That aspiration is why Yasir Arafat rejected the two-state compromise proposed by Mr. Sharon 's predecessor , Ehud Barak , and President Bill Clinton in 2000 and it is why , from the militant Islamic members of Hamas through the Palestinian president , Mahmoud Abbas , the Palestinian national movement refuses to give up the '' right of return '' of the refugees , the demographic battering ram with which it hopes , ultimately , to bring Israel down .