Mahmoud Abbas outrages Palestinian refugees by waiving his right to return

Images of Abbas burned by refugees who say he has conceded on one of the most visceral issues on Palestinian agenda

Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem
The Guardian, Sunday 4 November 2012

"The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is facing widespread condemnation and anger in the Palestinian territories and abroad after he publicly waived his right to return to live in the town from which his family was forced to flee in 1948, a repudiation of huge significance for Palestinian refugees.

After his image was burned in refugee camps in Gaza, Abbas rejected accusations that he had conceded one of the most emotional and visceral issues on the Palestinian agenda, the demand by millions of refugees to return to their former homes in what is now Israel......

The president told Channel 2 he accepted he had no right to live in Safed, the town of his birth, from which his family was forced to flee in 1948 when Abbas was 13 years old.
"I visited Safed before once, he said. "But I want to see Safed. It's my right to see it, but not to live there.".....

The comments sparked protests in Gaza, where protesters in refugee camps burned images of the Palestinian president. Abbas was denounced on Twitter by pro-Palestinian activists.......

Following the broadcast of the interview, Israel's president, Shimon Peres, said Abbas's comments were a "brave and important public declaration".......