by MEMRI
Washington-D.C.-based Egyptian researcher Tawfik Hamid, countered that rejection of the peace efforts was what constituted high treason. "[The Palestinians] must give peace a chance, like Egypt did," he said, enumerating the ways in which Egypt had benefited from its peace accord.
In the wake of Egyptian Foreign
Minister Sameh Shoukry's visit to Israel and President Al-Sisi's recent
push for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, a debate was held by the
Al-Jazeera network on Egypt-Israel relations. Poet and activist Abdul
Rahma Yusuf, the son of leading scholar Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi,
called the Egyptian regime's efforts "high treason," and declared: "The
coexistence that these people are talking about is coexistence between a
cockroach and the sole of the Israeli shoe." His adversary,
Washington-D.C.-based Egyptian researcher Tawfik Hamid, countered that
rejection of the peace efforts was what constituted high treason. "[The
Palestinians] must give peace a chance, like Egypt did," he said,
enumerating the ways in which Egypt had benefited from its peace accord.
Following are excerpts:
Abdul Rahma Yusuf: "We are facing a full-scale and out-in-the-open
crime of high treason. I know that some have reservations about using the word 'treason,'
as if this were some kind of curse of profanity, but I am talking about a crime
called 'high treason' by the law – a crime that is being perpetrated by the
Egyptian regime day in and day out, in public and shamelessly.
[...]
"The Egyptian regime
today is more Likud-Zionist than the Israeli Zionists themselves."
Host: "That's your opinion, but what facts do you have
to support this assumption?"
Abdul Rahma Yusuf: "Was there ever, in the course of history, a
regime that voluntarily gave its land to its enemy? The Straits of Tiran... Was
there, in the course of history - even in the history of military regimes or
the history of the occupation itself... Was there ever a country that occupied
another country, and gave a piece of (the occupied) country to another country?
We have heard of countries that occupied other countries, and divided them upon
leaving... When Britain and France occupied the Arab world, they divided it up
according to their interests..."
Host: "But Abdul Rahman, this is not an accurate
description of the reality. The Egyptian regime gave the islands of Tiran and
Sanafir to Saudi Arabia, not to Israel."
[...]
Abdul Rahma Yusuf: "When the islands of Tiran and Sanafir were
removed from Egyptian sovereignty, the Straits of Tiran became international
straits, after having been purely Egyptian straits under Egyptian sovereignty.
They have become international waters, the property of all, and it is Israel
that stands to gain from this."
[...]
Tawfik Hamid: "I believe that the two-state solution, or
peace, must start, on the Palestinians' side, with a clear expression of their
intention to live in peace with the other side. But if the Palestinian side
spreads the notion that all Jews should be slaughtered, or that the State of
Israel should be wiped out – well, this notion is unrealistic. Moreover, this
notion and its incitement have been used for years and years, and what was the
outcome? A sharp decline in the condition of the Palestinians. If you compare
it to their condition at the time of the Partition Resolution – or even in the
days of Anwar Sadat – you will see that their curve is in constant decline, their
political capabilities have weakened, the land under their control has
diminished and they are in a state of failure.
"It is unreasonable to insist
upon employing the same method time and again, for decades, even though this
method has proven to be a failure.
"I believe that they must give peace a
chance, like Egypt did. Through peace, Egypt managed to regain the Sinai. We
managed to control the Suez Canal, to get natural gas, and to rejuvenate
tourism in the Sinai. Egypt benefited from peace. I believe that rejection of
the peace efforts is what, in fact, constituted high treason. My colleague
accused the Egyptian regime of committing high treason, but let me ask: Does
taking care of your country and your people's interest constitute high treason?
Is it high treason to strive for peace? Or is it high treason to strive for
war, and to bring about the failure of your nation and your country, as some
Palestinian leaders did?
"In my view, the Egyptian regime should not be accused
of treason. On the contrary, this is a patriotic regime, which seeks the best
interests Egypt and the region as a whole."
[...]
Abdul Rahma Yusuf: "The coexistence that these people are talking
about is a coexistence between a cockroach and the sole of the Israeli shoe.
The people who claim that we must respect the existence of Israel and succumb
to the reality... It's like asking a man whose wife's honor was violated to
respect the sexual appetite of the attacker."
[...]
Tawfik Hamid: "The evaluation of president Al-Sisi's actions,
of the Egyptian regime and of FM Sameh Shukri's visit (to Israel) should be
based on whether or not they serve Egyptian interests.
[...]
"The traditional methods of fanning the flames of war and hatred in
the region did not and will not help. They bear negative fruits."
MEMRI
Source: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/5568.htm
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