The following are excerpts from an interview with former PA Security Chief Mohammed Dahlan, which aired on Dream2 TV [Egypt] on March 16, 2014:
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
TV Host: "A few days ago, PA President Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] leveled against Mohammed Dahlan horrifying and slanderous accusations – from treason and collaboration, to corruption and the killing of Palestinian leaders." [...]
Mohammed Dahlan: "I don’t want to dwell on this ridiculous speech, in which Mahmoud Abbas disgraced himself. He doesn’t mind if other people insult him or if he disgraces himself. He is used to people treating him with contempt. The tragedy is that he harmed Fatah and its history. [...]
"Abu Mazen, more than anyone else, served as an informant for Mohamed Morsi. [...]
"Egypt can tolerate a defective president like Mohamed Morsi, but the Palestinian people can no longer bear a catastrophe like Mahmoud Abbas. Since the day he came to power, tragedies have struck the Palestinian people. I may be one of the people who bear the blame for bringing this catastrophe upon the Palestinian people. I apologize to the Palestinian people, but we had no other option. [...]
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"We supported Abbas when he promised reforms, but he stole the presidency. He promised us to reform Fatah, but he destroyed and disgraced Fatah, just like he did in this speech. This speech is a mark of shame in the history of Fatah and of Mahmoud Abbas. [...]
"Mahmoud Abbas no longer represents Fatah. He represents the negotiations, the destruction of the PA, the plundering of the PA, and all that is evil in the lives of the Palestinians. [...]
"Mahmoud Abbas is in no position to judge anyone’s patriotism or honesty. In his heart, he knows that he has no decency. He knows that his patriotism is questionable. When [Fatah was] in Tunisia, they used to call him the president of the Jewish Agency, and in Gaza and the West Bank, President Yasser Arafat called him Karzai. [...]
"I cannot call what is going on today “negotiations.” It is one big lie. I am not an extremist."
TV Host: "A lie? So Abu Mazen flew to Washington for a vacation?"
Mohammed Dahlan: "More or less. Let’s call it a trip to pacify [the Americans]. Let me give you an example. All previous negotiations took place between the Israelis and the Americans. They would keep him posted. Every once in a while, he would organize a trip for Saeb Erekat, and Saeb was satisfied with that.
"All the negotiations were between the Israelis and the Americans, and dealt with the “Clinton parameters,” which Yasser Arafat rejected after Camp David [in 2000]. These included East Jerusalem under Palestinian sovereignty, the return of some of the refugees, and 1967 borders with land swaps. Yasser Arafat, may he rest in peace, rejected this proposal. [...]
"Mahmoud Abbas says no pressure is being exerted upon him, and he tells his people to prepare the balloons to celebrate his steadfastness. Balloons?! When Yasser Arafat would travel to Washington, he would prepare the knives before talking about politics."
TV Host: "Knives, not balloons."
Mohammed Dahlan: "Of course! He would strengthen the domestic front before leaving. [...]
"Mahmoud Abbas was against the Clinton document. I supported it. Today, Mahmoud Abbas wants a third war, in order to achieve the same Clinton document. What he is negotiating about today does not amount to 50% of the Clinton document.
"Why did they prevent Yasser Arafat from signing the Clinton document? In order to present him as if he did not want a peace agreement. Today, half of them say that they supported the Clinton document, but that Yasser Arafat refused. That’s not true. You were all against the Clinton document. Yasser Arafat wanted it, but you instilled fear in him. We would have gotten 100% of the land, East Jerusalem as the capital, and a reasonable solution for the problem of the refugees, 200,000 of whom would have returned, in keeping with understandings.
"What Mahmoud Abbas is negotiating about today does not amount to 50% of the Clinton document that we rejected. Does that not constitute a political corruption and political crime?" [...]
