Democratic Palestine : 29 (ص 21)
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- Democratic Palestine : 29 (ص 21)
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forces and the engineering companies which tried to apply this
project.
Fourth, the Jerusalem Electric Company’s license was going
to expire by the end of 1986. The Zionist regional electricity
company wanted to take over its concession and reduce the
areas that were served by the Jerusalem Electric Company.
This is also a political question about who has authority, the
Zionists or the Palestinians, or even the previous authority of
the Jordanian regime. The Palestinians refused to let the
Jerusalem Electric Company’s concession be confiscated or
limited. This led to clashes between the workers of the com-
pany and the Zionist authorities, which expanded to include
the Palestinian masses in more than one place.
These were a number of developments that set the stage for
the uprising. Added to them are a number of other actions,
such as land confiscation and tax collection. Fifty-four percent
of West Bank and Gaza Strip land has been confiscated. The
amount of taxes imposed on the people is unbelievable. The
Palestinians had to pay more in taxes than the Zionists used
‘during their 1982 invasion of Lebanon. The Palestinian began
to feel that all of his work went towards paying for the oc-
cupation. He is not able to secure his land or even his life. For:
instance, the Palestinian started to plent the land he inherited
from his father and grandfather, and the next day a gang of
settlers would enter his land and take it from him. In this
situation, where a person is deprived of basic necessities as well
as values and heritage, it becomes essential to confront the oc-
cupation.
Here, some specific events that lead to the outbreak of the
uprising in the Gaza Strip come to my mind. Prior to the
uprising a number of Palestinian nationalists managed to
escape from the Nafha and Gaza prisons. They clashed with
the Zionist army and four of them were martyred. Two days
after this, an Israeli truck intentionally hit two Palestinian cars
at Arez barricade. Four of the Palestinian passengers were
killed and six wounded. The residents of Jabalia camp pro-
tested this murder, and a number of Palestinians were killed by
Zionist troops. There was a strong reaction in Balata camp
near Nablus, and the uprising spread to the West Bank.
These were the events that ignited the uprising, but the
uprising is a result of the accumulation of many events starting
with the establishment of the Zionist entity in 1948, and the
occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967. During
these years, there were a number of Palestinian uprisings. The
current uprising is qualitatively unique in terms of its
organization, expanse, the participation of all of the masses,
the readiness of our people to sacrifice and the methods used to
confront the occupiers.
How has the uprising managed to continue despite
unprecedented Zionist repression?
The uprising is an objective answer to the occupation and its
acts. The masses had reached a point where they could take no
more. The main Palestinian organizations, their affiliated
mass Organizations and their cohesion with the masses, created
through experience the popular committees, strike forces, aid
committees, family solidarity committees, etc. These commit-
tees constitute the backbone of the uprising. These are the fac-
tors for insuring the continuation of the uprising and the
steadfastness of the masses, and for increasing the intensity of
the uprising. The uprising will continue so long as the reasons
for it are there. The masses, of all sectors and ages, started to
participate in one way or another in confronting the Zionist
violence. The masses are strongly unified under a conscious
leadership in terms of organization, slogans and achievements.
In fact, the uprising wasn’t a random event. On the con-
trary, the masses continue the uprising in accordance with the.
decisions taken by the United National Leadership which is
strong and closely related to the overall leader of the Palesti-
nian people, the PLO. By the slogans they raise, the masses
everyday assert that their leadership is the PLO. The PLO is
not only the political expressior. of the aspirations of the
Palestinian people. It is the daily practical leadership of the
masses in the occupied territories. It is the spiritual homeland
of our people. There is a strong coordination between the
creative leadership of the United National Leadership in the
occupied territories and its leader, the PLO.
What led the Islamic forces to be so active in this
uprising in the Gaza Strip?
For the first time in the history of the religious trend in the
occupied territories, an Islamic organization, the Jihad,
deviates from that trend and works within the nationalist
framework, under the leadership of the United National
Leadership and therefore the PLO. The Islamic Jihad is
respected by all the other Palestinian nationalist organizations
and by the Palestinian masses, for its role in the uprising. The
Jihad participates on equal basis with the other organizations
under the nationalist program and the banner of the PLO. The
Islamic Jihad participates in the United National Leadership in
Gaza; its followers participate actively in the nationalist ac-
tivities in the West Bank as well.
Islamic Jihad is the most aware organization within the
Islamic trend. They have reached the conclusion that the oc-
cupation threatens all the Palestinians. The occupation doesn’t
distinguish between Muslims, Marxists and nationalists. After
reaching this conclusion, Islamic Jihad saw it essential to
engage in the resistance, at least to defend themselves. The
Zionist occupation forces have committed many acts of terror
against the Isalmic holy places and leaders in Palestine. About
two months ago, the Mufti of Jerusalem, the highest Islamic
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