JERUSALEM – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas defined all of Israel as an “occupation ” in an Arabic-language interview, contradicting comments he has made in the past to the Israeli media. Abbas, ostensibly Israel’s best option as a partner in peace talks, said on official PA television that the Palestinians “have been under occupation for 67 or 68 years,” thus dating the beginning of the occupation, as he calls it, to the establishment of Israel in 1948 and not the end of the 1967 Six Day War, when Israel took the West Bank from Jordanian hands. “Others would have sunk into despair and frustration,” Abbas said during the interview. “However, we [Palestinians] are determined to reach our goal because our people stand behind us,” he said. The comments, a translated version of which was published by the NGO Palestinian Media Watch on Wednesday, were made during an interview aired last month. But just a week ago, Abbas told a delegation of Jews who visited his office in Ramallah that the Palestinians want to establish a state that would “live in peace and stability alongside Israel.” “We are experiencing difficult days, and despite all that is happening, we still hold our hand out to you, in