Following are excerpts
from an interview with Kuwaiti Islamist preacher Tareq Sweidan, general
manager of Al-Resala TV, which aired on Al-Quds TV on June 4, 2011:
Tareq Sweidan:
Israel cannot withstand the will of the people. Ultimately, there will
be a decisive battle. We must postpone this battle, because we are not
ready, but we will get to this battle.
[…]
The entire nation, and
especially the countries bordering with Israel, must provide direct
support to the armed resistance, and not just pay it lip service. Secondly,
the Palestinian youth must realize that it has no alternative – and
indeed, none of us have – other than armed resistance. That is the
only solution for this nation.
Therefore, any regime,
or authority, that does not support this approach, and does not embrace
the option of armed resistance… In such a case, your Palestinian youth
must shout the slogan: "The people wants to topple the regime that
does not want the resistance." Wishy-washy regimes that don't know
what they want...
Interviewer: You
bear the responsibility for what you are saying…
Tareq Sweidan:
You are not responsible for this… I'd like to say one thing, with
your permission. The Palestinian Authority, with its spineless positions,
has a major part in the loss of the Palestinian cause. When the PA is
replaced, and becomes serious about confronting the Zionist enemy, and
about the option of resistance – that's when we will have hope. That's
why I call upon the Palestinian youth to adopt the slogan: The people
wants to change the PA to an authority that views resistance as its
strategic option.
[…]
The other day, I was
asking myself: why shouldn't I personally go on Jihad? First of all,
my body cannot stand it. Secondly, is what I am doing any less important
than Jihad?
I would like us all to
feel that we are in the same trench. There is such a thing as media
Jihad, political Jihad, and a form of Jihad that I strongly encourage
young people to undertake – electronic Jihad. Some of our youth are
extremely clever. I hope that a group of hackers will get together,
and will wage resistance over the Internet, targeting Israeli and Zionist
sites and destroying them electronically. I view this as better than
20 Jihad operations.
[…]