Palestinian Analyst Yunis 'Udeh: Arafat Told Me Oslo Would Lead to Fighting

The following are excerpts from an interview with Palestinian affairs expert Yunis 'Udeh:

Yunis 'Udeh: When we told him [Arafat] that the road to Oslo would mean the termination of the Palestinian cause, we said: "You have strayed from the Arab consensus."

Interviewer:What did he say?

Yunis 'Udeh: He said, and I quote, "I am hammering the first nail in the Zionist coffin."

Interviewer: Meaning [the Oslo Accords] were a Trojan horse?

Yunis 'Udeh: Excuse me, I asked him how. He said: "I will go to Gaza, I will return to Palestine…" At this point I go back to what you said. I asked him: "What is the point of returning to Gaza humiliated?" He said: "I will not be humiliated at all, you will see, there will be fighting there." I said to him: "Whoever signs the Oslo Accords cannot think of fighting." He answered: "If I stray from the path, the Palestinian people will correct my way and I will walk at the head of the Palestinian people."

Interviewer: This is why he did not sign away Jerusalem, and said: "The Palestinian people would kill me."

Yunis 'Udeh: Yes. He was well aware of the circumstances. Even recently, when Abu Mazen apologized to the Jews in the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit, he stood up to Abu Mazen and had him removed.