Yasser Arafat's Great Gamble:

The month is April, 2001. Abu Amar, leader of the PLO, and the one who wishes to be the founder of a state ruling all of Palestine, from the River to the Sea, is alone in his Spartan Office. He has promised an address to Jerusalem now during this Intifada, for what he expects will be a gambit this time so audacious that the Israelis in general and Ariel Sharon in particular will never take him up on it. He believes that if he shows his strength for this particular gamble, offering a cease-fire and the promise of a Palestinian state that will let Israel alone that no Israelis, and Sharon in particular will ever accept it.

He, confident, serene, and isolated, knows that he can bluff the Israelis here, and he has issued orders to Hamas and Islamic Jihad to stand down. All things favor his end, he was driven from Amman, from Beirut, driven to Tripoli and now here he is, ruler of the Palestinian Authority. What could Sharon do here, he is an agent of that treacherous, invariably evil artificial entity dedicated to the destruction of the Palestinians. And this new US President, Bush, is as much a patsy as Clinton will be. After all, words are words.

With the cameras now on and his keffiyeh in perfect shape, Arafat begins his speech:

"I, Abu Amar, leader of the PLO, declare an immediate cease-fire with Israel, with the promise that if our brave heroes fighting for the liberation of their people but lay down their arms that the cause of our people, just and recognized by all nations, will triumph. The savage and vicious war brought upon us by the Zionist Aggressors, who have yet to fulfill the attempts to found a Peace of the Brave begun in Oslo, has begun to wreck the infrastructure of our people.

I say this as someone who champions martyrs, martyrs, martyrs. We must show that we, who desire a full peace, a democratic state of Christian, Muslim, and Jew, are more humane than those imperialists who occupy our land, who settle it, who Judaize it, who tunnel under our holy mosque. I wish for a just and lasting peace with Israel and with all nations, to bind our nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have born the battle, his widow, and his orphan. I wish to be known as Yasser Arafat, restorer of the rights of my people.

To repeat, I declare a full cease-fire in this brutal and unjust conflict, and now extend to my brothers in Israel, to Sharon, to the people who unjustly occupy our lands another statement: I utterly and completely denounce terrorism, and all its works. Our cause is just, and I offer you a complete and total peace, a peace that will be everlasting. As of a quarter-hour after this speech all gunfire will be silent."

Then Arafat gestured and the cameras cut off. Sitting back in his chair the leader of the Palestinian Authority smiled. A short-term cease fire, letting him bring in more guns, more weaponry, perhaps if he was able to hold down Hamas and Islamic Jihad enough even giving him a short-term tactical advantage? He was assured, after all, that of all Israeli leaders this one, Sharon, would answer this in the affirmative when Hell froze over.......


15 minutes later:

The guns and rockets fired from the West Bank and Gaza, and all violence fell silent in a stunned, complete, deafening silence. The leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad had received no briefing of this speech, nor had any of the other Palestinian leaders. Abu Mazen, upon hearing it, had spat out his entire drink in surprise and engaged in a long coughing fit. He did not know what Abu Amar was doing, nor did any of the other Palestinian leaders. He did not expect that Abu Amar had *really* learned anything different, but there was always, as the West put it, that Hope that Sprang Eternal......

___________

Comments? This'll be a relatively short TL continued up to 2012.

Part I: The Fallout:

The leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Yasser Arafat's closest contemporaries, deciding to use the cease-fire while they could, Sheik Yassin in particular screaming "This is an outrage, Brother Abu Amar, you have betrayed our people! Betrayed our cause! This cannot be born!". For thirty minutes the Sheik raged, fumed, pawed, and snorted as Arafat listened, hands moving nervously. Then the other leaders of the Palestinian Authority also began criticizing his unilateral actions yet again, with the most conspicuously silent figure Abu Mazzin. This was the second day into the unilateral cease-fire, and after listening to these criticisms Arafat rose from his seat and barked "Shut up!'.

He then said "This is, I assure you, another of our public actions. The commitment remains what it will always be. We have ships, coming, brothers, which in a war Israel would otherwise seize, and which would be potentially a weakening to our cause. Sharon, that dog, is the leader of the Zionist Entity right now. He will never adhere to what I have done, and then the claim of international legitimacy is all the stronger. Our brother Arab states will see us wronged yet again, and we shall receive more arms, more money. This is but a Ben Gurion truce, negotiate in public for peace, preparing for a stronger war after the fact. The Zionist Entity is weak, and will collapse. But why give it an easier means to fight us when we can play off that weakness and our own true strength? Even now they do not know how to act. Sharon has said nothing. This, brothers, is nothing but a temporary breathing spell, our true goal has not changed."

