President Abbas at UN Calls on US to Rescind Decisions on Jerusalem
New York, MINA – President Mahmoud Abbas called on the United States administration to rescind its decision on Jerusalem and refugees in order to salvage the prospects for peace, WAFA reported.
Addressing the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Abbas also called on Israel to honor and abide by the agreements it had signed with the Palestinians over the years otherwise the Palestinians will not abide by them anymore.
“Despite all of this, and from this august platform, I renew my call to (US) President Trump to rescind his decisions and decrees regarding Jerusalem, refugees and settlements, which contravene international law and UN resolutions, as well as the understandings among us, in order to salvage the prospects for peace and to achieve stability and security for the future generations in our region,” said Abbas.
“We have concluded agreements with Israel and they have abrogated all of them. Either Israel abides by these agreements, or else we will renege on them. Israel will bear the responsibility and consequences of this,” he said.
The President strongly criticized Israel’s Nation-State Law, which he described as racist.
“This law denies the connection of the Palestinian people to their historic homeland and dismisses their right to self-determination and their history and heritage, as well as the United Nations resolutions relevant to the Palestine question and the agreements concluded with Israel. This law will inevitably lead to the creation of one racist State, an apartheid state, and nullifies the two-State solution,” he said.
He also said that he extends his hands for peace, stressing that he wants a Palestinian states established by peaceful means.
“Here, I must reiterate that we are not against negotiations and have never rejected negotiations, and that we continue to extend our hands for peace,” he said.
Following is the full text of President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech at the United Nations General Assembly’s 73rd Session:
Jerusalem is not for sale and the Palestinian people’s rights are not up for bargaining
In the name of God, the most merciful and beneficent
Excellency, Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the United Nations General Assembly,
Excellency, Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
In these days last year, I came before you appealing for freedom, independence and justice for my oppressed people, who are suffering under Israeli occupation for more than fifty-one years.
I return to you today as this colonial occupation continues to suffocate us and to undermine our serious efforts to build the institutions of our cherished State, which this august General Assembly recognized in the year 2012.
This year the Palestinian National Council, the parliament of the State of Palestine, convened and renewed the legitimacy of our national institutions through the election of a new leadership for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
This Parliament undertook important decisions, which oblige me to review the agreements, political, economic and security alike, that have been reached with the Israeli Government, and to also review the future of the Palestinian National Authority, which has been rendered without authority.
The Parliament also instructed me to suspend the Palestinian recognition of Israel until Israel recognizes the State of Palestine on the 4 June 1967 borders, and also instructed me to approach the international courts, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), to investigate Israel’s breaches of treaties and the Israeli occupying forces’ aggressions and settler terror against our people, our land and our holy sites.
Madame President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Last July, Israel adopted a racist law that crossed all the red lines and called it the “Nation-State Law of the Jewish People”. This law denies the connection of the Palestinian people to their historic homeland and dismisses their right to self-determination and their history and heritage, as well as the United Nations resolutions relevant to the Palestine question and the agreements concluded with Israel. This law will inevitably lead to the creation of one racist State, an apartheid state, and nullifies the two-State solution.
This law discriminates against the Palestinian-Arab citizens in Israel, granting the right to self determination exclusively to Jews in Israel and legislating discrimination against those Arab citizens, who constitute 20% of the population of Israel, in addition to other non-Jews who have immigrated to Israel. This law strips them of their rights as citizens.
This law constitutes a gross breach and real danger, both politically and legally, and reminds us of the apartheid state that existed in South Africa. We therefore
New York, MINA – President Mahmoud Abbas called on the United States administration to rescind its decision on Jerusalem and refugees in order to salvage the prospects for peace, WAFA reported.
Addressing the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Abbas also called on Israel to honor and abide by the agreements it had signed with the Palestinians over the years otherwise the Palestinians will not abide by them anymore.
“Despite all of this, and from this august platform, I renew my call to (US) President Trump to rescind his decisions and decrees regarding Jerusalem, refugees and settlements, which contravene international law and UN resolutions, as well as the understandings among us, in order to salvage the prospects for peace and to achieve stability and security for the future generations in our region,” said Abbas.
“We have concluded agreements with Israel and they have abrogated all of them. Either Israel abides by these agreements, or else we will renege on them. Israel will bear the responsibility and consequences of this,” he said.
The President strongly criticized Israel’s Nation-State Law, which he described as racist.
“This law denies the connection of the Palestinian people to their historic homeland and dismisses their right to self-determination and their history and heritage, as well as the United Nations resolutions relevant to the Palestine question and the agreements concluded with Israel. This law will inevitably lead to the creation of one racist State, an apartheid state, and nullifies the two-State solution,” he said.
He also said that he extends his hands for peace, stressing that he wants a Palestinian states established by peaceful means.
“Here, I must reiterate that we are not against negotiations and have never rejected negotiations, and that we continue to extend our hands for peace,” he said.
Following is the full text of President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech at the United Nations General Assembly’s 73rd Session:
Jerusalem is not for sale and the Palestinian people’s rights are not up for bargaining
In the name of God, the most merciful and beneficent
Excellency, Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the United Nations General Assembly,
Excellency, Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
In these days last year, I came before you appealing for freedom, independence and justice for my oppressed people, who are suffering under Israeli occupation for more than fifty-one years.
I return to you today as this colonial occupation continues to suffocate us and to undermine our serious efforts to build the institutions of our cherished State, which this august General Assembly recognized in the year 2012.
This year the Palestinian National Council, the parliament of the State of Palestine, convened and renewed the legitimacy of our national institutions through the election of a new leadership for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
This Parliament undertook important decisions, which oblige me to review the agreements, political, economic and security alike, that have been reached with the Israeli Government, and to also review the future of the Palestinian National Authority, which has been rendered without authority.
The Parliament also instructed me to suspend the Palestinian recognition of Israel until Israel recognizes the State of Palestine on the 4 June 1967 borders, and also instructed me to approach the international courts, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), to investigate Israel’s breaches of treaties and the Israeli occupying forces’ aggressions and settler terror against our people, our land and our holy sites.
Madame President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Last July, Israel adopted a racist law that crossed all the red lines and called it the “Nation-State Law of the Jewish People”. This law denies the connection of the Palestinian people to their historic homeland and dismisses their right to self-determination and their history and heritage, as well as the United Nations resolutions relevant to the Palestine question and the agreements concluded with Israel. This law will inevitably lead to the creation of one racist State, an apartheid state, and nullifies the two-State solution.
This law discriminates against the Palestinian-Arab citizens in Israel, granting the right to self determination exclusively to Jews in Israel and legislating discrimination against those Arab citizens, who constitute 20% of the population of Israel, in addition to other non-Jews who have immigrated to Israel. This law strips them of their rights as citizens.
This law constitutes a gross breach and real danger, both politically and legally, and reminds us of the apartheid state that existed in South Africa. We therefore reject and condemn it in the strongest terms.
We further call on the international community and this august Assembly to act to reject it and condemn it as a racist, illegal law and deem it null and void, just as the United Nations condemned apartheid South Africa in several resolutions in the past, bearing in mind also that thousands of Jews and Israeli citizens have rejected and protested this law and 56 Knesset Members out of 120 voted against it. (T/RS5/RS1)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
