Palestinians Said NO to Peace 8 Times in the Last 65 Years

1) In 1937, when Britain under the Mandate offered the Peel Commission plan.

2) In 1947, when the UN proposed the establishment of two states in the region, one Jewish, one Arab.

3) In 1948, when Israel's Proclamation of Independence invited the Palestinians to remain in their homes and become equal citizens in the new state.

4) In 1967, when Israel offered to return all the territories conquered in return for peace.

5) In 1978-9, when Israel offered the acceptance of Palestinian autonomy in exchange for peace at Camp David I.

6) In 1993, when Arafat signed the Oslo accords, promised to renounce terrorism and recognize Israel, and then declared on Jordanian television that he had taken the first step "in the 1974 plan." This was a thinly veiled reference to the "phased plan" according to which any territorial gain was acceptable as a means toward the ultimate goal of Israel?s destruction.

7) In 2000, at Camp David II when Israel accepted the Clinton Plan and the Palestinians did not.

8) In 2001, when Israel's PM Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat East Jerusalem, 97% of the "West Bank" and 3% compensation from Israel's territory, in addition to all of Gaza (the Taba Negotiation), and Arafat turned it down without so much as a counteroffer.

Sources:
-- Israeli Embassy
-- Twenty Facts about Israel and the Middle East, By Bill Bennett, Jack Kemp, and Jeanne Kirkpatrick, empoweramerica.org, April 24, 2002;
-- Myths and Facts by Mitchell G. Bard

Article written by Israel Hasbara Committee. All links added by Smooth Stone.