Yasser Arafat "definitely" understands that Israel must preserve its character as a Jewish state, the Palestinian president told Tel Aviv-based Haaretz newspaper in an interview published on Friday. In the interview at his Ramallah office, Arafat noted that the PLO had adopted the Arab Summit resolution of April 2002.
| That'd be Prince Abdullah's peace plan... |
This resolution, based on a Saudi initiative, called for a just and agreed solution to the Palestinian refugee problem based on UN General Assembly Resolution 194. However, he declined to say how many refugees he would insist Israel absorb as a condition for any peace accord. Arafat emphasized that he had to solve the problem of some 200,000 refugees who live in poor conditions in Lebanon, and asked "why the Christians from Russia have the right to come and the Palestinian Christian has not the right to come?"
| "And if the Paleostinian Christian does, what about some of the Paleostinian Moose limbs? And if some of the Paleostinian Muslims can come, why not all of them? Riddle me that, eh?" |
Regarding borders, Arafat confirmed he would be willing to ink an agreement under which Israel would withdraw from 97 to 98 percent of the West Bank and give the Palestinians territory equivalent in size and quality to the 2 to 3 percent that would be annexed to Israel. Arafat pledged that once the Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza Strip, the PA would take control of the area and fight not only Hamas members, but also Fatah members who would violate the law.
| I'm not gonna hold my breath on that one. |
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