PA official: The Arab nation agreed to “interim plan,” but “aspiration is to return to Jaffa, Haifa, everywhere”
Palestinian National Council Chairman Rawhi Fattouh: “We did not deceive ourselves and say that we alone will fight Israel, but we lead the Arab nation on the path to liberating Palestine, all of Palestine. This is how we felt then [in 1965], but the balance of powers did not remain in our favor. Therefore the Arab nation agreed to [UN] Resolution 242 - a resolution of defeat, not a resolution of victory… It is a resolution of defeat for the Arabs… They forced us… to approve and recognize an interim plan, because that’s how the global balance of powers was... Currently the Palestinian people’s aspiration is that the [Palestinian] son of Jaffa will return to Jaffa and the [Palestinian] son of Haifa will return to Haifa, everywhere.”
[Official PA TV, Rummaging Through Memories, Sept. 17, 2023]
Jaffa and Haifa are Israeli cities.
Rawhi Fattouh also serves as Fatah Commissioner of International Relations and Fatah Central Committee member. UN Security Council Resolution 242 – The 1967 Six Day War ended with Israel in control of lands formerly under the control of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.
UN Security Council Resolution 242 – The 1967 Six Day War ended with Israel in control of lands formerly under the control of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. UN Security Council Resolution 242 called for “withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict” and stressed all states’ “right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.” It also called for freedom of navigation through international waters, and demanded a just resolution to the refugee problem. At the time, those involved in drafting Resolution 242 said that the wording of the clause intentionally called for Israeli withdrawal "from territories" and not “the territories” or “all territories,” because the borders prior to the war – the 1949–1967 armistice lines – were not “secure” borders. For example, British Ambassador to the UN Lord Caradon, sponsor of Resolution 242, explained: "It was not for us to lay down exactly where the border should be. I know the 1967 border very well. It is not a satisfactory border, it is where troops had to stop in 1947 (sic., 1949), just where they happened to be that night, that is not a permanent boundary." US Secretary of State Dean Rusk said Resolution 242 did not say “all territories” because the region needed "a border sensible for both parties." US President Lyndon B. Johnson also noted that returning to the old borders would be "not a prescription for peace, but for renewed hostilities." Many argue that Israel fully fulfilled this clause to withdraw “from territories” when it withdrew from Sinai in 1982, a full 91% of “territories occupied in the recent conflict." The words “Palestine” or “Palestinian” do not appear anywhere in the resolution.