Pausing and striking another theatric pose he said "Even in a revolution there must be instances of reshaping the means that we do things. The martyrs who are married to Palestine are effective weapons for us, so are these rockets. We will hold to this so long as we can, to gather more, and more efficient, weapons, and if Sharon should ignore this cease-fire and go for a real war, so much the better. It will silence those traitors to our people who think Israel is interested in any peace with us, and who think a partition of our motherland is acceptable in any fashion."

From Hannity and Colmes:

Hannity: That terrorist Yasser Arafat has issued another of his false promises that don't mean anything. I do hope that the Administration will not make the mistakes that Clinton did and appease terrorists, as we've seen plenty of these promises from Arafat before. This is a treacherous man, somebody who uses schoolchildren to foster his "national liberation." I hope the US government simply ignores it, and doesn't listen to those liberals who say we should do this.

Colmes: Sean, I think that this is a good sign, though. Arafat's always been hesitant and doing things at the last minute. He's never said anything this explicit before. It's been three days and there really hasn't been a shot fired.

Hannity: Alan, I'm telling you, it's nothing but a trick. It's Oslo all over again, and people want little tiny Israel to deal with this man? It's ridiculous, and it's a sign that people frankly don't understand the kind of man we're dealing with. How many times in the 1990s did he pledge peace while he was building up all those arms caches? The Palestinians in this "intifada" have weapons they're not allowed to have. And he wants us to trust him now? It's ridiculous.

From Ha'Aretz:

It has been three days now and not a shot has been fired from the territory governed by the Palestinian Authority. As yet Prime Minister Sharon refuses to comment or to act upon this latest so-called truce from this man, the supposed peacemaker who is either treacherous and faithless when he said he could not rein in these movements before, or is aiming for some new act now. Every promise, without fail, made by Arafat before has been broken. Why then is this one going to be any different?

He has said repeatedly that he could not control Hamas and Islamic Jihad, so why are they now not shooting at us or at him? If he has no connection to terrorism as he repeatedly and ludicrously claims, why then this sudden silence after his speech? This truce is nothing but another lie on top of all the others, and we have no means to negotiate now with someone who will think only that by so securing negotiations from us that this man can use force at any other time to get the aim he desires. There is no reason, no necessity, to trust Arafat.

This agreement should not be trusted and it is the view of this paper that the government should not give Arafat by force what he has failed to get by proper negotiations. It will only make things worse.

-Yitzhak Aharonavitch in an editorial-

I wish I could write such TLs myself, but I really don't posess the talent you have.

Excellent stuff, keep it going

Super Missile said:

I wish I could write such TLs myself, but I really don't posess the talent you have.

Excellent stuff, keep it going

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I should note that Arafat here isn't exactly sincere with his offer and he's expecting that Sharon will reject it. Given Arafat's track record with what he expected and what he gets.....

Jerusalem, Office of the Israeli Prime Minister:

On the first day of the cease-fire, Sharon had been skeptical that the declaration would mean anything. On the second day and the third Sharon had kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and had begun consultations with Barak, Mofaz, and others with whom he would need to keep in contact. The statements of Arafat in public on the fourth day, saying "We have shown that we are willing to stand up for our rights, we offer complete peace. Not a shot has been fired in four days, and where is the conqueror of Beirut now? Mr. Sharon, the blood of the Palestinian people spilled demands your troops remove themselves from our soil!".

Sharon knew he faced a dilemma. The international view of his actions would be all out of proportion to them if he reacted with violence, or if he should wind up reacting to this proposal, which he did not accept as sincere, with anything less generous than what Arafat demanded. On the other hand he knew quite well how the Palestinians had *last* reacted to "peace" and he did not want to make it so that they would resume this again, but now with a full-fledged proper army. Realizing that this posed somewhat of a problem, he sought fuller meetings with all his potential rivals and his allies in the Israeli leadership.

Sharon conceded that Arafat "is again saying profound words, but once again his actions shall not live up to them", and so he sought a means to out-fox the terrorist whom he had fought so many times before.

