Friday, May 13, 2005 15:05 IST
JNW HEADLINE NEWS

'Israel must leave Jerusalem, too'
By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff

May 12th, 2005

JERUSALEM - Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip is not enough if the Jewish state wants peace with the Arab world, according to a joint declaration following this week's Arab-South American summit in Brasilia, Brazil.

PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas, one of only seven major Arab leaders to attend the gathering, reiterated his demand that the Jews vacate every inch of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip as part of any final status agreement.

"We are very keen to reaching just peace with Israel on basis of full Israeli withdrawal from all the Arab and Palestinian lands [sic] it occupied in 1967," Abbas said.

He suggested all of the Middle East's current instability and violence was the result of Israel's failure to retreat in accordance with the UN's recommendations in resolutions 242 and 338.

[ Ed. Note - Both 242 and 338 fall under Chapter VI of the UN Charter, meaning they are merely recommendations, rather than binding international law. ]

"The Middle East, including Palestine as its core concern, is still suffering from instability and violence, simply because Israel has not so far complied with the international legitimacy resolutions 338 and 242," Abbas insisted, ignoring decades of regional upheaval and violence against the Jews prior to 1967.

South American leaders had hoped to keep the summit focused on economic cooperation in an effort to counter American domination in that area.

They acquiesced to the passions of their Arab guests, however, and condemnation of Israel was made the centerpiece of the summit's "Declaration of Brasilia."

The declaration's draft, which was approved by attending foreign ministers Monday, demanded the removal of all Jewish settlements, including "those in east Jerusalem."

It also lent approval to anti-Jewish "Palestinian" terrorism under the guise of resisting "foreign occupation in accordance with the principles of international legitimacy and in compliance with international humanitarian law."

The document denounced terrorism in accordance with today's widespread feelings on the subject, but called for an international conference to define who is a terrorist, suggesting that the killers of Israeli Jews and US soldiers in Iraq do not fit the bill.

A Brazilian diplomat told Reuters the declaration was unlikely to be changed before its official adoption.

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