Ousted Abbas aide: Israeli gov't held ransom by settler movement

Rafiq Al-Husseini, former chief of staff to Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas, speaks in exclusive interview with The Media Line's Felice Friedson. 'There are big lobbies working against Obama in the United States, especially AIPAC and others,' he says

The Media Line |Published: 04.10.10 , 08:35

Dr. Rafiq Al-Husseini served as chief of staff to Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas until last February, when an Israeli television station aired a tape shot by a former Palestinian intelligence agent depicting him soliciting sex for political favors. This week, a commission of inquiry appointed by Abbas cleared Dr. Al-Husseini of charges of nepotism, blackmail, and corruption.

TML: Dr. Al-Husseini, are you satisfied with the findings of the commission of inquiry?

Al-HOUSSEINI: I’m almost satisfied because really these are big charges and I was exonerated of them and I was innocent of them. That was proven so this is important. But of course, the committee has said that I have made a personal error of judgment and because I am in a high position in the Palestinian Authority, that I should pay some price. I paid the price of course by being relieved of my duties.

TML: How do you describe what was shown on the tape? What were you doing with that woman?

Al-HOUSSEINI: Well, it was not one woman. There were two women. We have shown to the committee that the tape has been dubbed and fabricated in many instances to show that there were some sexual scenes going on without any scenes of that going, because the scene that was shown was me in the bedroom taking my clothes off on my own. Therefore, really, the whole thing was dubbed and fabricated to show me in that position. The committee was convinced that I did not do anything of that sort. They did said that it was very wrong for me to be in a flat with two women; who are by the way over 50 years of age - they are not young girls - and they were not seeking jobs or any favors from me.

TML: Well, some people would have a problem with you saying that 50 year old women just don’t excite men anymore.

Al-HOUSSEINI: No, I’m not saying that, I’m saying that they are my age and if I want to seduce or if I want to get sexual favors for jobs and so on, this is not the age group that I would be blackmailing.

TML: Why do you think you were targeted by the former intelligence officer Fahmi Shabaneh who shot the film?

Al-HOUSSEINI: Well, for several reasons. He had a grudge. He wanted to become the governor of Jerusalem and of course he was – we have known that he was a collaborator. We have known that he was not of very good standing and he felt that I’ve stopped him from becoming the governor of Jerusalem. Also, I’ve had a lot of corruption files dealing with many incidences involving (Palestinian) intelligence officers. When it comes to the Israelis, look I have been working very hard for Jerusalem and I have been instrumental in taking consuls and representatives of countries to all the settlement places that Israel was establishing in East Jerusalem. My work did not really go well with the Israelis, and therefore the two interests met and the result was this film that was taken in secret by a Palestinian ex-officer (which) has been aired on Israeli television.

TML: The tape aired on Israeli television. How do you think that really came about?

Al-HOUSSEINI: Well, it was a trap. This was a trap for me. I showed that this Palestinian ex-agent, who lives of course in Jerusalem, under the Israeli jurisdiction, has also been working as a double agent with the Israeli intelligence. The film was taken in east Jerusalem under the full Israeli knowledge.

TML: Dr. Al-Husseini, the principal reporting on the Palestinian side has come from Ma’an, an agency based in the Gaza Strip which is controlled by Hamas. Do you believe Hamas and Israel together conspired against you?

Al-HOUSSEINI: No, I don’t think Hamas has this in mind. I think Hamas has also to worry because as you know Mosab Yousef who is the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, who is an important Hamas leader, has also been put in a position whereby he has shown that he has been blackmailed and used as an Israeli agent himself. And therefore I don’t think Hamas would do such a thing.

TML: It’s been suggested that you could have had your job as chief of staff back after being cleared by the commission, but you told Mr. Abbas you preferred to resign. Is this the case?

Al-HOUSSEINI: I have told him that I prefer to resign. I’m ready to resign; not now, but for a year-and-a-half or more, because this incident happened a year-and-a-half ago. It was not yesterday or last month. It was a year-and-a-half ago. So I put myself and my resignation with him, because it is important to understand that I am in an important position. I don’t want anybody, let alone the president of course, to be tarnished or blackmailed with this story. It is my wish that I should have resigned and left, therefore I have no grudge and no ill-feeling about this.

TML: Critics of the Palestinian Authority are quick to charge it with corruption. How do you respond to such charges?

Al-HOUSSEINI: Well as you know, there is no corruption in it. The committee has said that, the president has said that, and I have said that, all of the time. I have proven that this film was dubbed and montaged to show that there was corruption. As I said, there were no women asking me for any favors or jobs or anything to do with president’s office. This has nothing to do with any corruption. Also, there were files of financial corruption that Fahmi Shabaneh has shown and really they were worth nothing, worthless, because they were very old. Anyway, the president and the Palestinian Authority have moved far on these matters, these files, and is dealing with some of these perpetrators. So therefore there was nothing new in the report on Israeli channel 10 except about showing me in such a way that can be portrayed as corruption. But corruption was not there at all and the committee has shown this clearly.

TML: You come from a well-known family, the Al-Husseini family. What kind of repercussions has this story had on a personal level?

Al-HOUSSEINI: I come from an important family in Jerusalem. What we were worried about was what the people will be thinking when they see this. And this was the effect on the people, the psychological effect of Husseini doing this; being corrupt is something unheard of before. The family history goes for over a hundred years of fighting, of struggling against Zionism to start with and then against Israel. But, as I say, I think people have understood there is no corruption and therefore there is no tainting, no tarnishing, of the family name, and that this was a conspiracy against somebody who worked against corruption and worked against Israel. It was just a trap to create conditions to say that this family has always been corrupt and the leadership of the Palestinian people is corrupt.

