PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: I Will Never Recognize a Jewish State; The Capturing of Israeli Soldier Gilad Shalit Was a Good Thing

Following are excerpts from an interview with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, which aired on Dream2 TV on October 23, 2011:

Mahmoud Abbas: First of all, let me make something clear about the story of the "Jewish state." They started talking to me about the "Jewish state" only two years ago, discussing it with me at every opportunity, every forum I went to – Jewish or non-Jewish – asking: "What do you think about the 'Jewish state'?" I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I will never recognize the Jewishness of the state, or a "Jewish state."

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Interviewer: Don't you think that it was the resistance that managed to liberate a thousand prisoners? Negotiations must always be accompanied by a measure of force. There can be no negotiations without resistance. This has been shown by the experience of people – in Ireland and all countries.

Mahmoud Abbas: That's true, but our circumstances are different. We are not able to wage military resistance. Hamas kidnapped – or rather, captured – a soldier, and managed to keep him for five years, and that is a good thing. We don't deny it. On the contrary, it’s a good thing that on a small strip of land, 40 × 7 kilometers, they were able to keep him and hide him.

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