Palestinian figures have again publicly rejected Israel’s calls to recognize the country as a homeland for the Jewish people in the context of a comprehensive peace deal, with top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat squashing rumors that Ramallah had shifted from its oft-repeated rejection of the condition.

“I told minister Livni in Munich recently that we won’t change our history, culture and religion,” Erekat said. “We are not going to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.”

Erekat said that the direct peace talks have stopped. He added that US Secretary of State John Kerry and his team were now negotiating separately with the PA and the Israeli government. Erekat also denied that the PA leadership would agree to an extension of the peace talks beyond the nine-month timetable, which expires on April 29.

The Israelis have long insisted that any peace deal should include language recognizing Israel as a “Jewish state,” in part but not completely as a signal from the Palestinians that a final peace deal genuinely guaranteed the end of territorial claims. Palestinian leaders have refused the demand, and Erekat’s reemphasis of the position was described by one Palestinian news outlet as a rejection of “the Jewishness of Israel.” Top Palestinian figures, up to and including Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, have more broadly kept up a campaign denying a historical Jewish link to parts of Israel including Jerusalem. The Forward had earlier this week revealed that the White House was recruiting Jewish groups to defend what has been criticized as pressure by Secretary of State John Kerry on Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians.

[Photo: Al Jazeera English / YouTube]