Thus, Sharon, after two more days of talking and discussion and mutual agreements with the Israeli leadership and the wide range of Israeli politics sought to counter Arafat's gamble with one of his own. In this he expected that presented with an actual peace and an actual state of his own as in the 1990s Arafat would once again refuse them and that if he could present it just so he might even be able to set up Arafat as the bloody and insincere terrorist he was and to ensure that the world and Israel would see the problem was not Palestinians in general, but Yasser Arafat. Thus, five days into the cease-fire, Sharon went on television to give his own proposal in counter to that of Arafat......

The Sharon Speech:

"Five days ago the Palestinian Authority has announced a total and complete cease-fire, one that has held in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip until today. Arafat proclaims that he is sincere in his offer of peace, and that he shall adhere this time to his claims of denouncing and renouncing terrorism. He says that he will be satisfied with a state that as per the Oslo Accords consists solely of the territories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as per the agreements in those Accords. Mr. Arafat says that he is sincere in this, and indeed there has not been so much as a gun accidentally fired in the days since.

As a result, I say to Mr. Arafat that if he is truly sincere in adhering to the accords, and wishes Israel to make further withdrawals, and that he is sincere in accepting the existence of a Palestinian state that he is welcome to meet me in a neutral zone, outside either territory, where we will discuss the establishment of a full, recognized Palestinian state. If the Chairman is truly sincere in this statement, then this is all to the good, for this is a war that has gone on too long and cost too many lives. If the Chairman is sincere, then we will indeed allow a peaceful, demilitarized Palestinian state, one that has indeed sincerely, utterly, and totally denounced and renounced terrorism to be our neighbor. If the Chairman is sincere, then the state of Israel will indeed welcome such a state, provided our neighbor recognizes our right to all territories we claim as the national homeland of the Jewish people. We shall indeed have peace, Mr. Chairman, and take our place as twin brother-nations.

I accept your proposal, Chairman Arafat. Do you accept mine??" And with that Israeli cameras also shut off. Sharon smiled in turn. If Arafat was truly sincere about peace with Israel, so much the better, as it meant he had become a different Arafat. But if this, too, was another false promise then he had a second speech prepared, one that would indicate that Israel's enemy now was not the Palestinian people but one Yasser Arafat...........

Arafat had already renounced terrorism years earlier by 2001 and by that time was considered an elder statesmen in the West not a terrorist. How was Clinton a patsy for Arafat?

Interesting topic to do a TL on, and in quite an interesting format too. Subscribed.

Snake Featherston said:

The Sharon Speech:

"Five days ago the Palestinian Authority has announced a total and complete cease-fire, one that has held in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip until today. Arafat proclaims that he is sincere in his offer of peace, and that he shall adhere this time to his claims of denouncing and renouncing terrorism. He says that he will be satisfied with a state that as per the Oslo Accords consists solely of the territories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as per the agreements in those Accords. Mr. Arafat says that he is sincere in this, and indeed there has not been so much as a gun accidentally fired in the days since.

As a result, I say to Mr. Arafat that if he is truly sincere in adhering to the accords, and wishes Israel to make further withdrawals, and that he is sincere in accepting the existence of a Palestinian state that he is welcome to meet me in a neutral zone, outside either territory, where we will discuss the establishment of a full, recognized Palestinian state. If the Chairman is truly sincere in this statement, then this is all to the good, for this is a war that has gone on too long and cost too many lives. If the Chairman is sincere, then we will indeed allow a peaceful, demilitarized Palestinian state, one that has indeed sincerely, utterly, and totally denounced and renounced terrorism to be our neighbor.

I accept your proposal, Chairman Arafat. Do you accept mine??" And with that Israeli cameras also shut off. Sharon smiled in turn. If Arafat was truly sincere about peace with Israel, so much the better, as it meant he had become a different Arafat. But if this, too, was another false promise then he had a second speech prepared, one that would indicate that Israel's enemy now was not the Palestinian people but one Yasser Arafat...........

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I am assuming you meant Arafat accepting the existence of Israel instead of Palestine here?

Sean Mulligan said:

Arafat had already renounced terrorism years earlier by 2001 and by that time was considered an elder statesmen in the West not a terrorist. How was Clinton a patsy for Arafat?

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He never renounced terrorism in any sense bar the superficial one of propaganda. He's also doing a very risky, purely tactical move here on an assumption that Sharon would not do what he just did here, in a classical example of Yasser Arafat politics.

