Palestinians Slam Israeli Attorney General for Denying UN Resolution 242

Published June 30th, 2000 - 03:00 GMT

Palestinians strongly condemned on Friday Israel's attorney general for saying that one of the main foundations of the peace process does not apply to them.

Israel's Attorney General, Elyakim Rubinstein, said UN Security Council Resolution 242, which calls for Israel to pullout from lands it occupied in the June 1967 war, does not apply to the Palestinians.

Rubinstein said Israel was not required to return the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority because no such body existed when the UN passed the resolution.

Tayeb Abdel-Rahim, a senior aide to Palestinian president Yasser Arafat, sarcastically compared Rubinstein to a Muslim spiritual leader, or Mufti, who issues absolute Islamic rulings known as fatwas.

"Mufti Rubinstein gave a fatwa which contradicts not only international legitimacy, but also all of the agreements we have signed since Oslo until Sharm el-Sheikh," Abdel Rahim told AFP - RAMALLAH (AFP)