By Fred Jackson and Chad Groening
March 14, 2002

(AgapePress) - A Palestinian terrorist has told USA Today that his orders to kill Israeli citizens come from Yasser Arafat.

The paper identifies the terrorist as 33-year-old Maslama Thabet. He says the group he leads, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, is an integral part of Fatah. Fatah, headed by Arafat himself, is the largest group in the Palestinian Authority. In the interview, Thabet says "we are the armed wing of the organization ... we receive our instructions from Fatah ... our commander is Yasser Arafat himself."

The newspaper notes that in a televised address last Saturday, as Palestinians launched suicide attacks in Netanya and Jerusalem, Arafat urged Palestinians to "sacrifice themselves as martyrs in jihad for Palestine."

The report in USA Today goes on to quote Palestinian Authority officials who say most members of the Brigade receive salaries from Arafat's Palestinian Authority. As an example, it says the leader of the Brigade in Nablus is a salaried officer in the Palestinian National Security Force, one of 14 armed police and security services that report to Arafat.

Thabet's admission would seem to confirm what conservative activist David Horowitz says about Arafat, that he is a "murderer and a terrorist." Horowitz says Yasser Arafat is not motivated by any desire to establish a Palestinian homeland, as widely reported in the media.

Horowitz, who is president of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture, says the Palestinian strongman is motivated by hate. "Yasser Arafat is a murderer and a terrorist," he says. "Arabs got 90% of the Palestine mandate, and Jordan is still a country which contains 80% of the land mass of the so-called ‘Palestine mandate.’ Something like 70% of the Jordanian population are Palestinian. They never want a state in Jordan because it’s not run by Jews. They’re Jew-haters, that’s what they are. They’re Christian haters."

Horowitz believes Secretary of State Colin Powell is "weak" when it comes to his dealings with Arafat. "I think Colin Powell is very bad on this issue, as he is on many issues; but, he’s a tremendous strength for the Republican Party being there," he says. "As long as Bush keeps his head on his shoulders and keeps him in check, I’m happy."

Horowitz believes Arafat should be on a top ten most-wanted list because he says the Palestinian terrorist was responsible for killing an American ambassador.

© 2002 AgapePress all rights reserved.

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