Shogun said:

I am assuming you meant Arafat accepting the existence of Israel instead of Palestine here?

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No, I meant both Israel *and* Palestine, his recognizing the existence of the state of Israel co-existing with an independent state of Palestine limited to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Sharon's trying to entrap Arafat just as Arafat's trying to entrap Sharon.

Ramallah, day of the Sharon Speech:

Yasser Arafat watched on the television as General Sharon gave his speech in a calm, confident, and assured fashion. Expecting Sharon to have struck a blow against him and to have refused his bargain, Abu Amar, leader of the PA, was stunned. His aides in later years described him as having his mouth gape like a goldfish and uttering the phrase "How could he do this?" over and over again, his hands tremoring. Arafat, now put on the spot by his own attempt to gain the moral high ground over Israel faced his own challenge. Calling Sheik Yassin and the other leaders he proclaimed that this was a "victory for the Palestinian people. I assure you that if we wait but three weeks and no more that Sharon can't hold to this. He is, I assure you, too much the barbarian savage like all Jews to hold to accords. The Zionists are faithless, impious dogs who have never met an agreement that they liked.

We will be the ultimate triumphant leaders here, but I insist that not so much as a shot be fired for three weeks. We will stare at these barbarians and then they shall show this truth that it is them who are always the aggressors. This is our chance to avenge the Nakhba, and remember, we shall have three weeks to secure weapons by means that cannot be traced. I shall ask the King in Riyadh if there are means that this can be expedited through his channels."

After a three hour interval of such calls, repeated over and over again, the bearded, Keffiyeh-wearing face of Arafat appeared on the Palestinian Authority television channels and on Israeli screens also.

"In response to the gracious speech of Ariel Sharon, my distinguished colleague in leadership, I shall indeed schedule such a meeting of our two peoples, to work for this great peace of the brave that produced the heroic martyr Rabin. I shall schedule this in three weeks and three days, so that I may consult our people who seek the Return and my people here, in Gaza, and in the West Bank, that I may secure the views of all my people toward peace. To further these great opportunities, I shall also ensure that the voice of my people is one of warmth and of goodwill to our counterparts in Tel-Aviv."

After this and the shutting-off of the cameras, Arafat soon again called up his fellow leaders to say "In three weeks, my friends. In three weeks the Zionist Entity shall show itself to be what we all know that it is, the faithless and malevolent imperialist parasite. We have fought for thirty years, three weeks of silence on our stations about the truth is but a short time. Remember I shall be calling the Saudi King and others to see if we shall not be able to use this time to gain weapons to far strengthen our hands if the Zionists should try to wait longer."

Sheik Yassin, the one he spent the most time calling, with Abd Al-Aziz Awda the second-most called leader said "Brother Abu Amar, the triumph of Allah is what it will be, and we agree that Allah wills that three weeks' waiting shall not cost us any time that years passed already have not. I assume that we shall be seeking better rockets than what we have now? These that we have are low in quality."

Arafat responded "Yes, yes, brother, I shall ensure that you receive higher-quality rockets. In three weeks."

The Office of the Israeli Prime Minister:

When Arafat gave his indications of acceptance to Sharon's speech the reactions in Jerusalem were somewhat suspicious. Sharon ordered quietly that the IDF begin low-level preparations to be completed in 20 days in case Arafat intended to back-stab the Israeli state, while doing this in a quiet and calm manner so as not to arouse Arafat's suspicion. Taking a leaf out of Arafat's own playbook, Sharon decided that in this time he would spend the time granted both preparing for the Summit and readying a full-scale offensive, codenamed Defensive Shield, in case Arafat was intending something worse. Defensive Shield would involve a total removal of PA infrastructure, to forestall any hostile war, as well as a siege of Ramallah, to isolate Arafat. If possible, too, there would be attempts made to kill certain terrorists who were known to be in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in spite of the continually broken promises of Arafat. 20 days would offer plenty of time to move troops to jumping-off points, as well as for time to both gauge Arafat's sincerity and to push for a sincere peace if it were at all possible. Given how Arafat had been far more hostile to Barak and Shamir, Sharon intended to do nothing that would further his already-unpleasant reputation and make Arafat's scheme, whatever it was, easy for him to accomplish.

