Beyond the emotionalism and the obvious sense of relief on all sides, I think that there is a recognition that reality may intrude, that perhaps the steps ahead and the days ahead are going to...

We’re here because this is our city. It’s an occupied city, I know. They have arms, they have weapons, they have police, they have mortar guns, but it is Palestinian and it is under occupation.

This is a very serious development. We are witnessing some sort of regression in social norms. Palestine has always been famous for its tolerance, pluralism, amicable relations, lack of discrimination and sectarianism. It is quite...

The new Israeli government must have a peace agenda, and very clearly it does not have a peace agenda, it’s [a] policy of anti-peace,

If Abu Mazen wins, I’m afraid there will be payback time. Lots of people will expect to see him deliver different things on different fronts to different addresses.

We don’t want the Palestinian people and cause to be isolated. We don’t want a theocracy.

We know what they say, they want all of Palestine (including Israel) and say that negotiations did not work. They talk about wanting reform. That doesn’t mean they will do it.

It’s just a war that is systematic, that is daily, that is incremental, that is indeed debilitating, that is destroying the very fabric of Palestinian reality and infrastructure,

there is tremendous displeasure with the function and dysfunction of the government and the Palestinian Authority.

They don’t take orders from Arafat. They think for themselves and act for themselves.

We want it to be a mandate that will put an end to any small group or minority trying to hijack Palestinian decision-making,

Nobody wants him to resign and I don’t think he will. He understands this is a question of the national interest.

We’re here because we want to go to the Orient House. We’re here because this is our city. It’s an occupied city, I know. They have arms, they have weapons, they have police, they have...

[Yasser Arafat] is not just a husband or a father,

He was a genuine man of the people, and he was characterized by his high sense of values, his honesty, his integrity, his unwavering commitment to his people and human dimension.

In view of the crisis in the peace process and the Israeli refusal to implement agreements and the continuation of its settlement activity, the Palestinian Authority took a decision not to participate.