative to terrorist organizations like Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority, which has been openly promoting terrorism?

The following three items offer some insight as to the beliefs and opinions of Sari Nusseibeh.

1. The main graphic in an official student calendar from his university, Al-Quds, which appears on every page of the calendar and on the back cover is a map of Israel, encircled by the Islamic moon and swords.

2. An interview with Nusseibeh on Al-Jazeera TV, together with a Hamas leader and a mother of a suicide terrorist, in which he expresses admiration for terrorists and acceptance of terror as valid, when it brings positive political results.

3. An analysis of the open letter he signed calling for a halt to suicide bombings in Israel, because the bombings are "politically damaging."

1. Al-Quds University Calendar

The following maps of Israel encircled under the Islamic moon and two swords are from an official student calendar of Sari Nusseibeh's university, Al-Quds.

These maps of Israel under the sword appear on the back cover and as a watermark on each and every page of the calendar. The encircling of all of Israel represents Islamic "Palestine" replacing Israel, through use of the sword.

The calendar's dedication on page 1 continues the violent themes:

"[Dedicated] ... to the mothers who stand firm, the believing women who received the funerals not by collapsing, but with deep belief and acceptance of fate and even with cries of joy ...

"...to the pure, who stand today despite their poverty, their lack of means, and their disgrace, stand erect and unwavering in the face of the American evil and those who aid it, because they know that the arrogance of heresy can be bent only through Jihad and Istishhad."

[Istishhad means to seek death for Allah, and is used to define suicide bombers.]

The calendar is published by "The committee representing the women students- Student Council," and "The Faculty of Religious Promotion and the Foundations of Faith, Al-Quds University."

2. Interview on Al Jazeera TV and petition

Sari Nusseibeh was interviewed recently on Al-Jazeera TV, together with Khaled Mash'al, a Hamas leader and Um Nidal, the mother of a suicide terrorist. The following are segments from the Nusseibeh interview, with some lines from the first two interviews to give the context for Nusseibeh's remarks.

It should be noted:

1. The very act of participating in an interview with both a Hamas leader, who defends and explains his procedures in choosing suicide bombers, and the mother of the suicide terrorist who killed five teenagers, without distancing himself from the hatred he heard, lends his approval to mass murderers.

2. In the interview, Nusseibeh expresses his explicit admiration for the terrorist's mother, in her sending her son to be killed for Allah.

3. He denied that he condemned suicide bombings - he has respect for those Jihad fighters - and he does not reject terror as a political tool. Both in the interview and the petition below, terror is not rejected but is to be evaluated by its political results.

Moderator [general questions]: "What are the cultural components of this Istishhad?

What doctrine impels a mother to call upon her son to undertake Shahada [Death for Allah]?"

Moderator [to Hamas leader Mash'al]: "My first question, esteemed sir ... is that

there are those who accuse you of practicing demagoguery and brainwashing those who go to blow themselves up and die. What is it exactly that you do?"

Khaled Mash'al: "The overwhelming majority on the Palestinian and Arab street

understand that the shahids [those who die for Allah, including suicide bombers] are those who take it upon themselves to resist, they are those who give of themselves; they are those who offer their efforts to the military wings of the resistance groups..."

Um Nidal: "My son is not dearer than Islam. I have offered him as a gift and a sacrifice to

Allah, may He be glorified, and to His true faith, in order to protect this faith, and to raise the banner of "there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah" over the land of Palestine and all the lands of the world.

"If we do not undertake Jihad, heresy will cover the world... Our purpose is not to live; our purpose is to please Allah, may He be glorified, this is our foremost and final goal in this life."

Nusseibeh: What comes to mind as I listen to [my] sister Um Nidal is the verse

"Paradise is under the feet of the mothers." Praise is due to this woman, and to every Palestinian mother, and to every Palestinian female resistance fighter and Jihad fighter on this land. That is the first thing. I do not want to mix between my political words and my political analysis and the respect that every Palestinian feels for every resistance fighter and every Jihad fighter and every one who believes that there is no life possible under occupation, and that there is no life other than independence and honor.

