PA Security Chief Tawfiq Al-Tirawi: Israel Recruits Palestinians to Sexually Harass Their Sisters and Mothers

Following are excerpts from an interview with Tawfiq Tirawi, member of the Fatah Central Committee, which aired on Abu Dhabi TV on November 15, 2009.

Tawfiq Tirawi: Israeli society has its vulnerabilities, but the Arab world is only interested in preventive operations, and does not carry out any attacks, any security operations, against the Israeli entity. We in the occupied land, the people under occupation, have a great war with the Israelis – a war that is as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than a war of cannons and tanks. In a [regular] war, you kill ten or twenty people and then there is a cease fire. But in this case, the war is ongoing, and its goal is to destroy the very foundations of [Palestinian] society. This is a war of security, of economics, of society, and of culture.

I want to make one thing known to the whole world: Israel is doing one of the most dangerous things possible. It seeks to lead Palestinian society to [sexual] harassment, in order to turn it into a social phenomenon that will destroy Palestinian society.

Interviewer: What exactly do you mean? Could you clarify this?

Tawfiz Tirawi: What I mean is that [Israel] recruits some lowlife, and sends him with instructions to harass his sister or his mother. This is not done in order to obtain information, but in order to destroy the infrastructure of Palestinian society.