Liberal Columnist Ashraf Abd Al-Fattah in Support of Normalization with Israel

Following are excerpts from an interview with liberal columnist Ashraf Abd Al-Fattah, aired by Al-'Alam TV on April 4, 2005.

Ashraf Abd Al-Fattah: At the moment we have a Palestinian Authority elected by the Palestinian people who appointed Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen, to be president. Mahmoud Abbas is seeking peace and normalization. Before him, the Shahid, President Yasser Arafat also signed the Oslo Accords. Then came the "Clinton Understanding" and talks with Barak. Arafat was seeking peace. Is he a traitor too? I'd like to know what is the treachery in normalization. Cultural normalization…

Why are we afraid of Israel? How can it invade us? How will it change our concepts? What are the concepts it wants to change? What will happen if we host Israelis? Sharon visited Sharm Al-Sheikh. Did he take a piece of Sharm Al-Sheikh back with him to Israel?

We don't want to raise slogans that have never helped our causes. Since 1948 we have been raising slogans. We've heard many words. "We will throw Israel and its supporters into the Mediterranean and the Red Sea." Yet, we have not liberated one inch of land. Egypt has regained the entire Sinai Peninsula only through peace, and if Sadat hadn't signed the Camp David Accords in 1978 we would never have regained Sinai.