BICOM

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday that under his leadership there would be no ‘Third Intifada’ (armed uprising) against Israel.

Speaking yesterday in English, during an interview with Israel’s Channel Two, Abbas said that as long as he is in power, “there will be no third armed Intifada. Never.” He continued, “We don’t want to use terror. We don’t want to use force. We don’t want to use weapons. We want to use diplomacy. We want to use politics. We want to use negotiations. We want to use peaceful resistance. That’s it.”

Abbas outlined the boundaries that he envisages for Israel and a future Palestinian state, saying “Palestine now for me is ’67 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. This is now and forever … This is Palestine for me. I am (a) refugee, but I am living in Ramallah. I believe that (the) West Bank and Gaza is Palestine and the other parts (are) Israel.”

Abbas did not comment on the issue of a settlement freeze, which he has previously insisted on as a pre-condition to talks with Israel. The requirement has stalled progress towards further negotiations. Abbas also hinted at a possible softening stance over the issue of Palestinian refugees. Referring to his own personal story, he said, “I visited Safed before once. But I want to see Safed. It’s my right to see it, but not to live there.” Abbas was born in the northern Israeli town of Safed leaving with his family during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence when he was aged 13. The Palestinians have long demanded that Israel grant the ‘right of return’ to up to five million Palestinians to land and property situated in Israel that they or their families lived on prior to 1948. Israel has consistently rejected the demand as historically unprecedented and a calculated demographic threat to the Jewish State.