Following are excerpts from an interview with PLO spokesman in Lebanon Ahmad Assaf, which aired on the Lebanese Murr TV on October 11, 2011:

Ahmad Assaf: First of all, our presence on [Palestinian] land is the greatest resistance of all…

Interviewer: Let me make myself clear. I'm talking about armed resistance.

Ahmad Assaf: I will be honest with you. If armed resistance can accomplish the goals of the Palestinian people, we will not hesitate even for a second. Who invented armed resistance?

Interviewer: Let's not delve into history. Are you ready to wage armed resistance today, alongside Hamas and the other factions?

Ahmad Assaf: Let's be clear about this. Is our goal the resistance or ending the occupation? If resistance is our goal, we can continue to wage resistance for 1,000 years.

Interviewer: You are not being honest.

Ahmad Assaf: I will be honest with you. Fatah is still called the Palestinian Liberation Movement. This name will not change until the goal of ending the occupation is achieved. If armed resistance is now the true and shortest way to achieve the Palestinian people's goal of freedom and ending the occupation – we will follow this path.

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