Israel Matzav

Abu Mazen: Arabs made a mistake by rejecting 1947 partition plan

In an interview shown on Israel's Channel 2 on Friday night, 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen admitted that the Arabs made a mistake by not accepting the 1947 partition plan from the United Nations.

The Palestinian and Arab refusal to accept a UN plan to partition the then-British-controlled mandate of Palestine sparked widespread fighting, then Arab military intervention after Israel declared independence the following year. The Arabs lost the war.

"It was our mistake. It was an Arab mistake as a whole," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Channel 2 TV in a rare interview to the Israeli media. "But do they (the Israelis) punish us for this mistake for 64 years?"

Three words Abu: Actions have consequences. You can't keep asking for 'do-overs' until the end of time.

Abbas also contended that he and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert were "very, very close" to reaching a peace agreement in 2008, before the Israeli leader left office under a cloud of corruption allegations.

"It was a very good opportunity," he said. "If he stayed two, three months, I believe that time we could have concluded an agreement."

He confirmed Olmert's account that the Israeli leader was prepared to withdraw from 93.5 percent of the West Bank. The Palestinians, Abbas added, responded by offering to let Israel retain 1.9 percent of the West Bank.

But the 'Palestinians' then walked away and decided to wait for Obama to get them a better offer - which is unlikely.

You can watch the full interview here beginning at the 14:00 mark. The interview is mostly in English although the narrative that goes with it is in Hebrew. The interview ends around the 25:00 mark, and then there's more analysis in Hebrew until past the 30:00 mark.

Labels: 1947 partition plan, Abu Mazen, Binyamin Netanyahu, Ehud K. Olmert

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:50 PM