PALIS WANT WESTERN WALL AND MORE!

Palestinians Want Western Wall as Part of Any Settlement (NYSun)
UNITED NATIONS — As an American-hosted Middle East summit approaches, Palestinian Arabs are hardening their positions: An aide to the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, said yesterday that the Palestinians will demand sole Arab control over Judaism’s holiest site in Jerusalem, the Western Wall.

Mr. Abbas’s adviser on religious affairs, Adnan al-Husseini, made the new demand in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv, sparking an outcry from many Israeli politicians who complained that recent reports about the Olmert government’s proposal to transfer Arab-dominated neighborhoods in Jerusalem to the jurisdiction of a Palestinian state have led to further Arab demands.

As the last remnant of the ancient Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 of the common era, the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall, is considered Judaism’s holiest site. Muslims, who call it Al-Burak, also venerate it as the place where they believe the prophet Muhammad tied his horse before ascending to the heavens.

“We are talking about full control” over Jerusalem, Mr. Husseini, a scion of one of the most prominent Palestinian Arab families, told Ma’ariv. “The Wailing Wall,” he said, “is a Muslim waqf,” or sacred endowment, “and therefore cannot be abandoned.” He cited a 1928 British mandate white paper that called for the area to be under Muslim control where Jews would be allowed to worship.


See also Abbas Demands Full Israeli Withdrawal to Pre-1967 Borders
PA Chairman Abbas on Wednesday called for a full Israeli withdrawal from all territories captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. "We have 6,205 square kilometers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip," Abbas told Palestine TV. "We want it as it is." According to Palestinian negotiating documents, the Palestinian demands include 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. At the same time, Palestinian officials confirmed that Abbas would be willing to adjust his claims, as long as they end up with the same amount of land. (AP/Ha'aretz)

See also Arab League Sets Terms for Attending Peace Conference with Israel
Arab countries will need guarantees and a timetable for talks over a final solution to their conflict with Israel as a condition to their participation in an international peace conference to be sponsored by the U.S., Arab League Secretary-General Amr Musa said Wednesday. Nothing has been offered so far, hence Arab reluctance to sit at the negotiation table with Israel, Musa said. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur)