Mr. Khattib Warns - Israeli will take Advantage of Attack
 
September 12, 2001
Palestine Media Center-PMC

Mr. Ghassan Al Khattib, Director of Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, denounced the terrorist act that occurred in the United States yesterday 11 September. In a press conference held at the Palestine Media Center in Ramallah today 12 September, he issued the following statement:

I would like to stress that the Palestinian People identify with the victims of this horrifying terrorist act. We Palestinians are ourselves victims, and we therefore feel the American people's pain.

I would like to identify two crucial sources of fear and worry that the Palestinian People feel at the moment. Firstly, the need to point out the cheap Israeli attempts in trying to exploit this horrific human tragedy in order to frame the Palestinian, Arab, Islamic side as being the aggressor and not the victim. Secondly, the possibility that Israel might try to take advantage of the United States' diversion of attention from the atrocities being carried out by the Israeli government in the Palestinian Occupied Territory. Mr. Sharon has been planning to pursue his aggressive policies against the Palestinian People and saw that now was the right time to do so. As a result, 11 Palestinian martyrs, who were killed by Israeli occupation forces in Jenin and the Gaza Strip last night, will be buried this afternoon.

We call upon the international community to pay attention to the Israeli escalation that started in Jenin and other Palestinian areas last night, which we fear, will continue to escalate.

We also call upon the international media to acknowledge that all Palestinians express genuine sympathy towards the American people. Of course, there were minor insignificant exceptions where some people foolishly expressed joy as an immediate reaction. The majority, however, felt a great deal of sorrow.