Sharon, busy seeking to make gains from this situation also began to seek for suitable locations for the two leaderships to meet. While both the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships both proceeded to prepare plans, the two were both blindsided by a proposal coming from a completely unexpected source......

Washington, D.C., Oval Office:

George W. Bush, elected on a narrow and controversial margin, had been just as initially suspicious as Sharon of Arafat's promises and what they were worth. As the cease-fire held, and held more totally than ever before, he was to face the divided counsels of Cheney and Condi, who argued that there was never any reason to compromise or negotiate with Arafat, and Powell and Rumsfeld, who argued that if this Administration could actively accomplish what Clinton had failed to do that Bush's re-election would be assured without a campaign. Bush, who had hopes as the peace stretched on and no incidents, particularly no suicide bombings, happened over a growing span of time that perhaps Arafat had indeed changed his stripes began to plan an attempt to do what had thus far failed for all Presidents since the Camp David Accords: a sincere, lasting peace between Israel and Palestine.

Derided as a do-nothing President, it was Bush's desire to make his mark here and become known not merely as a uniter, but as the POTUS who ended one of the longest-running, most bitter conflicts in world history. Thus was it that the evening that Arafat and Sharon had made their dueling speeches that the US public was jolted by an unexpected press statement from the POTUS, one that also blindsided both Jerusalem and Ramallah.......

The Peace and Reconciliation Address:

George W. Bush, seated in front of the cameras in a suit and tie gave a speech that in brevity was not a long one, but one that surprised both the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority and threw a monkey wrench into both their plans:

"If Yasser Arafat has truly and finally turned a new leaf, renouncing terrorism in all its forms, then the United States will indeed fulfill our own long-cherished goals of peace between the two peoples. This war is part of a human tragedy, creating an injustice in response to one of the worst acts of evil in human history. If Yasser Arafat is truly sincere, then the United States is also sincere in that this long tragedy of war between two peoples shall end. We extend to Mr. Arafat an offer that in his three weeks the United States and United Nations shall serve as full arbiters, the better to end one of the worst and most malignant wars that has lasted now for decades.

Terrorism is an utter and unmitigated evil, and if Yasser Arafat truly renounces it, we also extend an offer to the Palestinian Authority to help aid the nations of the world in combating the iron hand of terrorism and all that goes with it. The scourge of terrorism has haunted the world for far too long, as has the scourge and terror of war in the Middle East. A true peace between democratic Israel and a democratic, free, and demilitarized Palestine will serve all interests. If the Palestinian Authority accepts this notion we shall also extend to it the economic aid that is the right of all societies and of all peoples who strive to be forever free. The United States looks forward to a free Palestine, our ally just as is Israel, and a sign to the Arab world that the triumphant march of freedom shall make dictators everywhere fear."

With that the world, watching its collective television screens, either gaped, scoffed in disbelief, or snorted whatever was being drunk through its noses.........

Ramallah, the evening of Bush's speech:

Yasser Arafat again rang up his allies. "My friends, the President of the United States has begun to dance to our tune with a declaration of three weeks. If but three weeks give us this time, what then would six weeks do? I would suggest that we extend the delay at least five weeks and make the pretense of meeting Mr. Sharon and Mr. Bush. His father was for the side of right, for the side of the Arabs, and the son shall also be for the side of right, for the side of the Arabs.

We shall now have five weeks brothers, FIVE WEEKS, to build up our army. I shall go to meet Sharon wherever he proposes, and while I am away, I authorize Yassin, Al-Awda, and the Force 17 and Martyrs' Brigade to continue to build up our arsenals. Always, brothers, our force is to pursue the way of struggle. If the Zionist entity and its puppetmasters in Washington, the American imperialists wish to give us this breathing space then we indeed shall use it. Not an inch of the sacred soil of Palestine shall be yielded, not one inch.

I assure you my brothers that the victory indeed shall be ours, and that in five weeks we shall amass a force sufficient to annihilate Sharon and to remove the pestilence of the Zionist entity from our soil."

Keep this going Snake, I really like this

The Office of the Israeli Prime Minister:

Upon hearing the speech of the US President the reaction in Sharon's office of the Prime Minister and his cabinets was an astonished silence that lasted for a good fifteen minutes. It was then that the Israeli news recorded a response from Chairman Arafat, whose face once again flashed onto screens, his Keffiyeh worn prominently.

