Following are excerpts from an interview with Abd Al-Bari ‘Atwan, editor-in-chief of the Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper. The interview aired on ANB TV on January 26, 2009.

Abd Al-Bari ‘Atwan: The late president, the martyr Yasser Arafat, said to me once: “In my entire life, I’ve never come across a people as corrupt as the Israeli people.” Actually, he used the term “the Jewish people.” He said: “By Allah, I used to buy off the most senior generals with money. I used to smuggle in people, weapons, whatever I wanted.” He said: “You cannot imagine how corrupt this people is, and how easy it is to buy it off with money.” They will not be able to shut down [the tunnels].

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Let’s assume that the Arabs stop security coordination with Europe, and say: “You figure out what to do about Al-Qaeda. We’re staying out of it.” By Allah, Europe would come to the Arabs and the Muslims on all fours. But the problem is that there are no real men [among the Arab rulers].