Armed gunmen from the militant factions of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah, at a memorial service in Jenin. Photo: Screenshot / Palestine Today / Elder of Ziyon.

Even during the peak of Israel-Palestinian peace negotiations, Fatah official Tawfiq Tirawi said that Palestinians would not abandon violence as a potential means. According to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), Tirawi said that negotiations are just one option and do not replace use of the “rifle.”

Tirawi has proclaimed that the two state solution does not exist and has called for Israel’s destruction, asserting that “Palestine is Gaza…the West Bank… and Haifa, Jaffa, Acre,” referring to all of pre-1967 Israel as “Palestine.”

Violence and Martyrdom are central to Palestinian success, he said.

“Not a centimeter of Jerusalem will be liberated unless every grain of Palestinian soil is soaked in the blood of its brave people,” said Tirawi at an event marking World Teachers’ Day in December.

He also revealed that Palestinians “have conducted negotiations, while not laying down the rifle.”

Click here to view Tirawi’s statement.

PMW has documented the PA and Fatah’s policy of alternating violence with diplomacy as a means to attain political goals. Tirawi’s view that Palestinians “will rest the fighter’s rest, but each period has its method of struggle,” reflects this principle.