Yasser Arafat Quotations

Palestine is the cement that holds the Arab world together, or it is the explosive that blows it apart.

I come bearing an olive branch in one hand, and the freedom fighter's gun in the other. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.

We plan to eliminate the state of Israel and establish a purely Palestinian state. We will make life unbearable for Jews by psychological warfare and population explosion. We Palestinians will take over everything, including all of Jerusalem.

The victory march will continue until the Palestinian flag flies in Jerusalem and in all of Palestine.

This is my homeland no one can kick me out.

Our law is a Jordanian law that we inherited, which applies to both the West Bank and Gaza, and sets the death penalty for those who sell land to Israelis.

The Palestinian Rifle is ready and we will aim it if they try to prevent us from praying in Jerusalem.

Whoever stands by a just cause cannot possibly be called a terrorist.

Whoever thinks of stopping the uprising before it achieves its goals, I will give him ten bullets in the chest.

Peace for us means the destruction of Israel. We are preparing for an all-out war, a war which will last for generations.

In order to obtain the goal of returning to Palestine, all of us sometimes have to grit our teeth.

It's always convenient for certain people to heap accusations on Israel.

We strive to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, ... We don't want a breakdown of the peace process.

We have no other alternative. And in spite of all the difficulties we are facing, we have one alternative: to carry on with the peace process. This is our strategic target.

So here we extend our hand to you in reconciliation, and we extend the olive branch to resume the path that we began in Madrid and Oslo,

Most of the talk will be concentrated on how best we can go back to the negotiation table.

No one single house to be added. Not any expansion to any settlement,

I don't know. But you know we have condemned this. And not only that, I gave instructions to search who had sent this.

He was the only security chief who Arafat blindly relied on.

He was the first U.S. president to say such a statement before the general assembly.

We told him that we are ready to consult and discuss with him the items of the proposals but that they should not be the only basis,

has to invest more of his authority, of his control. But there is a beginning of hope that I wouldn't put aside.

is very important for the international peace all over the world, which means it is very important for the biggest power all over the world -- America.

our people are getting rid of the traitors one by one.

Regrettably, this is a dangerous escalation that drags the whole region into a very critical, bad and grave situation,

Peace is a one-way road, ... Let us together remove the obstacles facing us.

I would like to call on you to re-evaluate all our administrative, ministerial and security institutions after we have seen errors here and there, errors that cannot be hidden from the public opinion.

We hope that we will have this agreement for the implementation of what had been agreed upon very soon.

Without a doubt, since the beginning we have welcomed American initiatives which we hope will succeed, especially in the upcoming London meetings.

We had met. I had met Shimon Peres in Cairo, in Lisbon before that, before that my colleagues met him in Athens with the participation of the European Union's Javier Solana and we have no objection to meeting him at any time.

We demanded that the United States play a role in pushing the peace process forward and we thank President Clinton and the U.S. administration for that role,

We are not against opening talks, but we are in need of results and not talks.

We would like to reiterate that all sorts of armed activities should be stopped and there should be no more attacks, especially the suicide bombing attacks that we have always condemned. We will arrest those who have planned these attacks.

We are seeking a four-way meeting. Our position has always been that the European Union must have a vital, effective role in this peace process,

Unfortunately, he has not yet offered anything tangible,

This was a very successful agreement, ... It is a very important start to achieve real peace and to avoid military activity.

We cannot confine the talks to security issues, ... All issues should be discussed with Ross in order to reach positive results.

to give Arafat a nudge, no -- more than that -- a push.

complete and immediate cessation of all military activities ... especially suicide attacks.

is more than realistic because according to the signed agreements ... our state should have been declared by 1998 or 1999.

Our duty today, the duty of all of us is to continue the work that I started with my late partner Yitzhak Rabin, to protect the peace of the brave and to continue and complete that work,

strike terror in your enemy ... if they want peace, then let's have peace.

a victory for our people, for all the free and proud people and for every freedom movement in the world.

This confirms what I have said from the beginning, that this is an attempt to avoid the accurate and honest implementation of what has been agreed upon,

This brutality, this arrogance is moved by a supremacist mentality, a mentality of racial discrimination.

They stood by our side when we were in the worst situation.

This is untrue. The ship belongs to Hezbollah, which bought it from its Iraqi owner for $400,000,

It's obvious that the Israelis were not ready to make the necessary steps, and take the necessary positions, to make a peace agreement possible.

I told Foreign Minister Ivanov that we officially accept the joint Jordanian-Egyptian initiative as well as the report of the Mitchell commission and view those documents as a basis for rapid and resolute actions towards ending the dangerous escalation of developments in the Middle East.

The negotiators will likely continue negotiation sessions, and only after that President Clinton will decide on a date when he can invite the parties to a meeting in Washington.

I hope this will close the chapter forever,

I hope that (Netanyahu) will go to Washington with a positive response to the American initiative, and not to try again to open dialogue, to waste time,

because it is true; had he not said it, it would have been misleading.

before Clinton finishes his term as Clinton has promised to exert all of his efforts.

All the parties involved are still studying the U.S. proposal. Such proposals need to be studied carefully, because some of the proposals are less substantive than what was suggested at Camp David.

the Lebanese people have the right to defend their land.

Find what strength you have to terrorize your enemy and the enemy of God.

I know the American administration is trying to refurbish its image after Irangate, especially in the Middle East and among their friends in this area. No doubt about it. We are following it.

We do not want to destroy any people. It is precisely because we have been advocating coexistence that we have shed so much blood.

I send my condolences, and the condolences of the Palestinian people to American President Bush and his government and to the American people for this terrible act....We completely condemn this serious operation.... We were completely shocked.... It's unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable.

