Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by Mutawakkil Tahah, Palestinian ambassador to Libya, which aired on the Al-Jazeera network on September 27, 2013:I don't know whether the statistic is true, but the fact that a PLO ambassador today is bragging about his people being behind terror attacks then is really the story.
Mutawakkil Taha: Israel decided to gather the youth who had fought it in the first Intifada, and to organize them into security forces, showering them [with money], so that they would defend it, rather than Israel having to defend itself. But what really happened? When the 2000-2001 Intifada broke out, it turned out that 70% of the martyrs, and of the people who carried out attacks against the occupation, were members of the Palestinian security forces.
[applause]
In other words, even when [Israel] establishes [our] security forces, these security forces remain patriotic and continue to fight the occupation. They will continue to serve as a wall defending the Palestinian spirit and the Palestinian interests.
It shows that no amount of negotiations or goodwill gestures could change the fact that, to the Palestinian Arabs, the existence of Israel is the issue, not the "occupation."
(h/t Josh K)