August 19, 2000
The Palestinians have officially requested that refugees living in Lebanon should be the first to return home, and their return should be completed within one or two years of signing an agreement.
Mahmoud Abbas, (Abu Mazen), Secretary General of the PLO's Executive Committee said the request was made during last month's Camp David Summit.
Abbas said the United States was in agreement with the Palestinians that the refugees in Lebanon should be given the priority due to their dire living conditions.
Abbas said the issue of compensation was discussed in detail during the Camp David negotiations, but Israel insisted not to be held responsible for picking up the tab.
"Israel said it would be willing to contribute in an international fund for the compensation of the refugees," Abbas told a group of local reports in Ramallah.
However, Israel said the fund should also compensate the Jews who immigrated to Palestine from the Arab countries.
"In spite of the fact that there is no connection between Palestinian refugees and Jewish immigration, we told the Israelis if they had and claims they should take it up with the Arab countries which they have peace treaties with, or good relations," Abbas said. "But we refuse that Jewish immigrants be paid from the international fund."
Abbas reminded Israel's Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein during Camp David that the Arab countries did not expel the Jews but that the Zionist Movement "forced and encouraged" the Jews to leave and immigrate to Palestine.
On Jerusalem, Abbas said the sides could not reach a common ground. But the final blow came when Israel said it would retain sovereignty over the Aqsa Mosque Compound.
The Palestinian response was simple. The compound was for Muslims and no one other than the Muslims should have sovereignty over it and no one other than Muslims should be allowed to pray in it.
Abbas said the Palestinians have learned "bitter lessons" from accepting Israeli requests to pray at a Muslim holy site. He said when Israel asked that Jews visit Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem they turned it into a military base. In Hebron, when Israel asked for joint prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque (Tomb of the Patriarchs) any Palestinian or Arab going into the Mosque was harassed or attacked.
"We won't allow the same to happen at the Aqsa compound but we will allow freedom of access for all faiths to their holy sites," Abbas said. "And we won't accept is the internationalization of Jerusalem."
