Palestinians want a state...and the right to return to Israel....

The latest from Khaled Abu Toameh...

The Palestinians will continue to demand the right of return for millions of refugees to their original homes inside Israel even after the UN recognizes a Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967, lines, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday.

Responding to legal experts’ claims that a Palestinian state could affect the status of the PLO as the “sole legitimate representative” of the Palestinians, Abbas told the Jordanian newspaper Ad-Dustour: “The PLO represents all the Palestinians, not only those in the Palestinian territories and whose number is estimated at 4 million. The PLO represents all 8 million Palestinians in the world.”

He said that the PLO would continue to function until all Palestinian issues were resolved, including the case of the refugees. The PA, he added, is part of the PLO and not a separate body.

Abbas claimed that there were 5 million refugees.

“This case must be placed at the negotiating table and the difference between us and the Israelis is they don’t want to talk about this issue,” he said.

“We have told them that this issue must be discussed on the basis of international legitimacy.”