Following are excerpts from an interview with Professor Gamal Zahran, head of the political science department at Port Said University, which aired on Al-Alam TV on August 17, 2012.

Gamal Zahran: Jerusalem is at the heart of the Palestinian cause, and the Palestinian cause is the cause of all Arabs and Muslims. Therefore, the elimination of the Zionist entity is beyond debate, and the only question has to do with the circumstances.

I believe that the Arab revolutions, which broke out in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen – as well as in Bahrain and elsewhere – generate the peoples' hope that one day, Jerusalem and Palestine will return to them.

Interviewer: Why keep it only as a hope? Why not act on it?

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Gamal Zahran: The reason is that so far, the revolutions have not reached the throne of power. It is difficult to transform this hope into reality until these revolutions come to the forefront.

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We are constantly keeping the memory alive among the younger generations, so that they will realize that the Palestinian cause is an essential one. The hope and the memory will later turn into action. By next year, Allah willing, Israel will be annihilated.

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