Reality and a Right to Dream

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A. We will cooperate with all our Arab brothers and all our allies. But the degree of support given us by our allies is not identical. We accept from each one the degree of support he gives our cause. Naturally, we cannot oblige others to support us exactly according to our wishes and thoughts.

Q. Sadat predicts a 1977 Geneva Conference to reach an Arab-Israel settlement. Will the P.L.O. attend?

A. Where is the invitation? [Israeli Premier Yitzhak] Rabin is still saying he is not ready to think of Geneva if the Palestinians participate. But this is not a question of an Arafat state but of a Palestinian state. We are an important element in this area. Nobody can ignore this if he is looking for a solution.

Q. Christians and Moslems who had lived together killed each other in the Lebanese war. Do you still believe Arabs and Jews can live peacefully together in Palestine?

A. We Palestinians don't have such complexes. Our leadership includes both Christians and Moslems. During the civil war, the isolationists attacked Christian Palestinian refugee camps, just as they attacked Moslem Palestinian camps. In Israel, many Palestinian Christians are in prison. But as I have mentioned often before, a unified Palestine is my dream—and I have the right to dream.

Q. What about improving relations between the P.L.O. and the U.S.?

A. We had hoped to establish a P.L.O. office in Washington, but our representative, Sabri Jiryis, was kicked out of your country on a technicality.* This pained us. We tried but your reply was to kick out our representative.

Q. The U.S. recently supported a U.N. resolution condemning Israeli behavior in occupied territories. Doesn't this indicate a change in American policy?

A. I am desperate, I am sorry to say, regarding U.S. policy. Until now the U.S. was only on the side of Israeli aggression. Now things depend on Carter. It's up to him to decide whether he will continue this policy against our displaced people. I hope Carter will have some understanding of our people and our cause. But I don't know whether the Palestinian people should bet on this.

Q. Are you prepared to give up your arms in Lebanon?

A. We are prepared to discuss this with the four-party high committee set up by the Riyadh conference: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Syria.