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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview with Raanan Gissin
Aired February 03, 2002 - 09:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: As we told you all throughout this morning, Yasser Arafat is with an op ed piece in the New York Times this morning talking about the peace process and the Palestinian involvement in it.
We've been quoting it. Unfortunately I don't have the quotes in front of me right this moment, but with us live now with some Israeli reaction to it is Raanan Gissin. Mr. Gissin is a spokesman for the government of Ariel Sharon. Mr. Gissin, just generally speaking, what is your reaction to the statement. It seems like a bit of an olive branch.
RAANAN GISSIN, SENIOR SHARON SPOKESMAN: Well, first of all, good morning.
O'BRIEN: Good morning to you.
GISSIN: Well, let me remind you about the olive branch. The first time he carried an olive branch, he also carried, toted a gun on his hip in the U.N. That was the first time he appeared in the United Nations, and ever since then, he hasn't changed.
You don't make peace by writing a PR article in the op ed segment of the New York Times. You make peace by stopping terrorism, and a PR campaign is no substitute for stopping terrorism, and Arafat for the past 16 months has not stopped the campaign of terrorists against our innocent civilians, men, women and children.
O'BRIEN: Mr. Gissin, I'm just going to read you one of the quotes, and I'd like you to respond to it. This is from Mr. Arafat: "Let me be very clear. I condemn the attacks carried out by terrorist groups against Israeli civilians. These groups do not represent the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations for freedom. They are terrorist organizations, and I am determined to put an end to their activities."
Now those are words that you certainly wouldn't argue with, would you?
GISSIN: Yes, well what are you talking about, an invasion of alien beings who are conducting terrorist activity against us? It's his people, people that he sends. He can't stop terrorism by words. He has to stop terrorism by deeds, and he pledged it to General Zinni. He pledged it to our Foreign Minister. He pledged it to everyone. He even pledged it time and again, never fulfilled a word.
What we have, you know he promised peace of the graves and he's offering us, you know, not off the op ed page of the New York Times, but in reality in the territory, peace of the graves. We bury our dead every day, as a result of his unmitigated campaign of terror.
O'BRIEN: Do you think - I'm gathering here you're rather cynical in your response to this and you see it as a calculated effort. But having said all of that, as I say, the words do count sometimes. What actions will you look for subsequent to this statement?
GISSIN: Well, of course words count and that's the reason why Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has met with the heads of the Palestinian Authority, the leaders of the Palestinian Authority, and told them in no uncertain terms, what are the terms, what they need to do in order to institute a cease fire which will enable us to get back to the negotiating table after the senseless bloodletting that Arafat has imposed on us and on his own people.
But they have to arrest the terrorists that are conducting terrorist activities -- dismantle the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, (UNINTELLIGIBLE). All those organizations that are building the coalition of terror that Arafat is operating against us. That is what he needs to do and to stop the incitement which breeds more hatred among the young people. If he does that then he is a partner.
O'BRIEN: Mr. Gissin, let's look at words for just one moment though before you get away. Whether you believe that these are genuine words or not, if you look at the words of Mr. Sharon over the past week, indicating that he wishes 20 years ago he had taken the opportunity to kill Yasser Arafat, how are the Palestinians supposed to interpret those words?
GISSIN: First of all, it was very candid. But the fact of the matter is that we didn't. The fact of the matter is that there was a government in Israel. A decision was made and Minister Sharon was then defense minister decided in conjunction with Prime Minister Menachem Begin not to shoot Arafat, and he has sent his own son, this time around, to tell him, we are not going to hurt you personally, but there is a certain responsibility that has to be discarded, that has to be dispatched by a leader, and that means also control of the people and the territory which you govern, and Arafat can not shrink away from it, can not run away from it.
Either he is the leader of these people leading on a historical move to make peace with us, or he finds himself in the trash bin of history with bin Laden, with the Taliban, and the other terrorist groups which soon are going to find themselves in. Maybe the problem is that Arafat has not inculcated and understood the true meaning of 9/11, that terrorist attack, in the United States. Maybe he needs a little bit more re-education, and maybe he needs to learn how to fight terrorism.
But I think keeping him isolated as we did in Ramallah, perhaps is going to drive that lesson home. And if he does understand the lesson that he has to start doing and stop talking, maybe there is hope that there can be peace between the two people.
O'BRIEN: Raanan Gissin, who is the spokesman for the government of Ariel Sharon is Israel, joining us on the line from Jerusalem. Thank you for being with us this morning. We appreciate it.
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