Friday, June 29, 2007

And Just Where is "Palestine", Sari?

I posted previously about Sari Nusseibeh's new book and I just found some old opinions of his over at IMRA (while doing a search for something else).

Here:-

Sari Nusseibeh: Refugees to replace Israelis in Ramat Eshkol, French Hill and other Jewish neghborhoods in eastern Jerusalem / Nusseibeh: Post-'67 capital neighborhoods an issue

The status of Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem built on land won in the 1967 war is an issue that must be negotiated as part of a final peace agreement, Sari Nusseibeh, the Palestinian Authority's top representative in Jerusalem, said yesterday.

"People living on territory taken by Israel are settlers. What happens [with them] is a matter that needs to be worked out in negotiations," Nusseibeh told The Jerusalem Post.

He said he supports a complete return to the 1967 borders, and the status of
neighborhoods such as Gilo, French Hill, Pisgat Ze'ev, Neveh Ya'acov, Ramot, East Talpiot, and Ramot Eshkol would need to be resolved, since Palestinians view them as settlements.

"My position is that the 1967 line should constitute the border between the two states. The settlers should return to Israel, and the [Palestinian] refugees should be resettled in Palestine," he said.

...the heart of the conflict - Jerusalem - was not, in his words, a "totally inscrutable problem," Nusseibeh said: "We need to deal with these issues head-on, and I believe it is doable if there is enough creativity courage and will."

..."I am not a negotiator and have no specific solution," he replied, when asked if he endorses the proposal for "divine sovereignty" for the Temple Mount. When pressed, he said such a definition is "redundant," since one of the attributes of God is absolute sovereignty.

...He also told Israel Radio "one would have to be blind not to see the Jewish
connection to Jerusalem," refuting Arafat, who alleged at Camp David there is no Jewish connection to the Temple Mount.

...Yesterday, he chose his words carefully and cautiously. "One has very often to replace dreams about the past with a vision for the future. Time changes,
reality changes. You cannot go back in time," he said.
[hurray!!!]

Asked if Israel has a moral right to exist after past assertions it "was born in sin," Nusseibeh said existence precedes morality.

"There is a difference between existing and acquiring the moral right of exist. No individual or nation is born with a moral right to exist, but having existed, you acquire the moral right to exist," he said.

No comments: