Abbas warns Israeli policies threaten Palestinian existence in UNGA address
Mahmoud Abbas told the UN General Assembly that Israeli settlement expansion endangers the two-state solution and Palestinian presence, while criticising a US visa ban.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned the United Nations General Assembly that Israeli policies are endangering not only the two-state solution but the continued presence of Palestinians on their land. Addressing the 81st session on Thursday, September 24, he said the threat had moved beyond the erosion of statehood prospects.
"The danger is no longer limited to undermining the two-state solution and preventing the realization of the Palestinian state. It has now come to threaten the very life and existence of the Palestinian people on their homeland," he said.
Abbas delivered the speech by pre-recorded video from Ramallah after the United States denied him a visa to travel to New York. The General Assembly had earlier approved a mechanism for him to address the gathering virtually. He condemned the visa refusal as "unlawful punitive measures" and rejected the accusations and justifications behind them. Washington has previously cited Palestinian efforts to internationalise the conflict and actions involving international tribunals as grounds for restricting travel by Abbas and other officials.
He urged the United States to lift the restrictions, resume dialogue with the Palestinian leadership and back international efforts to implement a two-state solution.
On Israeli settlements, Abbas accused Israel of using expansion in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to fragment Palestinian territory. He said the aim was to separate the northern West Bank from the south and isolate East Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings, and called for urgent intervention by the UN Security Council. The UN secretary-general has also warned that settlement growth and violence in the West Bank are undermining the prospects for a viable Palestinian state.
Abbas noted that 160 countries have recognised the State of Palestine and pressed others to follow, arguing that recognition must be paired with action to preserve the land for a future state. "Saving the solution begins with preserving the land on which the Palestinian state is to be established and protecting the people who live on it," he said.
He also said events in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem should not be treated as separate issues. "What is taking place in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem are not isolated incidents," he said.
On internal politics, Abbas announced that Palestinians are preparing for legislative elections on November 28, to be followed by the renewal of the Palestinian National Council and eventually presidential elections. The planned vote would be the first Palestinian legislative election in two decades. He said a national reform programme committed to before the Palestinian people and the international community had been completed.