Yasser Arafat’s death has created an unprecedented amount of optimism in the West regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state and the possibility of peace. Yet amongst Palestinian Arab officials there is little talk of peace, as numerous officials have endorsed the continuation of Arafat’s “jihad” against the Jewish state.

Some members of the Palestinian Arab establishment close to Arafat are now stating in public that he never really wanted peace, and instead used the peace process as a strategy to destroy Israel in phases. The Palestinian ambassador in Iran, Salah Al-Zawawi, explained in an interview on Iranian Al-Alam TV on November 12 that Arafat “knew that this path is the path of martyrdom and jihad. He knew that this great cause requires martyrs, not leaders…He fought the jihad and we saw him in many battles…If you ask me what will surely be the end of this Zionist entity, I will say to you that this entity will disappear one of these days… It’s a matter of time…Our phased plan, which I already mentioned, is to establish an independent sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital…”

Similarly, Palestinian Arab analyst Yunis Udeh told London’s ANB TV November 11: “When we told him that the road to Oslo would mean the termination of the Palestinian cause, he said, ‘I am hammering the first nail in the Zionist coffin.’…I asked him how. He said: ‘I will go to Gaza, I will return to Palestine…’ “

Fatah Supreme Council Member Abu Ali Shahin also hinted in an interview on November 13 on Lebanon’s Al-Manar TV that Arafat considered the Oslo Accords a strategic move to destroy Israel: “Yasser Arafat led a revolution, a revolution of a barrel of gun powder alongside a barrel of petrol…But when Yasser Arafat saw that the U.S.S.R….collapsed without a single shot being fired…Arafat understood this great international game. He made a 180-degree turn…He accepted…Madrid, and after it Oslo…”

Countless Palestinian Arab officials have also spoken about continuing violence against Israel. Fatah leader Hussein Al-Sheikh spoke to Al-Arabiyya TV on November 11: “The gun Yasser Arafat raised…will be raised by…the Palestinian people, so they continue to believe that the gun is the way to get rid of this occupation, the shortest way to get rid of this occupation. This is Abu Ammar’s promise and this is his will, and we will continue to be true to them.”

Also on November 11, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade leader Raid Al-Aidi said on Al-Arabiyya TV, “We call from here to all the heroes…strike this occupier anywhere, with no holds barred. We…will direct our painful blows against this monstrous entity. The Palestinian state will be achieved only by strengthening the resistance…This occupier understands only the language of gunfire and gun powder and we will teach this occupier, Allah willing, a lesson as we have taught it in the past, in Tel Aviv, Hadera, and everywhere. We will escalate our blows against this occupier…”

In the same program, Fatah Central Committee member Hani Al-Hassan explained that, “In Fatah we have a rule: The armed struggle sows and the political struggle reaps…Therefore, when Oslo didn’t bring results, the sowing came in the form of the Intifada…We will see now whether the political situation allows us to reach political results and to bring about a change in our favor. Otherwise, we will go back to sowing.”

Quoting former Egyptian president Abd-Al Nasser, “what was taken by force will be restored only by force” is how the new leader of Fatah, Faruq Al-Qaddumi, described the Palestinian Arab strategy against Israel on Al-Arabiyya TV on November 14. Mr. al-Qaddumi has considerable popularity on the Palestinian street for never accepting Oslo. With his naming as leader of Fatah, Mr. al-Qaddumi is openly challenging Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmad Qurei to be Arafat’s successor. As he stated, “Anyone who thinks that I have abdicated my authority is mistaken.”

He explained Fatah’s position about Hamas: “The Hamas movement is our friend. It is a…movement of heroes. It is part of the national Palestinian movement. No…Fatah member could possibly harm Hamas.” Mr. al-Qaddumi is also close to Hezbollah, and during a meeting with Sheik Nasrallah on September 4, 2003, they discussed “a cohesion between the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance.” He has also called for an attack on American interests throughout the world. U.S. officials intimately involved in the Oslo Accords now publicly state that more attention should have been paid to the issue of Palestinian Arab incitement, and what the Arabs were saying amongst themselves in Arabic. With Arafat gone, we should be paying close attention to his heirs to understand their true intentions.

Mr. Stalinsky is the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.