"Don't worry, the Geneva document does not cede the Arabs' 'right of return.'" This was the gist of an article written by Jamal Zakot, a high-ranking PA official who took part in the negotiations for the agreement. Zakot wrote this on Sunday in the PA daily Al Hayat al Jadida, Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman reports.
"Those who state that the document cedes our right of return [for the Arab 'refugees' of 1948 and their descendants] do not base themselves on knowledge and precise reading of the text," Zakot wrote. "It could even be that they have fallen into the trap of declarations of certain Israeli figures who tried to make it more palatable to the Israeli public by saying several times [that the document makes this concession]."
"There is certainly a measure of vagueness in this clause," Zakot wrote. "The document does not promise a full and collective return for millions of Palestinians, but it also does not cede this right. On the contrary: the proposed time frame for the solution of the refugee problem is five years, while the time frame for the Israeli retreat from the Palestinian lands [sic], evacuation of settlements and completion of installing Palestinian sovereignty on its lands according to the maps - which are more important than the texts - is only three years." The implication is that Israel will have already withdrawn from all of Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) and will therefore not have much leverage in negotiating the issue of the refugees.
"Those who state that the document cedes our right of return [for the Arab 'refugees' of 1948 and their descendants] do not base themselves on knowledge and precise reading of the text," Zakot wrote. "It could even be that they have fallen into the trap of declarations of certain Israeli figures who tried to make it more palatable to the Israeli public by saying several times [that the document makes this concession]."
"There is certainly a measure of vagueness in this clause," Zakot wrote. "The document does not promise a full and collective return for millions of Palestinians, but it also does not cede this right. On the contrary: the proposed time frame for the solution of the refugee problem is five years, while the time frame for the Israeli retreat from the Palestinian lands [sic], evacuation of settlements and completion of installing Palestinian sovereignty on its lands according to the maps - which are more important than the texts - is only three years." The implication is that Israel will have already withdrawn from all of Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) and will therefore not have much leverage in negotiating the issue of the refugees.