We will make the lives of the infidels hell - millions of martyrs marching on Jerusalem.

We said we are ready to establish our independent state in any part from which the Israelis withdraw or which is liberated. Any part. The moment they withdraw from Gaza, I will establish my state there in Gaza.

Anyone who relinquishes a single inch of Jerusalem is neither an Arab nor a Muslim.

The goal of our struggle is the end of Israel, and there can be no compromise.

I am not Mr. Chairman. I am His Excellency, the President of Palestine.

With hearts that believe in Allah's will and predetermination, we have received the news about the martyrdom of the martyr. . . . Al-Hotary, the son of Palestine, whose noble soul ascended to . . . in order to rest in Allah's Kingdom, together with the Prophets, the men of virtue, and the martyrs. The heroic martyrdom operation . . . who turned his body into bombs . . . the model of manhood and sacrifice for the sake of Allah and the homeland.

Peace cannot be achieved except after the cessation of military escalation and the economic and financial siege.

Our basic aim is to liberate the land from the Mediterranean Seas to the Jordan River. We are not concerned with what took place in June 1967 or in eliminating the consequences of the June war. The Palestinian revolution's basic concern is the uprooting of the Zionist entity from our land and liberating it.

We shall never stop until we can go back home and Israel is destroyed... The goal of our struggle is the end of Israel, and there can be no compromises or mediations... the goal of this violence is the elimination of Zionism from Palestine in all its political, economic and military aspects... We don't want peace, we want victory. Peace for us means Israel's destruction and nothing else.

When I made a big effort in '96 and it is not - I squeezed and I arrested a part of [terroristic groups].

Even if only one guerilla cub survives the prolonged struggle, I am confident that he will raise the flag of Palestine overJerusalem... Jerusalem is destined to be the eternal capital of our sovereign, independent Palestinian state under the P.L.O. leadership.

I want to tell Carter and Begin that when the Arabs set off their volcano there will be only Arabs in this part of the world... Our people will continue to fuel the torch of the revolution with rivers of blood until the whole of the occupied homeland is liberated, the whole of the homeland is liberated, not just a part of it.

Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state.

I am challenging Ezer Weizman to accept the democratic state where both of us can live in this democratic state. What confederation? No. One democratic state. He declared one offer, I am declaring the other offer. With two communities.

I swear to God, I will see [the Palestinian state], whether as a martyr or alive. Please, God, give me the honor of becoming a martyr in the fight for Jerusalem.

I am convinced that our people are now on the way to establishing a Palestinian state. The agreement signed in Cairo is the first step in establishing the state, and therefore it should be implemented.

You are the generation that will reach the sea and hoist the flag of Palestine over Tel Aviv.

I have a solution. I agree for the United Nations forces to be on the borders between me and them for any period of time. Okay? Ezer Weizman challenged me a few days ago to accept an Israeli - Palestinian confederation.

Palestine is only a stones throw away for a small Palestinian boy or girl.

The Palestinian state is within our grasp. Soon the Palestinian flag will fly on the walls, the minarets and the cathedrals of Jerusalem.

Jordan recognizes that east Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state and Jordan rejects foreign sovereignty -- Israeli sovereignty -- over the holy sites

I am looking to have a place under the sun for our new generations to live in peace far away from repression, from terrorism, to live as human beings freely in this free world. That is what I am looking for. I am not asking for the moon. I am asking for the United Nations legality to be implemented.

This child, who is grasping the stone, facing the tank, is it not the greatest message to the world when that hero becomes a martyr? We are proud of them.

We completely condemn this very dangerous attack, and I convey my condolences to the American people, to the American president and to the American administration, not only in my name, but on behalf of the Palestinian people.

I had support - I had started it, not to forget.

All religious wars are about people arguing over who has the biggest invisible friend.

Israel must withdraw from Jerusalem so that it becomes the capital of a state of Palestine.

Let us be worthy of those who pin their hopes on us. May God bless you with success.

The obstacle is the USA administration. I know there is a strong Israeli lobby in America, no doubt of it.

Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.

Not to forget, you are speaking with General Yasser Arafat. It's true that I am an engineer. But also I am a general. And I am religious. I believe that no one can approach me except God.

What Kuwait did to the Palestinian people is worse than what has been done by Israel to Palestinians in the occupied territories.

All our moves are based on four general principles: continued use of the rifle, no waiving of historical rights, no peace, and no negotiations... Whatever form of government is established in the territory when the shadow of occupation passes away, whenever I address my fighters and revolutionaries, I shall say: 'Let our rifles be aimed at the beloved land, the land of the homeland, the land of Palestine

Still, the American administration is following blindly the Israeli advisers in your policy, while they are pushing you to more and more disasters.

We will not bend or fail until the blood of every last Jew from the youngest child to the oldest elder is spilt to redeem our land!

We are a democratic - we are living in democracy.

The Israelis are mistaken if they think we do not have an alternative to negotiations. By Allah I swear they are wrong. The Palestinian people are prepared to sacrifice the last boy and the last girl so that the Palestinian flag will be flown over the walls, the churches and the mosques of Jerusalem.

Martyrs, martyrs, martyrs,... we want a million martyrs to march on Jerusalem.

Since we cannot defeat Israel in war, we do this in stages. We take any and every territory that we can of Palestine, and establish a sovereignty there, and we use it as a springboard to take more. When the time comes, we can get the Arab nations to join us for the final blow against Israel.

It will be another disaster, after Irangate. Not only that, not only this longest Arab - Israeli confrontation: but also the most important and successful war of attrition which still continues in the south of Lebanon.