TML: As a recent chief of staff to Palestinian Authority head Mr. Abbas, I would be neglectful if I didn’t ask you about the political climate. Mr. Abbas has refused to negotiate with Mr. Netanyahu until there’s an absolute freeze on Israeli building in post-1967 areas, a condition that did not exist in previous Israeli administrations. Why did Abbas draw this red line when Netanyahu became prime minister?

Al-HOUSSEINI: Well it wasn’t drawn when Netanyahu became prime minister. It was actually said by President Abbas in late 2008, after the Annapolis discussions ended. (He said) if there is nothing happening then he will take a different stance as a president. I’ll tell you what the problem is; because of all of the settlement building activities now, which have of course increased tremendously with the coming of this government, there is not enough space for a two-state solution. And therefore the two-state solution is being killed by the settlement activity. The president has to, had to, take a position that he cannot negotiate with the settlement building continuing because by the time we end a new phase of negotiation, the two-state solution will be de facto obsolete and would not be able to be implemented. Therefore, the president is right to do what he has done. And of course, all the conspiracies around him, including the story about me, is basically to make him look weak and corrupt and incapable so that he does not deal with the Israelis in the manner he is dealing with them now and the international committee will not take him seriously anymore. But his position is right, and I hope he will continue taking this position until there is complete freeze on settlement so we can negotiate and a Palestinian state is established on the 1967 borders.

TML: A recent poll shows only 9% of Israelis believe US President Obama supports them. How do the Palestinian people view the American president?

Al-HOUSSEINI: We know that Mr. Obama is under a lot of pressure of course. There are big lobbies working against him in the United States, especially AIPAC and others. We feel that also there is a lot of Jewish support for the two-state solution and Mr. Obama. We know that Mr. Obama is trying his best to create or establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. So we know that his intentions are good. We know that the pressures are big on him, and he’s being subjected to a campaign by right-wing Israeli supporters, but we feel that we have a glimmer of hope with him being in office because he understands issues very well, and he understands that without a two-state solution, American national interests are affected negatively in the whole of the Middle East, in the Arab world and Islamic world.

TML: Will the American-brokered indirect negotiations get off the ground?

Al-HOUSSEINI: We also don’t know as yet because every time we want to restart negotiations even on the level of indirect negotiations, the Israelis do something that is really pretty bad. What happened during the visit of (US Vice President Joe) Biden with the announcing 1,600 units to be built in Jerusalem, and other announcements that are happening almost every day, means that even indirect negotiations are in jeopardy and may not happen.

TML: Can you differentiate between natural outgrowth in a community that might be 50,000 strong and what you might view as a settlement of a couple of hundred homes?

Al-HOUSSEINI: All of this is subject to negotiation of course. This is the idea. The settlement issue was put as a final status. It should be negotiated. But I tell you something, the problem with the little settlements here and there or the big ones, is that these are settlements made originally by dogmatic people, so it’s a dogma. These are believers in the Old Testament, literally. They believe this land belongs to them and does not belong to anybody else, let alone the Palestinians, and therefore removing 200 settlers from a small settlement which they think they own historically and which was a biblical site 3,000 years back is going to be very, very difficult. Therefore, the settlement issue is a package that has to be well-thought of and well-negotiated. But without thinking of removing almost all the settlements in the West Bank, there cannot be a viable Palestinian state.

TML: Diplomats are trying to portray the indirect talks as a breakthrough achievement, but others say after 10 years of direct talks, it’s a step backward. What’s your opinion?

Al-HOUSSEINI: Of course, it’s a step backwards. It’s a way to re-establish direct negotiations. But because there’s no trust at all now and because the Palestinian position is that if we don’t stop settlement building, we are not going to have a state. Because of that position, there are indirect talks. But in the end, it’s the direct talks that will count. So, yes, indirect talks are a step backwards from the direct talks we used to have with the Israelis.

TML: Prime Minister Fayyad’s two-year plan to perfect infrastructure in institutions, and then declare statehood appears to be building international support. Will the Palestinians be ready? Are you on schedule?

Al-HOUSSEINI: Well I think we are ready. We have established our institutions for a long time now. We have the educated people to run these institutions, we have the manpower. We have the will and the wish to establish our own state and therefore we are ready. I think that the two-year plan should be seen as a way forward to re-establish and re-strengthen Palestinian institutions to be ready for statehood. But I assure you, we have been ready for some time now.

TML: Dr. Rafiq Al-Husseini, as former chief of staff to Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas, what are you predictions- when are talks going to resume?

Al-HOUSSEINI: I’m not sure that talks are going to resume soon. There is a big worry about that and my predictions are that we cannot move forward with this right-wing Israeli government which is held to ransom by the settler movement. (This is) because the main issue today, as we have put it and the world understands it, is settlement building. Therefore, with the pro-settlement lobby that is sitting in its majority in this (Israeli) government, I don’t predict that peace will prevail and talks will continue.

TML: So what do you predict?

Al-HOUSSEINI: I predict that we are going to go to an impasse and that the Americans and the Europeans and the others in world, the international community and the UN should take up their responsibility and push forward for a peace deal against the wishes of the pro-settlement Israeli government.

TML: On a professional level, what is Dr. Rafiq Al-Husseini going to be doing?

Al-HOUSSEINI: Well, I have worked with the president’s office for five years, but I’ve been working for Palestine for almost 35 years. I have been working in many institutions whether public or private in Palestine and outside of Palestine for the cause, and therefore I will definitely still be there, fighting for my city of birth, Jerusalem, and fighting against corruption in the Palestinian domain.

TML: Can you say what organization you might be joining or where you’ll be?

Al-HOUSSEINI: Well I haven’t really given that a lot of thought but it will be soon and I will definitely be working as I say for Jerusalem and against corruption. I will definitely choose a portfolio or an outfit that will fit these exact wishes of mine.