"In the wake of the distinguished President of the United States' proclamation, the cease-fire shall be extended indefinitely. For too long the Palestinian people have suffered in the Catastrophe, in Exile, in submission and surrender. For too long we have suffered sieges in Amman, in Beirut, we have suffered and our brother Arabs who have aided our national quest, the quest for a free Palestine have suffered. We martyrs and sufferers have fought and bled and died for a free Palestine.

We indeed welcome a full and a true peace with Israel, and the establishment of a true Palestinian state, co-existing with Israel, where our rights are recognized, and where the just cause of the Palestinian people triumphs. We Palestinians have fought long for our rights, and we shall and do extend the olive branch to Israel, the freedom fighter's gun having already secured us what rights we wish."

Sharon, listening to this particular speech which lasted for two hours and concluded with "in the venerable words of Abraham Lincoln, we truly shall establish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations", Sharon turned to his cabinet.

"We all agree that the Chairman has never met a deal he did not renege upon. But if he extends this cease-fire indefinitely, then we shall have longer to plan Defensive Shield. We shall give the planning period another week, and then mobilize on schedule, always seeking to ensure that we distract Arafat and thus can prevent his inevitable betrayal from harming us. And again, if he is sincere, so much the better. We do not truly *want* to rule these territories and not having to do so will be all to the good."

With this opening three hours of deep discussion followed before Sharon again responded on Israeli television:

"Israel also accepts the proposals of the Chairman and the President of the United States for the establishments of two states, co-existing with each other in peace and in harmony, and for a relationship marred not by violence and blood and iron but marked by the peace and goodwill of the sons of Abraham. This long war may at last truly be over, and if it is, so much the better, for a peaceful Middle East is something that would truly benefit us all."

A meeting of the leadership of the Islamic Jihad Movement of Palestine:

Abd-Al Awda looked at his fellow leaders and spoke confidently and triumphantly. "You see brothers what this second Intifada has gotten us. It took but one act of Brother Abu Amar and the Zionists and their puppet masters dance to our pulling their strings, now. We are told to wait but five weeks, and this is but the start. The wisdom of our great symbol may at last be showing itself, and no more will it be that we are held hostage to his quests to appease the Zionist Entity.

It now fears us, the USA refuses to chance that we continue their war. On the surface it shall seem as though we are quiescent, as though the Jihad for the liberation of Palestine has ended. Allah, however, has willed only one true means of the liberation of our land, and that is warfare. The Santorini cannot bring us our arms by sea, that would be too easily detected by the Zionist Entity and we shall give Brother Abu Amar his five weeks.

Rather, instead, these weapons shall be arriving overland at various points along the border with Egypt, which has, I have learned, proven willing to look the other way so long as we do not use these weapons to attack the Zionist Entity or provide any evidence that they are involved. And this, oh brothers, is the first of the great steps to liberation of our land. No more shall we be limited to Brother Amar's quest to kill the children and the women of the Zionists, rather we, the Islamic Jihad, shall prepare to fight the real menace, the army of the Zionist Entity, that we may counter its greatest advantage.

The will of Allah is that we should prevail, and with such weapons as we shall receive, our chances to prevail shall rise all the more."

A simultaneous meeting of the Hamas movement's leaders:

Sheik Yassin, speaking from his wheelchair again said sonorously "We shall not endanger the time allotted to Brother Abu Amar's plan to destroy the Zionist Entity, and we must, I fear, forestall at the end of this time any foolishness on the part of our more pious but also more misguided brothers. We have not the strength to directly confront Israel's army, and we must, when we renew the struggle, use these weapons as they are meant to be used. No amount of automatic rifles or anti-tank weaponry shall permit us to defeat the Zionists in a war of armies. Rather we must prepare to renew the struggle to collapse the will of the Zionist state. Sharon is no fool, and I feel he may be preparing to contest us even as he pledges peace, as he is most certainly not a fool.

Brother Abu Amar has given us five weeks to prepare for the renewal of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, to protest the insult of the man with whom he now seeks to ensure does not realize we prepare for simply a renewed, and more effective struggle. The war as it has been has already been costly, it is my hope that Allah wills these new weapons we shall be receiving shall let us liberate our land without the price of having to use *all* our sons. Allah does not want the dead alone to inherit land of the living.

With these new weapons, brothers, the Jihad shall be far stronger, and it is my belief the Zionist Entity shall fail to respond to it and at long last meet its Hattin."