[Nusseibeh is asked about the petitioned he signed "against" suicide bombings in Israel]

Nusseibeh: "It could be there is some confusion in the words I have heard, between the

framework dealing with the personal motivations of those who undertake these actions, and on the other hand, the framework that we are talking about, which is the issue of political benefit or gain. I don't want to get into the issues of anyone's personal motivations ... rather, we want to discuss specifically the area of the political benefit, because we believe that any action relating to the resistance must be subjected to criteria, that is, whether this action causes benefit or damage.

"One must also distinguish between the Shahada-seeker who targets military targets, and who targets civilian targets. In our petition, we were specifically addressing ourselves to this type of Shahada-seeker, the type of armed explosive operation, and we said the following. And we said, and I want to emphasize, that we did not condemn or denounce, and we did not indulge in sentimental talk. Rather, we spoke in a brotherly way in order to create a dialogue, in order that there would be an evaluation in which all of the theoreticians and those involved would participate. And as you yourself stated in the beginning of this segment, [my] brother Ghassan, all are involved in this issue from the standpoint of assessing positive benefit, the positive benefit versus the damage of actions against civilians within Israel."
[Al-Jazeera TV, July 14, 2002
www.aljazeera.net/programs/open_dialog/articles/2002/7/7-2-1.htm]

3. Petition

"We, the undersigned, out of our sense of national responsibility, and in light of the difficult situation of the Palestinian people, hope that those who stand behind the military actions against civilians in Israel, will reconsider their actions and will cease to encourage our boys to perform these operations, because we do not see results from these actions other than [increased hatred]... We believe that these operations do not advance the fulfillment of our endeavor, for freedom and independence... Military actions are defined positively or negatively not by its own criteria [i.e. the success of the attack itself] but rather according to the achievement of political goals..."
[Al-Quds, June 19, 2002]

Nusseibeh follows the consistent pattern that Palestinian Media Watch has noted for years among PA leaders - using moderate language for diplomatic encounters in English while supporting terrorism and anticipating Israel's destruction in Arabic.

Hanan Ashrawi -
a Supporter of Suicide Terrorism
(Sept. 10, 2002)

Hanan Ashrawi has been invited to speak at Colorado College in a symposium to honor the victims and the families of the September 11th terrorist attacks. This invitation has aroused outrage among many who see the very presence of an official of the Palestinian Authority as an insult to the memory of those killed. The Palestinian's dancing and celebrating in the streets after the attacks, has not been forgotten by Americans.

Hanan Ashrawi was invited apparently because she is often singled out by many in the West as a moderate with whom Israel could make peace. Indeed she speaks worldwide, presenting herself as an opponent of terrorism. However, beyond the stain of the Palestinian celebrations of 9-11, the term “moderate” for Ashrawi is misleading. Is she a moderate by Western standards - openly rejecting terrorism, promoting peace and reconciliation through negotiations? Or is she a “moderate” only relative to terrorist organizations like Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority, which have been openly promoting terrorism?

Ashrawi may have presented herself in her public English language lecture as opposing terrorism. However, in evaluating Palestinian positions on terrorism it is necessary to examine not what they say in English to foreigners but what they say in Arabic to their own people.

The first public statement against suicide terrorism in Arabic was made by Ashrawi only recently in an open petition she signed with other Palestinians in the Al-Quds newspaper on June 19, 2002. The petition, whose main points are quoted below, calling for Palestinians to stop suicide terrorism in Israel, has misled many to consider her a “moderate”. However, even a simple reading of the petition shows that she explicitly does not reject terror as a tool when it is politically effective, but only when it causes political damage. The petition does not include a single word of condemnation of suicide terrorism, and does not rule out terrorism at times when it is an effective tool. It deals entirely with the negative political results of suicide terrorism now for her cause. In essence, what Ashrawi said is that if a suicide bombing, or even the 9-11 bombings, had been politically effective for a cause she believes in, she would have supported it.

