Schmoozing With Terrorists: From Hollywood to the Holy Land, Jihadists Reveal Their Global Plans-To a Jew!

by Aaron Klein

  I explained how Arafat's Palestinian National Council in 1974 adopted the "Phased plan," calling for the liberation of Palestine in stages and that Arafat routinely referred to this plan as his basis for accepting land-for-peace deals.

  Still, the U.S., the Israeli government and most of the international community holds on to the notion that the land-for-peace formula works, that giving up strategic territory in exchange for a signed peace treaty is somehow the solution to the region's troubles.

  I spoke to a top Hamas chief, who asked that his name be withheld, and he explained what he says his group has in mind when it comes to land-for-peace.

  "The Muslim hero Saladin gave up land when he gave Acco to the Crusaders in order to keep Jerusalem," the Hamas chief told me. "Therefore, I say that the possibility of the exchange of territories existed already in the history of Islam and it cohabi- tates with our principle that all of Palestine is a dedicated land from Allah, may he be blessed to the Muslims, and no one has the right to give up any part of it."

  He outlined for me a "peace deal" Hamas would accept in which Israel gives up land for Hamas's promises to end attacks.

  "We will be ready for a long interim renewable agreement in which Israel gives land based on a period of cease-fire that can go to ten or even fifteen years like it was done by the prophet Muhammad with the enemies of the Muslims," said the senior Hamas official.

  The Hamas leader said his group would offer Israel "temporary peace" in exchange for Israel vacating the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem, parts of the southern Israeli Negev desert that border the Gaza Strip, and the Jordan Valley, which extends from outside Jerusalem toward Jordan and encompasses most of Israel's major water supplies.

  The Hamas chief said Israel would "be surprised" by his group's willingness to end attacks if only the Jewish state retreats from strategic land. He said a "peace agreement" was in Hamas's interests, explaining a deal with Israel would help his terror group garner international legitimacy and donor funds.

  The Hamas leader, though, said his group will not abandon its goal of destroying Israel.

  "When I speak about a long cease-fire and a temporary agreement, it means that we do not recognize the right of the state of the occupation on our lands, but we will accept its existence temporarily," said the leader.

  The leader insisted any peace deal is based on the reality Hamas will not be able to defeat Israel in the near future, but he said his group is confident it ultimately will be "victorious."

  "I do not see the Palestinian people and Islamic nation succeeding to liberate this blessed land of Palestine in the very near future," he said. "This is an Islamic land and the Jews are invited to live in Palestine and the Muslims will guaranty their safety and honor.. .But we will never give up our right for the whole of Palestine. We should be realistic to admit that the mission for the liberation of Palestine will pass on to the coming generations."

  Even members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group-deemed "moderate" by the U.S.-told me any land for peace deal with Israel is only a temporary machination to further their goal of destroying the Jewish state.

  Abu Ahmed, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader and rocket commander in the northern Gaza Strip, told me when Abbas talks of land-for-peace it's "part of Abu Mazen's [Abbas's] political calculations due to commitments to the international community but we have not abandoned our fight of taking over all of Palestine."

  The Brigades is the "military wing" of Fatah. Abu Ahmed said his group is "one and the same and totally a part of Fatah" and coordinates "resistance operations" with the Fatah party.

  Regarding Abbas's peace talks, Abu Ahmed said, "Listen, we are aware of our president's [Abbas's] declarations but we are also aware of the international political system that brings the president to adopt this position."

  Lesson #6: Mega-terror attacks like 9/11 "take time to prepare"

  One thing I've heard a lot recently is that since there hasn't been another mega-terror attack in the U.S. since 2001 we must be doing something right. While we've made enormous advances in the war on terror, while our law-enforcement agencies have reportedly thwarted several planned major attacks, according to the terrorists we should not feel we are out of the woods yet. They claim another September 11 is on its way. It just takes time, they say.

  Al Aqsa's Ramadan Adassi pointed out that "one should understand an attack, a big one like September 11, demands a lot of time to plan. Therefore, this is not the American occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq that is preventing the next attack, which I think is only a question of time."

  He reminded me that while there hasn't yet been another mega-attack on the American home front, "still every day there are attacks in London, in Madrid, in Asia, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and elsewhere."

  Islamic Jihad's Abu Mosaab stated it's been a while since the last big home front attack "simply because an attack like 9/11 must be well prepared. I know that small attacks that the Palestinian resistance carries out like bombing attacks require lots of preparation and coordination, so imagine what preparation is required for such a big attack like September 11.

  "It is for sure not the American efforts and measures that prevent it," he claimed. "In a world of almost seven billion persons it is hard to stop a cell of ten persons that somewhere in the world is preparing such an attack."

  Abu Muhammad, a senior leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, told me the September 11 attacks were the "beginning of the collapse of the American empire," and it was only a question of time before the next "great big event" strikes the United States.

  "Our nineteen heroes got the revenge of all the Muslims in the world and all the poor and exploited people and nations," he said.

