Interviews with Yasser Arafat sometimes take place at odd hours and in strange places. At 11:30 p.m on a Wednesday, Middle East Bureau Chief William Stewart and TIME’S Abu Said Abu Rish were driven through a maze of back streets in Beirut to a nondescript building that currently serves as headquarters for the armed of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Young men armed with AK-47s guarded his office; a portrait of Iran’s Ayatullah Khomeini hung on one wall. Arafat was finishing a letter to the Ayatullah when his guests arrived. Some of the points he made in a 90-minute conversation:
On U.S. The relations. I am sorry to say that I am not optimistic. The [Carter] Administration looks at everything from an Israeli point of view. I hope things will change, but I doubt it, especially after Carter’s retreat on the U.N. Security Council vote. Every day we hear statements from the presidential candidates against the Palestinians and in support of Israeli aggression and terrorism. I can’t forget that every day the Israelis are shelling usPalestinians and Lebanese, women and children. And they do it with very up-to-date American weapons. How long do you think you will be able to maintain your influence in this area? Despite your efforts, you lost your strong base in Iran. Now the American Administration is trying to ride the Islamic horse after the Afghanistan invasion. But you forget completely that this is a horse with an Achilles’ heelthe Palestine question. That is the whole issue in this area. There can be no stability, no security and no solution to the Middle East peace problem by ignoring Palestinian rights.
On Camp David and the autonomy talks. To speak frankly, what is Camp David? It is a tragedy for my people, a new form of slavery. The U.S. and Israel say they are offering us autonomy. But it is not self-rule. It is self-administration, and I call it garbage. The Israelis have control of everything, even the sources of water. Give me an example anywhere in the world where a village does not control its own drinking water. Israel wants more borders than any other state in the world: defensible borders, historic borders, biblical borders, and now they want hydraulic borders. I say of Camp David, of autonomy, of self-rule, that we have rejected them. And we will continue to resist until we are able to live freely in our own homeland.
On Israel and Palestine. Is there room for two countries? Before I answer that question you have to ask me about a Palestinian state. I am still a refugee, still homeless and stateless. When I have my independent state and live as a human being, I will give you the answer. Not before that. I am dealing with history, with civilization. Do you know that Palestine is a land of prophets? There hasn’t been a prophet who wasn’t born there or passed through it. This is something deep in history and deep in the conscience of my people.
On Palestinian achievements. We have had two important revolutions. The first was educational. From hard, critical circumstances we have been able to create the highest literacy rate in the area. We did this from the refugee camps, out of our tragedy, our misery. The second was the transformation of our people from refugees to freedom fighters, able to resist for a just cause.
On his own feelings about Palestine. There are birds that fly around the world but come back to their original nest. There are fish that swim from the rivers to the sea, but somehow their sons go back to their original source. Home is something in the heart of every human being. I want my people to be able to return, as human beings. In appearance, perhaps I look happy, but in my heart something has cracked. I live the tragedy of my people. But I am optimistic because sooner or later our people will achieve their goal.
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