When Abbas Claims To Accept Jewish Right To Israel--What Does That Mean? (Updated)

It's all very well to read stuff like this:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told U.S. Jewish leaders on Wednesday that he would never deny Jews their right to the land of Israel, according to participants of the two-hour roundtable discussion.

But the question is not what he says for consumption in the English press--it's what he says to the Arab world.
Has Abbas actually repeated what he said in that meeting with Jewish leaders in Arabic to Arab leaders?

Back in 2008, Joel Mowbray wrote about what Abbas said to the Arabic-language Al-Dastur:

Most concerning to Congress, however, was a statement that at first blush might seem relatively innocuous. Discussing the question of whether or not Hamas must recognize Israel, Mr. Abbas explained, I don't demand that the Hamas movement recognize Israel. I only demanded of the [Palestinian] national unity government that would work opposite Israel in recognition of it.

This comment raised eyebrows because it shifted the common understanding of what it means to recognize the Jewish state. Most understand recognition to be fairly straightforward: The acknowledgement of the right of Israel to exist peacefully as a Jewish state neighboring a Palestinian one. Mr. Abbas, however, now defines recognition as acknowledging in a literal sense that an entity named Israel is the country at the other end of the negotiating table.

Mowbray notes that this is consistent with what Abbas said 2 years earlier:

Mr. Abbas does not deserve the benefit of the doubt on this count. Defending his recognition of Israel on TV network Al-Arabiya in October 2006, he explained that it was more a practical reality than a meaningful political position. He cited as an example the need for the PA to get $500 million from Israel: The Palestinian finance minister has to come to an agreement with the Israeli finance minister about the transfer of the money. So how can he make an agreement with him if [the PA finance minister] does not recognize him? So I do not demand of Hamas nor any other to recognize Israel. But from the government that works with Israelis in day to day life, yes.

If Abbas has finally decided to change his policy and really recognize Israel as a Jewish state, that would be a good first step from the PA--which has yet to make any concessions in its talks with Israel.

But is 'recognizing the Jewish right to the land of Israel' the same thing as 'recognizing Israel as a Jewish state'?

Abbas's calls for Netanyahu to reciprocate highlight the problem with Abbas's claim. The fact is that until Abbas spells out what he said in English to Jewish leaders in Arabic to the Arab world, Abbas's statement is meaningless.

And his call for a statement from Netanyahu before Abbas has actually made an official statement in Arabic smacks of theatrics and PR points.

Let's see Abbas say this in Arabic.

UPDATE: Here is the video of Abbas's interview denying recognition of Israel, followed by the transcript by Palestinian Media Watch:



Technorati Tag: Abbas.