  "September 11 was a great day. The first minutes after the people understood what happened, Palestinians went out into the streets and started distributing candies and started hugging one another," he said. "Everybody felt that Allah gave us a present and that history will never be the same because Islam finally got rid of all the handcuffs that restricted and prevented it to express itself and its capacities."

  Abu Muhammad warned the Quran has determined that another 9/11 is coming to America.

  "In the Quran, it is written that the non-believers will destroy their homelands and their houses with their own hands. We are sure that Allah will help us defeat the Americans and collapse this empire," he said.

  CHAPTER NINE

  TERRORISTS GO GA-GA

  OVER HILLARY CLINTON

  -F THIS PRESIDENT does not get us out of Iraq, when I am -president, I will," pledged Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in a televised Democrat primary debate broadcast nationally and around the world.

  "The first day, I would get us out of Iraq by diplomacy," said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, on the debate stage with seven other Democrat candidate hopefuls.

  "We are one signature away from ending this war," declared Illinois Senator Barack Hussein Obama, stating if Bush won't change his mind about vetoing a bill requiring troop withdrawal, Democrats need to work on rounding up enough Republican votes to override him.

  Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, who together with Clinton and some others voted to authorize the Iraq war, apologized for his earlier support and said he wanted to see a withdrawal.

  The primary debate, held in April 2007, was followed closely in the Middle East, where it was covered by Arabic news outlets and partially broadcast on major Arab satellite networks. Among those watching were Palestinian terrorist leaders, it turned out.

  A lot of people tend to think terrorists live like barbarians in caves. Actually, a lot of terrorists, certainly those in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, reside in well-decorated apartments with all the trappings of a modern production company. They have some of the most advanced communications equipment in the world, some of it, in the case of Palestinian groups, reportedly supplied by Iran. As we discussed earlier, the terrorists are qui
te Internetsavvy, often conducting financial transactions online and using chat rooms and message boards to communicate and plot.

  While terrorists spend a lot of time in the field carrying out or planning attacks or undergoing or leading military training, they also find the time to follow the news media closely. They need to. Being a terrorist is partially a political job. Many times attacks are perpetuated in response to the news cycle and the latest political developments, particularly in America. Also terror leaders understand very well how and when to issue statements and the rebound effects their words often have.

  A good deal of the terror leaders I spoke to for this book understand some English, although they pretend not to and almost always demand we speak with the aid of an Arabic interpreter. They say they are not comfortable making pronouncements in English. I know they understand my English because during inperson talks, they have at times responded to my statements with gestures or laughter or disagreement before my words were translated for them into Arabic. Some of the terrorists speak almost fluent English, which they said they learned from watching American television networks, or, incredibly, in some cases from studying in Europe. Some Palestinian terrorists actually speak fluent Hebrew from time spent in Israeli jails. But the terrorists overwhelmingly get their news from very biased, anti-Western Arab sources in the Arabic language.

  I was stunned by how closely some terrorists follow U.S. developments, how familiar they are with our political system and a lot of the top players. When the Democrats were victorious in the November 2006 midterm elections, the terrorists told me they noted the seeming changes in American attitudes regarding the war in Iraq and disappointment with the Bush administration.

  And on this particular April day, the terrorists watched Arabic translations on Mideast news broadcasts of Democratic presidential hopefuls the night before flashing their antiwar credentials by competing with each other on who would withdraw from Iraq first.

  The next day I happened to call Abu Jihad, one of the leaders of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization in the terror stronghold of Nablus in the northern West Bank, for an article I was writing about Palestinian rocket capabilities. But out of the blue, during our interview, without any prompting on my part, Abu Jihad commented on how thrilled he was with the Democrat primary debate.

  "We see Hillary [Clinton] and other candidates are competing on who will withdraw from Iraq and who is guilty of supporting the Iraqi invasion. This is a moment of glory for the revolutionary movements in the Arab world in general and for the Iraqi resistance movement specifically," said Abu Jihad. "I think Democrats will do good if they will withdraw as soon as they are in power."

  Abu Jihad said he believes if elected to the White House, the Democrats will immediately order a withdrawal from Iraq. He warned if a retreat is not carried out, the U.S. will likely be attacked on the home front.

  "The [Democrat] debate showed that like in Vietnam the American people needed these thousands of soldiers killed to see that invading other people will always result in a failure.. .1 think the Democrats will win and apply an immediate withdrawal, but if they don't [withdraw], the revolutionary movements in Iraq will intensify attacks, and I think you should prepare for another big attack in the U.S."

  Wow, I thought. A terrorist sounding off about a very specific American political debate. I quickly called one of Abu jihad's bosses, Nasser Abu Aziz, the deputy commander of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the northern West Bank. He too paid attention to the Democrat primary debate.

  Abu Aziz said the debate proved "the invasion of Iraq was judged by Allah to be a failure. America needs to stop letting its foreign policy be dictated by the Zionists and the Zionist lobby. The Democrats understand this point and want to prevent this scenario."

  He declared it is "very good" there are "voices like Hillary and others who are now attacking the Iraq invasion."

  "I think the more Americans receive the bodies of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the more the conservatives in the U.S. will be sentenced to be thrown in the garbage," he said.

  With America heading toward 2008 presidential elections, I talked with the terrorists about which parties they favor and who specifically they want to see in the White House.

  Overwhelmingly they told me they hope Americans sweep the Democrats into power in part because of the party's position on withdrawing from Iraq, a move, as they see it, that ensures victory for the worldwide Islamic resistance.

  "Of course Americans should vote Democrat," said Jihad Jaara, an exiled member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group and the infamous leader of the 2002 siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.

  "This is why American Muslims will support the Democrats, because there is an atmosphere in America that encourages those who want to withdraw from Iraq. It is time that the American people support those who want to take them out of this Iraqi mud," said Jaara, who talked to me from exile in Ireland, where he was sent as part of a deal that ended the church siege.

  I asked the terrorists what they thought of statements from people like Senator Barbara Boxer and Representatives Barbara Lee and John Murtha that the U.S. must immediately withdraw from Iraq. What do they think when they hear prominent politicians comparing Iraq to Vietnam?

  "These Democrat leaders are starting to ask the right questions: what are we doing in Iraq after we got rid from Saddam Hussein?" stated Jaara. "You succeeded in killing him and in establishing a new regime but why are you still there? And this is what these Democrats are asking. They understand that the American occupation causes the resistance and we are glad the resistance is succeeding to beat the Americans."

  I must stop Jaara here and point out his deceptive rhetoric. When it suits them, terrorists claim American occupation of Iraq is the reason for their attacks. But terrorists have been waging their war for Islamic domination far before the U.S. diposed Saddam Hussein. September 11 occurred before the Iraq war. Ji hadists constantly struggle to find new U.S. policies to blame for their terrorism.

  Regarding the Democrat debate, Ala Senakreh, chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank, said making statements is not enough, but Democrat policies make him hopeful.

  "It is not enough to compare Iraq to Vietnam. There must be a big campaign to start this withdrawal. What is happening now in the congress is encouraging, it gives hope for a change, but I am afraid that it will still take time. As for us, this proves that the resistance always succeeds by the end of the day."

  Abu Ayman, an Islamic jihad leader in Jenin, said he is "emboldened" by those in America who compare the war in Iraq to Vietnam.

  "[The mujahedeen fighters] brought the Americans to speak for the first time seriously and sincerely that Iraq is becoming a new Vietnam and that they should fix a schedule for their withdrawal from Iraq," boasted Abu Ayman.

  Jihad Jaara said an American withdrawal would mark the beginning of the collapse of America.

  "Therefore, a victory in Iraq would be a greater defeat for America than in Vietnam."

  Jaara said vacating Iraq would also "reinforce Palestinian resistance organizations, especially from the moral point of view. But we also learn from these [insurgency] movements militarily. We look and learn from them."

  Hamas's Abu Abdullah argued a withdrawal from Iraq would "convince those among the Palestinians who still have doubts in the efficiency of the resistance."

  "The victory of the resistance in Iraq would prove once more that when the will and the faith are applied victory is not only a slogan. We saw that in Lebanon [during Israel's confrontation against Hezbollah there in July and August, 2006]; we saw it in Gaza [after Israel withdrew from the territory in 2005], and we will see it everywhere there is occupation," Abdullah said.

  The terror leaders each independently urged American citizens to vote for Democratic candidates.

  There has been some thinking when al-Qaida has in the past made statements that can be construed as somewhat negative toward B
ush, some analysts speculated the terrorists really were trying to generate American support toward the U.S. president and his political party. Perhaps the terrorists here are doing the opposite-endorsing Democrats to ensure a Democrat defeat?

  I can resoundingly reject that notion. Maybe such a thing can be argued regarding a well-planned, pre-written, thoroughly premeditated al-Qaida statement. But I have spoken to a large number of terrorists, many of whom didn't know what the topics of our interviews would be beforehand. I talked with terror leaders from competing organizations, who couldn't possibly orchestrate some sort of conspiracy to harm an American political party. And I have talked countless times off-the-record to terrorists about U.S. politics. And one hundred percent of the time the terror leaders favored the Democrats over the Republicans.

  I never once came across a single terrorist who supported any Republican. And why would they? The Democrats largely want to withdraw from Iraq. They want dialogue with Syria and Iran. The terrorists share those same goals, because they believe it will lead to the downfall of the American empire and the spread of Islam. It was under a Democrat president, Bill Clinton, PLO leader Yasser Arafat returned from exile in Tunis, established a fiefdom in the West Bank and Gaza, and was built up as a legitimate leader, becoming the most frequent foreign dignitary to visit the White House. The terrorists love that. They believe the Democrats are their ticket to victory and they are hopeful a Democrat will soon sit in the Oval Office.

  I asked them about particular presidential candidates. Overwhelmingly, the terrorists favored Hillary Clinton to win in 2008.

  Brigades chief Ala Senakreh told me he "hopes Hillary is elected in order to have the occasion to carry out all the promises she is giving regarding Iraq.