The new Palestinian diplomatic representative in Arab East Jerusalem, Sari Nusseibeh, Tuesday suggested Palestinians hold a referendum over their 53-year-old demand to return to their old homes inside Israel proper.
The refugee issue has been one of the key hurdles -- possibly the main stumbling block -- to an Israeli-Palestinian agreement.
Nusseibeh advocated that the Palestinians reconsider their insistence on a "right of return" for all refugees who left their homes in the first Israel-Arab war of 1948-49. According to U.N. figures, there are more than 3.5 million refugees.
Israel has refused to let them back, arguing such a return would destroy their state since the Jews would become a minority.
The refugee issue and the future of Jerusalem were two key issues over which the Israeli-Palestinian talks failed in January.
Addressing the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Nusseibeh noted Israel would not accept "the return of 4 million refugees within its borders."
The issue should now be discussed within Palestinian camp, he said. "This is a Palestinian issue."
Though a senior Palestinian official, Nusseibeh -- who has occasionally veered from official Palestinian Authority lines -- said he was expressing his own views. He said he considered his primary role as "not that of a politician" but a teacher who should "think critically." He is also president of the al Quds University.
"I would like to think of myself as being close to Arafat," he said of the Palestinian leader. However that has nothing to do with his right to speak his mind, he added.
"He (Arafat) gave me a commission to look after the political side of Jerusalem (affairs). If he wishes to he can dismiss me," Nusseibeh said.
He confirmed Palestinians were "very angry with me" over his argument about the "right of return." There have been petitions to cancel his new diplomatic appointment but "nothing more serious" such as threats to attack him.
Defending his position, Nusseibeh said: "I am not the cause of this reality. I am expressing this reality."
In an attempt to resolve the refugee issue, he advocated a referendum among Palestinian on "where we should go." All Palestinians, living in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and other countries should have a right to vote, he said.
Nusseibeh suggested the Israelis and Palestinians "try to define the principles of the end game for both sides" and then take gradual steps toward reaching the shared vision. That track might be more successful than the present practice of going step by step in the hope of eventually reaching a still undefined overall agreement.
He criticized both sides for making mistakes in the 13 months of the intifada. "Perhaps reason was not playing a dominant role, especially in the past year," he said.
He was steadfast in insisting Israel withdraw from all the territories it occupied in the 1967 war, including East Jerusalem.

Noting the city is holy to the three monotheistic faiths he said, "If we try to lay exclusive claims, reject each other's emotions and feelings, we would not be true to our own faiths." However, he would not compromise on the Haram e-Sharif Muslim religious complex, which sits on what the Jews call the Temple Mount. The area is holy to both Jews and Muslims.
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