Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian author and journalist Muhammad Abbas, which aired on Al-Hekma TV on September 4, 2011:
Muhammad Abbas: "If the Egyptian army were capable of wiping Israel out, I wish it would. I demand that the army do the most that it can, but these are not the appropriate circumstances. We do not yet have the necessary array of systems, politicians, and intellectuals, who represent the nation and fear for it.
"Today, everybody is trying to get the army into trouble. I am afraid that the army will get into trouble. Oh army, do what you can. If you are capable of killing 70 of them in retaliation for each of our martyrs – do so. I demand that the army do its best, but it should not go too far, so that they do not destroy us. Remember the defeat of 1967. […]
"I wish we had the ability to take revenge. If we do, we should destroy them completely, and not leave a single one of them alive. Anyone who immigrated to Israel without the legal authorization of the Muslims must return to his country or be annihilated. 'And the stone shall say: There is a Jew behind me'…
"But I fear that our enthusiasm might be detrimental to us. I have been against Israel all the way, and I am certain that it will come to an end. Indeed, it will. If you tell me that 10 million Egyptians will be martyred in return for the destruction of Israel – I am all for it. But having 10 million Egyptians martyrs, and then having Israel occupy Sinai and Cairo – absolutely not. We must plan properly." […]
