Declaration

[عمر مطر]

(got this from a friend)

Hey everyone,

I am very sorry but I am going to ask whoever can to help. This is a declaration for the Tanzim group right before the assassination of Mr. Shahadeh. We are thinking about getting a full page ad in the Dallas morning news and putting it in there. We were able to lower the price to $7500 and we are trying to come with the money.
If you can talk to your newspaper and get with your community to get on that would be great the more the better. If you can't and would like to make a contribution or any friend who would like to do that please let me know so I give you a mailing address.
Again I am sorry if I am doing that and I know probably you are getting swamped with requests but that would be a great victory if it can happen.

PS: The declaration is below my name.

Regards,
May

A Declaration

We know that the names on this article are unknown to most Americans. And
we understand, because we read your newspapers and watch your news shows,
how you feel about us. We are a "gang," and a "bunch of murderers." We
support and lead political organizations with strange names - Fateh and
Tanzim. We "can't be trusted." But maybe, just this once, you should drop
these prejudices and listen to what we say. Here is what we say, directly,
to the people of Israel:

We, from the leaders of the most influential political movements among the
Palestinian people; we, part of those who represent those who, like you,
have been orphaned and widowed; we, who desire the comfort and security of
not just a state but a home - we choose the future. It is in the name of
that future, and in the name of all of those who have lost their lives that
we make this declaration: we will do everything in our power to end attacks
on Israeli civilians, on innocent men, women and children. We will do this
without seeking or demanding any prior gains.

Why now?

The bombings of the last few months have transformed your society. Those
bombings horrified and angered your people, and sent your nation into
despair. It did that to us. It sparked a rethinking of who we are as a
people. It marked a shift in our perceptions -- not of you, but of
ourselves. For a time we were able to put this horror out of our minds. We
were -- and we are -- the oppressed, the dispossessed, and the forgotten,
but the fundamental and unalterable truth of our conflict can be read in our
eyes and seen in our heart. Our eyes look out to see what you are doing to
us in our towns and villages every day, but these same eyes look in at the
hardened hearts of our children. It may take a generation for us to teach
our children a new way, to soothe their bitterness, to erase their hatred,
to teach them that there is hope for the future. But we must begin. It is
for them, for their future, that we have made this historic decision. We are
against targeting the innocents.

The truth of our conflict can also be read in our streets. In Gaza a crate
of tomatoes costs the equivalent of twenty cents. But the tomatoes cannot be
purchased, for no one can afford them. Our hotels are empty, our restaurants
deserted, our factories closed, our businesses bankrupt, and our children
hungry. And for you? can survive, for a time, with ten percent
inflation, and growing unemployment, and an army of young men in occupation
of a foreign land. And soon -- perhaps not tomorrow, or next week, or next
year -- but inevitably and eventually, your hotels will empty, your
factories will close, your businesses will be bankrupted, your children will
go hungry and your soldiers will want to come home. You have friends in the
world who will support you. But not forever. And wouldn't you rather support
yourselves?
There are those, in both of our societies, who will say that this
statement is simply a tactical political maneuver: that we hope to gain political
points to gain political leverage. And they are right. We hope that you will
reciprocate the historic declaration that we here make, and acknowledge the truth of
the statement that "peace cannot be built on a platform of violence against
innocents." Simply, no peace with the occupation. You must cease
strangling our cities, killing our youths, taking our land for your
settlements, ripping up our orchards, humiliating our women and children,
detaining our young men in your squalid camps, and demonizing those we
choose to lead us. You have done all of these things and continue to do
them, and you know it. But whether you stop these practices, or not, we will
not shift our declaration. The rivers of blood that have so embittered our
peoples will be stanched. The suicide bombings will be brought an end. By
us. Now.
You, the people of Israel, should understand clearly what we are
proposing. We cannot stop the violence, today, immediately. There are those
in our society who will attempt to undermine and deter our efforts. Some of
them, unfortunately, may succeed. But we will now have the weight of public
opinion on our side. So too, there are those in your society and even at the
very top of your government who may attempt to provoke us. They will try to
underestimate this declaration. They have done so before. These people are
our enemies, they must also be yours. They are the enemies of peace. While
provoked, we will do everything in our power to keep our self-restraint.
>
> You must understand one other thing. We will not stop fighting for our
> land, we will not renounce our dream, or betray our birthright. We will
continue to resist your military occupation of our lands and cities, your
building of settlements, your house demolition's, your plan to deport our
people occupation is illegitimate and we will resist it - your soldiers are
occupiers and will be treated as such. This is not a surrender, this is not a
retreat. We will continue to fight every moment of every day for our rights
and for our state. We are certain that we will achieve this, that we will be
victorious. But we will not do so by targeting the innocent.