Al-Aqsa television interviews freed prisoner Samir al-Qintar

Hamas-run Gaza-based Al-Aqsa Satellite Television in Arabic at 1735 gmt on 23 July carries an interview with Lebanese "liberated prisoner Samir al-Qintar" by moderator Raji al-Hams via satellite.

Al-Qintar, who was released under the recent prisoners swap deal between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah after spending 30 years in prison begins by greeting all the Arabs and the resistance people in the Palestinian territories, particularly the Hamas movement, who are defending the Arab rights.

Asked how he used to spend his days in prison. Al-Qintar says: "Generally speaking, we always used to benefit from our time to improve ourselves through reading, observing what takes place around us, and holding discussions on the current developments, and benefiting from the experience of the other prisoners."

Asked how the many years he spent in prison have enhanced his "spirit of resistance," Al-Qintar says: "We the prisoners enjoyed solid relations" and these relations were based on our affiliation with "the cause of our people and our people outside the prison. From this premise, these relations dictated on us to be part of the national project for confronting the occupation. Our steadfastness in the prison cells and the detention centres was one form of jihad and struggle against this arrogant enemy. Our interaction with our cause and people outside the prisons enabled us to be steadfast and to always feel that we were an indivisible part of a major cause."

Asked about the situation of the prisoners in the Israeli jails who are serving long term or life sentences because they "had the honour to kill Zionist soldiers," Al-Qintar says that these prisoners have been unjustly treated by the Arabs and the Palestinian [National] Authority because they failed to liberate them and that the "Al-Radwan Operation" under which he was liberated "has shattered all the yardsticks" that Israel had set for the release of prisoners, including the condition that it never accepted to release any prisoner whose hands are stained with Israeli blood. He says: "My release under the Al-Radwan Operation has been a very important step to shatter most of the yardsticks" affirming that he has been sentenced to five life sentences and "I am classified as having killed Zionists" adds that "the Islamic resistance in Lebanon came to end this farce" under which Israel used to refuse releasing prisoners whose hands were stained with Israeli blood. Al-Qintar says that the prisoners "welcomed my release and were happy at this development because they sensed that there is something serious that is taking place on the ground" and that "my release is a very important and basic and necessary step for completing the swap operation between the brothers in the Hamas Movement and the Zionist enemy."

Asked about the most important messages the Arab and Palestinian prisoners had asked him to communicate to the Arabs, Al-Qintar says that the most important message "was an invitation to all to seek solutions for the Palestinian internal problems, achieve Palestinian national unity on the basis of an agreed upon political programme, and unite the resistance and jihadist tools for confronting the enemy. National unity is one of the basic demands of the prisoners from all the factions." Al-Qintar adds that the prisoners in the Israeli jails "pin high hopes on the resistance and on the forthcoming event that will witness the release of a large number or the largest number if not all the prisoners who are serving long term sentences and who have spent many years in jail" adding that the prisoners "are confident that the Islamic resistance in Gaza will complete this operation soon, God willing."

Asked to comment on the Israeli threats to assassinate him if he resumes his resistance activities and that he will have the same fate as Shaykh Ahmad Yasin, the founder of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, Al-Qintar says: "I am not as important as Shaykh Ahmad Yasin. This is one thing. Also, I was not afraid of them when I was in the occupation jails. They know this very well. Therefore, I will not fear them while outside. It goes without saying that though I am ready to face them with my bare chest, I will take the necessary precautions. But this will not dampen my resolve one iota." Asked if he will become a political activist or carry out any other activity, Al-Qintar says" You will see Samir as resisting with the gun only." Al-Qintar affirms that the warm welcome the Lebanese, Palestinian, and Arab masses accorded him on his release "enhances our conviction that the masses of this nation are active and look with great pride and appreciation at every mujahid and resistance man who offered and continues to offer sacrifices for his cause. This welcome is a big slap in the face of this unjust enemy and the agent regimes that never wagered on their people's willpower" adding that his liberation "is a good beginning and an important and basic stage that gives us hope and a new push forward to pursue the resistance project whose banner we have been upholding." Al-Qintar adds that this warm reception will unite all the segments of the Lebanese people because "it reminded many that the resistance is not something of the past but has started anew."

