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The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it

Occupation magazine - Commentary Home page  back Print  Send To friend PLO Responds To Israeli Demand Of `Jewish State` Recognition: `Show US The Map Of Your Borders` IMEMC October 14, 2010 http://www.imemc.org/article/59622 Yasser Abed Rabbo, an official with the Palestine Liberation Organization, told reporters on Wednesday, in response to the Israeli demand that the Palestinians recognize it as a `Jewish state`, that before even asking this question, Israel must present the map of the state that it wants the Palestinians to recognize. Abed Rabbo told the Palestinian news agency Ma`an News, `Israel is an unknown entity in terms of borders [so] how does it suggest we recognize it as a Jewish state? Israel and the US should first set out Israel`s borders`. The state of Israel has never declared its borders since its creation in 1948, and has continually expanded its territory with military force into neighboring Palestinian Territories. The demand, backed on Tuesday by the US, that the Palestinians `recognize Israel as a Jewish state` means the denial of the Palestinian refugees right to return to their homes in what is now Israel. Although the Palestinian Liberation Organization has recognized the state of Israel since the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993, there has been no reciprocal recognition of the state of Palestine by Israel. In his interview with the Ma`an News Agency, Abed Rabbo denied a quote in the Israeli newspaper Ha`aretz that said the PLO would recognize Israel as a Jewish state if Israel were to declare borders along the 1967 borders, saying that he had not spoken to Ha`aretz, but only to Agence France Presse, and Ha`aretz had misconstrued the quote. A US official criticized the media back-and-forth on this point, saying that these issues should be decided at the negotiating table, not in the public press. rh Links to the latest articles in this section Is there still a chance to break the cycle of revenge and bloodshed? Israelis Against Apartheid Statement Following ICJ Hearing Three weeks into the Gaza War - a somber and sober assessment, with some historical perspectives