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THE
TRUTH
ABOUT
SARI
NUSSEIBEH... MIDI: "The Awful Truth" . Nusseibeh Supports Violence Nusseibeh praised "Jihad fighters": Nusseibeh appeared in a panel discussion on Qatari Television on June 29, 2002, alongside Hamas official, Khaled Mashal, and Mrs. Umm Nidal, the mother of a suicide bomber, who encouraged her son to carry out the attack. Nusseibeh said; "When I hear the words of Umm Nidal, I recall the Koranic verse stating that 'Paradise lies under the feet of mothers.' All respect is due to this mother, it is due to every Palestinian mother and every female Palestinian who is a Jihad fighter on this land." (Translation courtesy of MEMR1.) Nusseibeh said he "'does not condemn" suicide bombers: On the Arab web site on June 24, 2002, Nusseibeh explained why he signed a recent statement saying that, for tactical reasons, the Palestinian Arabs should refrain from attacking "civilians within Israel"' (i.e. within the pre?1967 borders): "We did not address our brothers in the various resistance factions to chastise them, or to condemn them, or depict the resistance as terror, or to de-legitimize it. None of these words appeared in the communique." (Translation courtesy o f MEMR1.) Nusseibeh supported "the use of force": Speaking to the Jerusalem Arab newspaper Al Fajr in August 1993, that "military means against Israel are vindicated by Israeli practices" and that he supports "the use of force against Israelis as a means of support of our negotiating position." (As quoted in the Cleveland Jewish Times, Sept.8, 1993) Nusseibeh praised hijacking: In 1986, Nusseibeh called a terrorist hijacking of an Israeli bus "a very daring attack." (Jerusalem Post, July 3,1986) Nusseibeh's role in "intifada" violence: Nusseibeh played an important role in the mass Palestinian Arab violence (intifada) of 1987-1989. In bills of indictment brought against seven leaders of the violence in Lod Military Court in 1989 (bill 108/89 and 109/89), the Israeli Government prosecutor stated that Nusseibeh served as a conduit for money "for financing the 'intifada"', and that Nusseibeh was responsible for "drawing up reports and leaflets for 'intifada' purposes such as instructing 'intifada' activists," including leaflets which called for "throwing firebombs" at Israelis and "fighting with knives." (A summary of the charges appeared in the New York Times on May 5, 1989 and May 21,1989.) Nusseibeh refused to condemn the murder of two elderly Jews: Shortly after a terrorist attack in Jerusalem in May 1989, the Jerusalem Post interviewed Nusseibeh and reported: "Nusseibeh refused to condemn outright the slaying of two elderly men at a Jerusalem bus stop last week, saying the attack had to be considered in the context of frustration at Israeli actions." (Jerusalem Post, May 8, 1989) Nusseibeh justified murdering Arabs suspected of cooperating with Israel: During the "intifada" of 1987-1990, Palestinian Arab terrorists murdered more than 1,000 fellow Arabs. Although the victims were accused of "collaborating with Israel," the majority were actually murdered to settle personal scores, clan rivalries or because of alleged violations of Islamic religious strictures. Nusseibeh defended the murders. "The question to be asked is not why there are more killings, but why has there been a re-emergence of collaborators in the last two or three months." Nusseibeh maintains that the death penalty is only inflicted on suspected collaborators as a last resort after all other means fail and only when there is very little likelihood of a mistake. "The local collaborator is very conspicuous. A killing is usually the end of a long process. Collaborators are usually well known in a village. If a family does not stand up to defend one of its members, that is also a sign that he is a collaborator." (Jerusalem Post, May 8, 1989) .. Nusseibeh Demonizes Israel Nusseibeh compared Israel to Satan: In 1987, he endorsed Arab rock-throwing attacks against Israelis, saying: "I think it is a kind of exorcism to throw a stone at Satan." (International Herald?Tribune, June 4, 1987) Nusseibeh said Israel "born in sin": Nusseibeh said that the "heart of the problem" in the Middle East" is that "'Israel was born in sin." Uerusalem Post, January 8, 2002) Nusseibeh called Israel "a racist Zionist entity": In a 1986 article, Nusseibeh described Israel as "a racist, Zionist entity" and called for a three stage plan of consolidating the Arab position within Israel, increasing the Arab population, and then "the final stage will be the stage of a Palestinian democratic and secular state, achieved as and when Arab Palestinians naturally become a majority." (Jerusalem Times, May 9, 1986) Nusseibeh's Aid to Saddam: In January 1991, Nusseibeh was imprisoned by Israel. A statement from the Defense Ministry explained: "The detention follows his activity of collecting security information for Iraqi intelligence, especially after the missile attacks on Israel. He acted as coordinator for forwarding security information to various elements, including PLO elements abroad, for the Iraqi intelligence. (Jerusalem Post, January 30, 1991) Prof. Michael Widlanski of Hebrew University has written: "During the 1991 Gulf War, Nusseibeh was caught contacting Iraqi intelligence officials in order to help direct the Scud rocket attacks of Saddam Hussein in which four Israelis were killed (one directly) and many wounded from 39 missile strikes. "While the rockets were falling it became clear to us that this gentleman was telephoning the Iraqi ambassador in one of the neighboring countries to tell the Iraqis where to shoot the missile," stated Col. (Res.) Shalom Harari, former Arab Affairs Advisor for the Israeli Defense Ministry. Nusseibeh was arrested by Israel's counter?intelligence agency, the Shin Bet, and put in administrative detention without trial for several weeks. After the Gulf War ended, Israeli officials, under pressure from the Israeli Left, allowed Nusseibeh a kind of "plea bargain" under which he voluntarily left the country for three years, said Harari, today a researcher at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. (www.themedialine.org, Dec. 28, 2001) .. Nusseibeh's Attacks on America During the Gulf War, Nusseibeh authored an extremist anti-American article which appeared in the Arabic language edition of Al Fajr on January 23, 1991 (for the English translation, see the edition of February 4, 1991). He wrote that when Iraq invaded Kuwait, "War generals, military strategists and the military-industrial complex in the United States were 'rejuvenated' with this recent development... They saw in this invasion a golden opportunity to test their machines and theories and to revive their industry and profits ... The forces of aggression got themselves together to start the annihilation process using the most advanced and sophisticated weapons of mass destruction and dropping hundreds of tons of explosives on Iraq which exceed the power of the bomb on Hiroshima ... In order to further humiliate the Arab world and rub the Arabs' nose in the dirt, the war in the Gulf was dubbed the 'six hour war.'" .. Jewish Leaders' View of Nusseibeh Conference of Presidents: Nusseibeh is no moderate. In a statement on July 11, 2002, responding to the media's claims that Nusseibeh is a "moderate," the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations pointed out that "The comments and actions of Prof. Sari Nusseibeh contradict media reports ... The portrayal of Prof. Nusseibeh appears to belie the facts as demonstrated in some of his recent comments." The Conference then quotes Nusseibeh's statements endorsing violence against Israelis [see above] and noted that "In 1991, he served time in prison for providing precision missile-targeting information to Iraqi sources." The Conference also stated: "Prof. Nusseibeh's predecessor, Faisal Husseini, was similarly lionized by many as a moderate. In fact, he played an important role in coordinating terrorist activities and was informed of each attack in the Jerusalem area. Documents found by Israeli forces corroborated Husseini's direct role in the violence and terror." World Jewish Congress: Nusseibeh is a "con man" and liar: The Vice President of the World Jewish Congress, Isi Leibler, has written: "Nusseibeh's behavior does not imply 'moderate' dissent from Arafat. It is more likely a propaganda weapon ultimately controlled by Arafat??a man who has established a consistent tradition of speaking with a forked tongue ... At best he is a propagandist playing his role in a good cop, bad cop performance orchestrated by Arafat. At worst he is a straightforward con man." (Jerusalem Post, Jan. 24, 2002)
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