Palestinians threaten war if demands aren’t met at Summit

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October 10, 2007

Palestinians Threaten War If Demands Aren’t Met At Summit

By Scott Presson Senior Palestinian officials closely affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have warned that if their demands are not met in full at next month’s US-hosted peace summit, a renewed terrorist offensive against Israel could be launched.

Israel Today Magazine reports that Azzam al-Ahmed, head of the parliamentary list for Abbas' Fatah party warned The Jerusalem Post that if the summit, scheduled to take place in Annapolis, Maryland does not "result in something positive”…”the repercussions will be more dangerous than what happened after the failure of Camp David."

In 2000, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat approximately 98 percent of the lands he was demanding in return for a peace agreement. Arafat rejected the offer, and less than two months later the Al Aqsa Intifada, also known as the "Oslo War," was launched against Israel. That uprising is now known to have been planned in advance by Arafat and his regime.  

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has laid out specific demands for the borders of a future Palestinian state. According to published reports Abbas is calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from all territories captured in the 1967 Six Day War.

Reports say that the Palestinians are demanding all of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, east Jerusalem and small areas along the West Bank frontier that were considered no-man's land before the Six Day War. Abbas says his claim is backed by U.N. resolutions.

Although Israeli government officials refused to comment, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has hinted that he will offer half of Jerusalem to the Palestinians at the US sponsored summit. Surveys show that an overwhelming majority of Israelis remain firmly opposed to concessions in Jerusalem.

A poll published by Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper shows that that Olmert does not have the support needed to divide the Israeli capital. The survey says that 68 percent of Israelis said they would not support ceding the Arab-dominated areas of eastern Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority.

Abbas' claim comes as Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams are trying to hammer out a joint resolution for a future peace deal in time for the U.S. hosted conference in November.