NEW YORK- Palestinian Arab leader Mahmoud Abbas (“Abu Mazen”) has again demanded the “right of return” — the right of millions of Arab “refugees” from around the world to flood into Israel.

Abbas is Arafat’s successor as chairman of the PLO. He co-founded the terrorist Fatah movement with Arafat, and is Fatah’s candidate in the January 2005 election for chairman of the Palestinian Authority (Arafat’s former post). Abbas was Arafat’s deputy for forty years, and is the author of a book denying that the Nazis murdered six million Jews.

In an interview with the Beirut Daily Star (Dec. 9, 2004), Abbas said “that all Palestinian refugees must have the right to return to the Occupied Palestinian Territories in line with UN Resolution 194.” (Abbas, speaking in Arabic, actually said “return to Palestine” but the Daily Star translated it as “Occupied Palestinian Territories.”) He said that this “is not an issue for debate” and “is a common goal” of all Palestinian Arab factions. [Translation courtesy of IMRA.]

The ZOA points out that UN Resolution 194 was merely a recommendation of the U.N. General Assembly, not a resolution of the Security Council, and has no power under international law.

Speaking to the Palestinian Authority parliament on November 23, 2004, Abbas said: “We promise you [Arafat] that our heart will not rest until we achieve the right of return for our people and end the tragic refugee issue.” (see www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/505214.html)

Fatah Central Committee Sakher Habash explained the meaning of the “right of return,” in a statement on the official Fatah web site on Aug.12, 1998 (see www.fateh.org/e_public/refugees.htm – courtesy of IMRA):

“To us, the refugees issue is the winning card which means the end of the Israeli state. They have, therefore, refused to solve it this way. Meanwhile, we should not seek negotiable solutions … I visualize the future in establishing a democratic state by peaceful means. This will come true when the Zionist illusion comes to an end, the thing that has begun to occur in the Labor Party and Meretz…”

Morton A. Klein, National President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), said: “The ‘right of return’ means the destruction of Israel as a Jewish State. Mahmoud Abbas has stated clearly that his goal is not peace with Israel, but the eventual elimination of Israel. The claims that he is a ‘moderate’ are belied by his own words.”