Jordanian MP and PNC Member Hamada Faraana: Now I Have the Courage to Admit that Sharon was Right, Arafat was Responsible for Violence

The following are excerpts from an interview with Hamada Farana, a former Jordanian MP and a member of the Palestinian National Council:

Hamada Farana: First and foremost, although I hate Sharon, I have to admit, after the Arafat's death, that Sharon's position towards Arafat was correct: True, Yasser Arafat was responsible for the armed operations. Perhaps I wasn't brave enough to say so before – because I feared for Yasser Arafat's life - but the smuggling of the Karyn A weapons ship by Fuwad Al-Shobaki, who is still languishing unjustly in the Jericho prison, establishing the Al-Aqsa brigades, firing Jibril Rajoub and Muhammad Dahlan for disagreeing with him on the armed struggle, his alliance with Hamas, have all justified Sharon's logic and his hostility to President Yasser Arafat. Yes, Yasser Arafat supported the armed struggle and the armed Intifada.

Interviewer: And you attest to this…

Hamada Farana: I say these things today, openly, clearly, and honestly, because that's who Yasser Arafat was. But I didn't have the courage to say this during Arafat's lifetime, so as not to be a partner to the Israeli condemnation of President Yasser Arafat, even though it was an honor for Yasser Arafat to choose this option.