The fundamental position—whether regarding what is happening in the Gaza Strip or in the West Bank—is that this weapon, for us, is a legitimate weapon. It does not belong to any faction, and no Palestinian has the right to even discuss or negotiate over the issue of the weapon.
This is the right of the Palestinian people, as long as they remain under the burden of this occupation and this criminal aggression. Those who demand the surrender of our weapons, or who go and attempt to take our weapons in the West Bank, are the very same ones who used to ask us, as Palestinians, to throw stones during the height of the Intifada—when we were being killed and had nothing but stones.
The core issue is not the size of the weapon, nor the nature of the weapon, nor its geographical location. The core issue is that they want to strip us of our will and force us to submit to the theft of whatever remains of our lives.
Therefore, the Palestinian resistance—and we, in the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine—say that we will not surrender a single bullet except as a firey bullet directed at the chest of those who try to take even a single bullet from us. We say that this weapon will always be directed at the heart of the occupation. And we will not give anyone the opportunity to even discuss with us the issue of the weapon.
This is the weapon of the martyrs, the legacy of the martyrs.
This weapon is a trust from all those now under the rubble or living in tents.
And this weapon is a trust of the entire Palestinian people—guarded with blood, guarded with souls.