Al-Qintar and in reply to a question on the operation he carried out and for which he was imprisoned in the Israeli jails, says that he will carry the same operation now and that he does not regret anything and that "I will pursue jihad, God willing, with more determination than in the past." Al-Qintar says that by being a Lebanese who carried out an operation in Palestine, he wanted to convey the message that "Palestine is not the cause of the Palestinian people alone. This is a myth and a misconception that they started to raise and promote as part of a culture that is being spread in the Arab homeland and the Islamic world." Al-Qintar says that had there not been a Palestinian cause, Israel would not have occupied southern Lebanon and this applies to other Arab causes and issues. Al-Qintar adds that no Arab country can claim that it has nothing to do with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict "because this entity so long as it exists will keep threatening the entire stability in the region and our presence and culture in every Arab country."

Al-Hams then interviews Umm-Jabir Wishah, the adoptive mother of Samir al-Qintar, via telephone who speaks about her feelings upon hearing that Al-Qintar will be released. Al-Qintar, for his part, greets Umm-Jabir Wishah, praises her steadfastness and says he impatiently waits to meet her. Umm Jabr Wishah then reviews her visits to the prison to see Al-Qintar, and the obstacles and difficulties she encountered during her many visits and says she has been banned from visiting Al-Qintar since 2000.

Asked what he gained during his incarceration, Al-Qintar says: "First of all, I had the honour to be a partner of the Palestinian people in their jihad and ordeal. Second, I gained a great experience. Third: I became more determined and convinced not to give up this course."

Asked why he is still wearing the military uniform, Al-Qintar says: "This is a message. It is a message first to my enemy telling it that this is my course and 30 years in prison have not daunted me. I am very serious in what I say. Second: It is a message to all the Arab young people that this uniform, the resistance uniform is the uniform embodying honour, dignity, and loftiness. Thanks to this uniform, the land was liberated and people live in dignity, honour, and pride in their country Lebanon. Thanks to it, Palestine will return, God willing."

Asked what message he would like to address to the Palestinian resistance factions, particularly to the Hamas Movement that are negotiating for the release of Israeli Soldier Gil'ad Shalit, Al-Qintar says: "Frankly speaking, the brothers in Hamas do not need anyone to address them a message. They explicitly say what they want to say. With respect to the Shalit file, there are red lines that the brothers in Hamas will not give up. Actually, I greet them for this stand and for their insistence, determination, and the highly efficient security measures they take to keep this soldier in spite of the siege and the penetration attempts. This is a legendary achievement that consists of succeeding to keep this Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip all that period and their readiness, as they announced, to keep him for another 20 years is an achievement that deserves respect, admiration, and should also be studied." Al-Qintar adds that the next achievement will be to release the prisoners on the basis of a swap deal with this soldier."

Asked if he believes the Ron Arad incident will have a direct impact on the forthcoming swap deal, particularly that "the occupation fears the repetition of the Ron Arad incident with respect to the Shalit issue," Al-Qintar says: "It goes without saying that this might take place if they commit stupidities for in this case there will be a new Ron Arad" adding "With respect to Ron Arad, they were offered an honourable swap operation that was also in the interest of the resistance at the time. But they rejected this and started to bargain, evade the issue, and postpone it and we have seen what the results were. Now, with the issue of Shalit, if they commit stupidities and think that the issue might be manipulated, the same thing might happen."

Al-Hams then once again addresses Umm Jabr Wishah via telephone and tells her that she can talk directly talk to Al-Qintar. Umm Wishah and Al-Qintar exchange greetings, and Al-Qintar tells her that his family is waiting for her visit to Lebanon and that he is waiting impatiently to meet her.

Al-Qintar praises the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance that "has become the difficult equation in this conflict," says that the prisoners must continue to hope that they will be released soon and asks their families to be patient and have faith that their sons will be released soon.

Asked to comment on the US Congress decision viewing Al-Aqsa Satellite Channel as a terrorist channel, Al-Qintar says: "I would like to tell the beloved Al-Aqsa Satellite Channel that they cannot cancel our right to say what we want and to portray the real image of our state of affairs and our resistance."

Source: Al-Aqsa Satellite TV, Gaza, in Arabic 1735 gmt 23 Jul 08