Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has told some 300 young Israelis visiting him on Sunday in the West Bank that he does not want to "drown Israel with millions of (Palestinian) refugees to change its nature."Really?
"The propaganda purports that I want five million refugees to return. This is false and will not happen. We need to solve the refugee problem, but we do not want to drown Israel with refugees," Abbas said, adding that there needs to be a "moral solution" the refugee issue.
"There is no escape from a just solution that both sides can agree on. No one will force a solution on the other," he said. Abbas told his Israeli visitors he seeks a "creative solution" for refugees, suggesting he is not demanding a blanket "right of return."
In 2008, Abbas made very clear that he refused to accept the idea of Lebanese Palestinians going anywhere but Israel:
President Mahmoud Abbas denied today, the accuracy of the news reports about the possibility of settling Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.Also in 2008:
He said in an interview with satellite channel Russia Today that the idea was an "unacceptable and irreversible abrogation of the right to return, and we are guests in Lebanon, in the interest of us in the internal problems in this brotherly country, and assure the Lebanese brothers that the resettlement of refugees in their country is rejected. We will not accept it."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was quoted Wednesday as rejecting the naturalization of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. "We would never accept any settlement that leads to naturalizing Palestinians in Lebanon," Abbas told pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat.And in 2009:
"We would not accept any settlements that would lead to a demographic change in Lebanon. This is totally unacceptable ... We won't accept a settlement that obliges Lebanon to naturalize even one Palestinian. We will find a settlement that satisfies Palestinians in Lebanon and satisfies Lebanon ... I'm sure of this and time will prove it," Abbas added.
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon will not be offered Palestinian Authority passports, President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday following his meeting with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman at the Republican Palace.And in 2012:
Abbas’ remark quashed recent rumors concerning the issuing of PA passports to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, adding that the refugees’ presence in the country is temporary, particularly as Lebanon’s membership in the UN Security Council next year will help the Palestinian cause.
According to Beirut-based Now Lebanon news agency, Abbas told the An-Nahar newspaper of “permanent” cooperation with the Lebanese government to maintain security in Palestinian refugee camps.Abbas (at least since 2005) has been adamant that the only solution for Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon is to have them flood into Israel. he didn't even want them to come to the West Bank. And now he suddenly is claiming to an Israeli audience otherwise?
The president also voiced hope that the lives of Palestinians in Lebanon would be “easier”, adding that they did not “want to be naturalized.”
Either he is lying now or he was lying then. And if he changed his mind between 2012 and now, it means that he is willing to use his own people as pawns.
Why exactly should Israel sign an agreement with a liar who doesn't even care about his own people, let alone his enemies?
Any why can't a single reporter ask Abbas about his many lies directly?