Transcripts For ALJAZ Masters Of Their Own Destiny 20240713

Setting up an independent Palestinian Organization was not easy. The 1st challenge the palestinians faced was to wrest control of their own destiny from the arab regimes. In early 1965 a series of attacks were carried out against israeli civilians and infrastructure. To bring. Down the previously unknown Palestinian Group calling itself a loss of a meaning the storm seen here in training that claimed responsibility for the attackers. A loss of i was started by a small group of palestinian activists in the diaspora they believed Armed Struggle was the only way to win back their lost homeland. Did not share this view they feared being drawn into a conflict with israel for which they did not feel prepared. Palestine had been an area of conflict for many years in 1047 Great Britain announced it was terminating its mandate over palestine. I repeat again that his majestys government have determined the paper based their policy on the assumption that they must lay down the mandate under which they have sought for 25 years to discharge their obligations to fulfil the growth of the Jewish National home and to protect the interest of the arab population. In order that there may be no misunderstanding of the execute and policy of britain i have been instructed by his majestys government now with also let me take that they have consequently decided that in the absence of a settlement they must plan for an early withdrawal of British Forces and of the British Administration from palestine britain handed over palestine to the United Nations in 1947 the Un General Assembly decided to partition palestine into 2 states. One arab the other jewish. This partition plan was rejected by palestinians in neighboring arab states. In early 1948 open conflict erupted between jews and palestinians. In a confidential briefing at the time americas Central Intelligence agency predicted a defeat for the jews. As the arabs gradually quartern ate their war effort the jews will be forced to withdraw from isolated positions and having been drawn into a war of attrition will gradually be defeated. Following the withdrawal of the last british troops in may 948 jewish leaders proclaimed their stablish went on the state of israel. On the very next day 5 out of armies from jordan egypt lebanon syria and iraq immediately declared. One Young Palestinian activist who was living in cairo at the time was keen to join the fight. And i thought. That there was were stamina not to lobby for the sliney in the should bury him as they mean i left school we gathered at the Young Muslims Association and we decided that whoever wanted to fight would have to bend their books. I was among those who burned their books and went and joined the army of all the struggle. That. The arab armies were defeated. The newly declared state of israel seized control of most of palestine with the exception of jerusalem the west bank and the gaza strip. By 949 close to 3 quarters of a 1000000 palestinians had become refugees. In the late 1950 s. In kuwait and with the popular sentiment of arab unity common in the region a group of palestinian exiles established a secret organization. They called it the Palestinian National Liberation Movement it became known more popularly as fact that. Yasser arafat was one of the ringleaders of this new organization which favored Armed Struggle to achieve the liberation of palestine but quite some unhappy it was in kuwait that we named it factor before it was a continuation of our Palestinian Nationalistic activities such activities were aimed at gaining autonomy from the arab regimes most dominant of which was the regime of egyptian president of the mass of. Rival Palestinian Groups emerged advocating coordination with nassers regime. Madness waiting for us at the mossad would look at decision to form a Palestinian Branch and coordinated this with the president that it was agreed that our actions would conform with the overall Egyptian Military strategy that we wouldnt carry out military action that would prematurely do egypt into a war with israel for which it wasnt yet that. In 1904 president nasser convened the 1st out of a summit. His aim was to lead an arab response to the continued existence and growing dominance of israel. The arab leaders voted to set up a body to organize the palestinians in their diaspora after the show katie seen here on the right a palestinian diplomat from a well known family was chosen to head the newly formed body from the outset that he wanted an organization which would not just kowtow to arab regimes who love allow are going on at the heart allah that the arabs agreed to set up the p. L. O. As a means of releasing the frustrations felt by the palestinians but then came when the silk lady who decided he was going to form a proper p. L. O. And he did he must take the credit for setting up the p. L. O. Its structure and National Charter he was a great man who should be recognized as such for months later in may of 1964 should daily convene the 1st Palestinian Parliament in jerusalem it was called the Palestine National council king hussein of jordan the country which had administered the west bank since 950 attended the meeting of the parliament consisted of palestinian elders as well as a Younger Generation who called for a more forceful approach to winning back their own about. The parliament formally announced the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization and declared the state of israel as illegal to guarantee jordanian acceptance of the meeting should play the al a jordanian fears by announcing that the p. L. O. Had no designs on the west bank and was only interested in regained territory from israel should be spent the next few years Building Support for the p. L. O. He set out to create a body that could truly be considered a voice for the state as palestinians who traveled far and wide in his endeavors. Here he is seen in china where he was accorded a welcome usually reserved for visiting heads of state. And should get a 1st. So i. Really how much of it is a palestinian 1st and foremost true he was close to nasser but he proved more than once that he was a palestinian 1st and. He didnt take on the job to be a tool of nasser but to channel the energies of the Palestinian People he raised the bar when it came to losses views on Palestinian Nationalism kind of offer the. King we were supposed to launch in 1964 before the Palestine National Council Meeting in jerusalem in it i was there in jerusalem but i didnt attend the meeting its i was preparing to launch military operations as a gift to the pansy but we decided against it because we thought it might be perceived as an attempt to upstage the Council Meeting and its resolutions. I felt that his revolutionary comrades in fact that viewed the newly created p. L. O. With great suspicion. They felt the organization was the product of the same impotent arab regimes that had lost palestine in 1988. That had the activists wanted instead to take matters into their own hands and in january 1985 they began attacking targets in israel. Although militarily insignificant the 1st attack was a sign of things to come. That i dont know what i mean why not. That would. Mark that fact he declared it had mounted the 1st operation although i dont believe it was the 1st palestinian petrol to go into a compact palestine but the significance is that fact his declaration heralded the independence of palestinian Decision Making that palestinians would no longer be subservient to Arab Government dicta which would never have approved the launching of the Armed Struggle. Arab leaders greeted fat operations with distrust in this dane they were wary of a radical Palestinian Group acting on its own initiative president nasser of egypt suspected fattah was an extension of the Muslim Brotherhood with whom he was engaged in a vicious struggle palestinians who are allied to nasser hurled elaborate accusations against their fellow palestinians and fatah caligula. Which i felt that with being an anti muslim buddy affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood even a creation of the cia there was a real battle going on between egyptian intelligence and fattah so one fact that launched its 1st operation and announced the beginning of the Armed Struggle in the Arab Nationalist movement mounted an all out assault on fatah and accused it of trying to drag nasser into war. Other arab leaders openly spoke out in favor of negotiation rather than Armed Struggle in 1986 tunisian president habibie arrived in egypt on a tour of the region while in the west bank he advised his palestinian audience to seek a negotiated settlement in order to resolve the Palestinian Refugee problem. A message he repeated in lebanon on. My roof and. I have a. Senator mythical we traveled to beirut which was known for its free press we had a lot of illogical things and the press Conference Held by brilliant. Someone said were prepared to wait 100 years for a solution to the palestinian issue to which remember replied youre a journalist and not a palestinian had you been up an athenian you would be adamant that a solution be found a soon as possible. As comments through a hostile response that oppressed denounced him as a traitor and a madman. In cairo the Tunisian Embassy was set alight by angry demonstrators. That had to be there seemed to be out of step with the mood on the street. For his part president nasr sought to convince the west of the need to address the problem of the palestinians before it provoked further violence and instability i was there i took the i have a list of what expelled the country would ever run me on and. Spit on. You know the day israelis speak about g. P. And. They were badly treated in germany during the 2nd world war before the war so they treated the arabs the same way expel them kill them and their children tried their religious and it was scared. To get out of. It on. Their way to the United Nations it is a huge security constant risk of resolution nothing was. And then israel took and it took the liberty of those people to me. And became a martyr at this. Company except to get my shit kill some other people. And if you like me can i ask if you accept to get california towards other people or to get the status quo occupying matches by some other by the chinese. Ha dreamin. After explaining the people of manchester from their cars driving them from their feet from every reason to question 1st this question is not presented in. The west because of the influence of the jewish. I dont want to return to their home. Game. For trying to answer the israelis and sort of basically hes well known they would not commit to it. And they would not give him a day or. He can do the. Job and nobody is. Any good. So if the solutions. Are rendered we think well go back to palestine nasr views were echoed by Palestinian Refugees who believed liberation was close a town. How do you think. About. How do you. He is growing quickly about it but. How theyre going to liberate it while with the volatile how are you going to get the 3 of the above the political air if you dont know yet by 4th of all. The revolutionaries of led by Yasser Arafat found refuge and support within syria viewed as one of the most hardline regimes in the region at the time and it was syria that brought matters to a head in 1967. But at us last i absolutely did when the israeli and us that border syria began to cry was claiming that israel was about to wage war against it and the soviets concurred so nasa sent an Egyptian Military delegation to the golan that studied the situation and returned with the view that war was not in the offing but then the soviets repeated their claims of a come and warm. With the mantle of leader of the arab world firmly upon his shoulders president also found it difficult to step back from the escalating tensions in the region in may 967. 00 he requested the withdrawal of United Nations observers from sinai and closed the suez canal to the stream shipping to israel these moves were tantamount to a declaration of war. With conflict imminent out of leaders attempted to close ranks king hussein of jordan who had been the target of accusations and insults by Egyptian State media made a hasty reconciliation with an awesome. Job. Letting bygones be bygones was a means of escaping the insults egyptian media perfected personal attacks on his majesty but the euphoria of the reconciliation and path to war was soon transformed into weeping which has continued to this day. A frenzied out of world waited for the outbreak of the bomb was was. As a 948. 