\"Israel has won the battle of the Right of Return,\" the EU\'s Middle East mediator Migel Mauritinus said today. \"The topic is no longer part of the public discourse. There exists an understanding that the Right of Return [of the descendants of Arabs who ran away during Israel\'s War of Independence in 1948] is a threat to the Jewish character of the State of Israel. We saw this at the Beirut summit when the Arab League leaders adopted the Saudi plan and said that on this issue, the solution must be with Israel\'s agreement.\"
It should be noted that the summit demanded \"a just solution to the Palestinian refugees problem to be agreed upon in accordance with UN resolution 194.\" Middle East analyst David Bedein of the Israel Resource News Agency explains: \"UN resolution 194, adopted after the 1948 war, guarantees the 3.6 million Arab refugees and their descendents left villages in 1948 the \'inalienable\' right of repatriation to the 531 Arab villages that were replaced by Israeli cities, collective farms and woodlands.\"
Some of Mauritinus\' other comments in his meeting with Israeli reporters may have been even less to Israel\'s liking. He said that Arafat was not to blame for either the intifada or for the lack of peace, and blamed the settlements instead:
\"It\'s clear that without Arafat there won\'t be a solution. We must simply recognize that Arafat is the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority and live with it.\"
Asked if Arafat should not have to pay the price for rejecting an opportunity for peace, Mauritinus said, \"Both sides must be faulted for not having reached an agreement in the past year. Arafat is always faulted for rejecting Camp David, but it must be understood that he couldn\'t agree; he did not have the support of the Arab world… Arafat did not lead this intifada, he just allowed it to happen.\"
Asked why the EU emphasizes the \"Israeli conquest\" but not Palestinian terrorism, he said, \"There is no military solution to this conflict… We must understand that given their conditions of starvation and poverty, they can\'t display affection for their Israeli neighbors… The settlements are like a cancer for the peace process.\"
The European Union, which is expected to resume its funding of the Palestinian Authority today, announced last night that Fatah\'s military arm, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, is now on its official list of terrorist organizations. The list already contains several Palestinian organizations, including Hamas and Iz A-Din el-Kassam.
It should be noted that the summit demanded \"a just solution to the Palestinian refugees problem to be agreed upon in accordance with UN resolution 194.\" Middle East analyst David Bedein of the Israel Resource News Agency explains: \"UN resolution 194, adopted after the 1948 war, guarantees the 3.6 million Arab refugees and their descendents left villages in 1948 the \'inalienable\' right of repatriation to the 531 Arab villages that were replaced by Israeli cities, collective farms and woodlands.\"
Some of Mauritinus\' other comments in his meeting with Israeli reporters may have been even less to Israel\'s liking. He said that Arafat was not to blame for either the intifada or for the lack of peace, and blamed the settlements instead:
\"It\'s clear that without Arafat there won\'t be a solution. We must simply recognize that Arafat is the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority and live with it.\"
Asked if Arafat should not have to pay the price for rejecting an opportunity for peace, Mauritinus said, \"Both sides must be faulted for not having reached an agreement in the past year. Arafat is always faulted for rejecting Camp David, but it must be understood that he couldn\'t agree; he did not have the support of the Arab world… Arafat did not lead this intifada, he just allowed it to happen.\"
Asked why the EU emphasizes the \"Israeli conquest\" but not Palestinian terrorism, he said, \"There is no military solution to this conflict… We must understand that given their conditions of starvation and poverty, they can\'t display affection for their Israeli neighbors… The settlements are like a cancer for the peace process.\"
The European Union, which is expected to resume its funding of the Palestinian Authority today, announced last night that Fatah\'s military arm, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, is now on its official list of terrorist organizations. The list already contains several Palestinian organizations, including Hamas and Iz A-Din el-Kassam.