Friday, September 10, 2010

PA will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state nor live with Jews

From [Saudi Arabia's ] ARAB NEWS, Sep 9, 2010, by MOHAMMED MAR'I:

RAMALLAH: A senior Palestinian official on Thursday said the Palestinian Authority (PA) will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, even though the PA acknowledges there is a Jewish majority in Israel.

Nabil Shaath, a member of Palestinian negotiations team, told the Voice of Palestine radio that the Palestinian negotiating team turned down Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request to discuss the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state during the upcoming round of peace talks in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh next week.

Shaath said the Palestinian leadership "won't expose our people to security and political threats."

He said the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state would harm Arab Palestinians inside Israel and negate the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

The Palestinian negotiator said any future peace agreement with Israel would be brought before the Palestinian people in a referendum.


"If we're on the verge of a peace agreement, we will need complete unity," he said.

Meanwhile, the chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the PA rejected Israel's proposal to keep the Jewish occupiers [sic] living in the West Bank when an independent Palestinian state is established...

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