00 expectations of an out of victory and the destruction of israel where i. Was. There reality proved very different. In june 1987 in a matter of hours israel decimated the egyptian air force. Israeli Ground Troops seized the Sinai Peninsula overran syrias Golan Heights and occupied East Jerusalem the west bank and gaza but. The arab world was shocked and stunned the arabs lost what remained of palestine. And even more palestinians were for. To flee their homes. But i felt vindicated. In the arab states had yet again proved incapable of defeating israel. With arab regimes in disarray the past now lay open for the palestinians to fight for themselves. Again it was a situation where there can. Cannot have his. Ear in the public the defeat in 1967 was very painful as a part of the same time it was a great incentive for us to work harder and achieve something and that at the. Story after the war i used to make my way from the lebanese border to syria on to jordan i was never questioned my car was full of weapons the arab armies were defeated broken we used to go to the golan to gather weapons left by that treating syrians there was a state of utter destruction in which the palestinians whose cause it was rose and took action and a fat travelling incognito made his way into the occupied west bank in an effort to organize resistance but the israelis were close on his heels. Comes to weep for the able the feel that to be we had at least 500 to 600 members in the west bank in about 15 days Israeli Defense minister dion managed to capture about 300 of them and everything fell apart i remember arafats being in the west bank at that time travelling on those names and having to escape. In september 1907 arab leaders met and talked to him to define a clearer and more uncompromising stance to israel. They issued what became known as the 3 no us no peace with israel no negotiations with israel and no recognition of israel. Chastened by the 1967 defeat president nasser made the political u. Turn and embraced fattah well in them and can a lot of the us follow the show that has a loss of your sort of it at last a group of us in fact went to egypt and we finally met with nasser i told him i was a masochist i said we had a group of young men who believed in their god im country and were intent on liberating it he said egypt what from now on sure everything was us. Egypt began providing training and support for a fact that was on the condition that operations not be mounted from egyptian territory jordan quickly became the springboard of attack the government in a man could only stand by and watch. In march 1968 palestinian guerrillas attacked a bus killing 2 israelis. Defense minister moshe they are involved to teach the palestinians a lesson. The target was the jordanian village of cut in the Jordan Valley which had become a factor stronghold. Some 15000. 00 israeli troops were mobilized and took part in that attack. The palestinian defenders put up a stiff resistance. Jordanian army and artillery support proved crucial inflicting heavy casualties on the invading israelis. But not all palestinian factions had favored the fight some had withdrawn from karami on the eve of the battle leaving only out of facts fatah and the field. Via a night out together called me in the Arab Nationalist movement believe it was a mistake for a Guerrilla Force to face the enemy head on and therefore would do its fighters from karami but i fight took into account the popular reaction to such a question taishan and the support the 5th day unit would gain in its aftermath. The jordanian chief of staff and the command of the iraqi forces try to convince me to withdraw from cut on me and in a most wealthy. And in a necessity i told them after the defeat of 1967 we took an oath to fight to the very end and even if it meant martyrdom. The israeli army defeated the palestinians and got on it. But a potent legend was born. That the arabs would stand and fight and that the israelis were not invincible. Khurana proved the tremendous mustafa fights for the movement. Thousands of volunteers flocked to palestinian girl accounts while arabs across the middle east donated funds and supplies to these fighters. 3 years after its launch but the high and the palestinian arms struggle now emerged into the mainstream. By gaining autonomy from out of states and fighting for themselves the palestinians now became masters of their own destiny. From now on the way of the gun was the path forward but those guns would soon face off with fellow arabs a history of guerrilla warfare a place on the global stage. The pira gaining strength there revolutionary zeal knowing no bounds but did a series of violent acts by their splinter groups damage the palestinian cause or ensured survival chronicling the turbulent story of the struggle for a palestinian homeland p. L. O. History of a revolution on aljazeera. Throughout history human kind has come together to prevail in our darkest moments this is a moment for pretty much the opposite side laying low saving humankind by really really not getting near every generation has its moment where individual sacrifice makes way for the good of those who will come after this war is ours. And extrajudicial killing and a north african capital. I had someone breaking into our house with a. That i had people shouting that i saw for masked men and i only their eyes and hair was showing. Aljazeera world hears read eyewitness accounts of the dramatic story of the assassination of major p. L. O. Figure khaleel i was here in a secret israeli operation assassination in tunis on aljazeera. Understand the differences and similarities of cultures across the board. Take it well bring you the news and Current Affairs that matter to you. The air in the air and in the air. Chinas economy contracts for the 1st time in decades as the coronavirus shutdown takes its toll on the manufacturing giants. Fully back to boyer watching aljazeera live from doha also coming up. We are not opening all at once but one careful step at a time Donald Trumps guidelines for reopening the u. S. Economy but democrats say they are vague and