Fayad says Palestinians have the right to resist Israel
By Reuters
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad said Monday that Palestinians have a legitimate right to resist Israel, even if the phrase does not appear in his government's new platform.
"We are certainly an occupied people and resistance is a legitimate right for the Palestinian people as an occupied people," Fayad told reporters in Cairo, where he is leading the Palestinian delegation to an Arab League meeting on Monday.
Palestinian officials confirmed on Friday that the platform of the new government omits the phrases "armed struggle" and "resistance" against Israel.
This was a change from the platforms of the previous two Palestinian governments led by Hamas, which has rebuffed U.S. and European demands that it recognize Israel and renounce violence.
But Fayad suggested that resistance would not always be the same as armed struggle.
He said: "What is the essence of resistance fundamentally, especially in light of the nature of the existing occupation?
"Does it not begin by exerting every possible effort to ... reinforce the steadfastness of the Palestinian citizen on his land? This is the program of the government."
Fayad says Palestinians have the right to resist Israel
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