Prominent Israeli intellectuals and artists have come out in favor of creating a Palestinian state based on the 1967 line marking the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
The 47 signatories include 17 recipients of the Israel Prize, the country’s highest civilian honor.

Among them are civil rights pioneer Shulamit Aloni, actress Hannah Marom and Holocaust historian Yehuda Bauer.
They plan to sign the petition Thursday, in a symbolic ceremony in front of the building where the state of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948.

The petition comes as Palestinian officials say they are increasingly determined to seek United Nations’ recognition for a state within the borders that existed before the start of the 1967 war.
“We are here to welcome the expected announcement of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, according to the borders of our Independence, fixed during the 1949 armistice,” the petition reads.
The armistice marked the end of the first Israeli-Arab war, which resulted in the birth of the Israeli state on borders that did not change until the 1967 war.

The petition warns that ending Israeli occupation is the only way to fulfill the terms of the U.N. partition resolution, which passed a year before Israel declared independence and called for the creation of a democratic Jewish nation and a democratic Arab nation.
“The complete end of the occupation is an essential condition of the liberation of the two peoples,” the petition reads.
The Israeli government opposes the unilateral initiative.

Separately, the Palestinian president said Wednesday he was opposed to another armed uprising against Israel, even if faltering peace efforts fail later this year.
Mahmoud Abbas told reporters in Tunisia that he remains committed to the U.S.-backed target of reaching a negotiated peace agreement with Israel by September.

However, with talks stalled for months, he repeated his plan to unilaterally seek U.N. endorsement of Palestinian independence in the absence of a deal.
At a news conference before heading to France, Abbas said that the Palestinians would not unilaterally proclaim a state.
“We want this to come about in accord with the Israelis and in the framework of the United Nations,” the Palestinian leader said.

Abbas said that whatever happens, violence is not an option. “I will not accept a third military uprising,” he said, noting that the last armed uprising against Israel “was disastrous for us.”
Around 6,000 Palestinians, along with more than 1,000 Israelis, were killed in years of fighting that erupted in September 2000.

The fighting also heavily damaged the Palestinian economy.
Abbas said he still supported “popular resistance” – or demonstrations – against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. “We have the popular resistance,” he said. “But to say that you want to hold a gun or pistol to fight, then excuse me, I will not allow that as long as I’m the president.”

Abbas called on the international community, in particular Washington, to pressure Israel to restart negotiations, saying that “if Israel shows a serious willingness to negotiate, for our part we want to reach a solution.”
He said that, while in Paris, he would ask French President Nicolas Sarkozy to give new momentum to the peace process through the “Quartet” – the EU, the U.S., the U.N.and Russia.

Abbas headed to Paris Wednesday to seek advice and support from European leaders on the potential creation of a Palestinian state this year.
“We are friends, so he can be sincere with us and to talk to us openly,” Abbas said of President Nicolas Sarkozy, who he is expected to meet Thursday.