It must further be noted that her statement must be understood not only by its clear content but by its timing. Ashrawi did not condemn in Arabic the suicide bombing that killed tens in a Jerusalem pizza shop, or the hundreds of civilians murdered on buses, in recent years. Not even once. Yet during this time she was travelling around the world speaking out as “moderate” in English. It was only when the world public opinion turned against the Palestinians because of a series of murderous bombings that she decided to speak out in Arabic, and then, only about political damage. As stated, her message was explicit: when suicide bombing is damaging politically - it is to be rejected.

She is not a moderate by any Western standard. She is a slick, terrorist supporter who understands the importance of public relations, proper timing and spin for terrorism.

The main points of the Petition signed by Ashrawi:

“We, the undersigned, out of our sense of national responsibility, and in light of the difficult situation of the Palestinian people, hope that those who stand behind the military actions against civilians in Israel, will reconsider their actions and will cease to encourage our boys to perform these operations, because we do not see results from these actions … We believe that these operations do not advance the fulfillment of our endeavor, for freedom and independence… Military actions are defined positively or negatively not by their own criteria [i.e. the success of the attack itself] but rather according to the achievement of political goals…”

Signed: Hanan Ashrawi and others [Al Quds, June 19, 2002].

Nazi ally, Hajj Amin Al Husseini,
is Arafat’s “Hero” (Aug. 5, 2002)

Introduction:
In an interview this week Arafat called the Arab leader and Nazi ally, Hajj Amin Al Husseini, “our hero”. Arafat referred to “our hero Al Husseini" as a symbol of withstanding world pressure, having remained an Arab leader in spite of demands to have him replaced because of his Nazi ties. This he compared to Palestinian withstanding of world pressure for reform of the Palestinian Authority today, which includes the American demand to replace Arafat.

Background:
“Hajj Amin Al Husseini (1895-1974) was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem... He supported the Nazis, and especially their program for the mass murder of the Jews. He visited numerous death camps and encouraged Hitler to extend the "Final Solution" to the Jews of North Africa and Palestine. In 1946 he escaped to Egypt.” [Simon Wiesenthal Center Web Site]

es

Husseini with Nazi soldiers and with Hitler

The following is the text from the interview:
Interviewer: “I have heard voices from within the [Palestinian] Authority in the past few weeks, saying that the reforms are coordinated according to American whims…”

Arafat: “We are not Afghanistan…We are the Mighty People. Were they able to replace our hero Hajj Amin al-Husseini? ... There were a number of attempts to get rid of Hajj Amin, whom they considered an ally of the Nazis. But even so, he lived in Cairo, and participated in the 1948 war, and I was one of his troops.”
[Al Sharq al Awsat, a London Arabic daily, reprinted in the Palestinian daily Al Quds, Aug, 2, 2002]

 “Governor of Nablus, Brigadier General Mahmud Alaalul, a member of the revolutionary committee of Fatah… disclosed the details of the escape of 3 Islamic Jihad prisoners  - Iyad Hardan, Ahmed Mihdawi and Asaad Daqa  from the Jinid [PA] prison, explaining that the prisoners escaped by taking advantage of the leniencies offered to them by the Palestinian Authority for humanitarian reasons.

Last Saturday, the prison officials allowed the 4 prisoners to go to the Al-Kuds Open University to register for studies. The 4 were accompanied by a single policeman and once there, the 4 entered the university while the policeman waited for them outside. After a few hours, only one of the 4 prisoners returned, the others did not.  It was clear that the other 3 had escaped.

Alaalul notes the high level of trust between the prison management and the prisoners as the reason that the prison sent only one policeman, and that their escape was unexpected.”
[Al Quds: October 6, 1999]