PA Chairman Abu Mazen delivered a speech at the UN general assembly this weekend where he was given the opportunity to respond to Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s speech
Last year Abu Mazen sent a pre-recorded speech that was broadcast during the General Assembly deliberations, but this time he chose to physically attend the discussions
There was an expectation at the West Bank to see how the PA chairman would react to the ultimatum he gave to Israel in his speech last year when he announced that Israel has one year to withdraw to the 67 borders, including from East Jerusalem, and if it does not comply with his demand, the Palestinians will revoke their recognition of Israel and turn to the International Court of Justice in The Hague to accept decision regarding the legality of the occupation, but Abu Mazen completely ignored the ultimatum he gave.
Abu Mazen’s speech reflected great anger, despair and frustration with Israel’s conduct towards the Palestinians in the territories, with the continued stagnation in the political process and the indifference of the international community regarding the Palestinian problem and its unwillingness or ability to force Israel to withdraw to lines 67.
The PA chairman ignored the fact that the PA lost its security control over the northern West Bank and that the Palestinian street no longer wants him in the position of PA chairman, according to a public opinion poll by a well-known Palestinian research institute in Ramallah that was published a few days before his speech shows that 71 percent of the Palestinians are not satisfied with Abu Mazen’s performance.
The main point of his speech was the accusation that Israel is not a negotiating partner and does not want peace.
“We do not have an Israeli partner, I tell you on behalf of the Palestinians that our hope for peace is almost non-existent because of the occupation, ladies and gentlemen, do you want to stifle any hope we have? Israel is not a partner for peace. It is clear that Israel ignores the decisions of the international community and has decided not to be a partner in the peace process, it is working to destroy the two-state solution”, Abu Mazen stated.
The chairman of the PA referred to Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s speech at the UN and thanked him, but immediately rolled the ball into Israel’s court.
“I listened to the speeches of Biden and Lapid, I heard them support the two-state solution, we are grateful for that, it is of course a positive step, but the real solution is for the Israeli government to immediately return to the negotiating table tomorrow, we have heard enough statements and enough words”, he emphasized.
The PA chairman raised several additional points in his speech.
A. He accused Israel of failing the elections for the Palestinian parliament and of having thwarted them by not giving permission to hold it in East Jerusalem.
B. He held Israel responsible for the “intentional killing” of journalist Shirin Abu Aqla.
C. He repeated the accusation that Israel had committed 50 massacres of the Palestinian people, demanded that it take responsibility for this and announced that the Palestinians would appeal to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
D. Abu Mazen announced that the Palestinian leadership will address the international community with a request that the “State of Palestine” receive full membership in the United Nations, currently it has the status of an observer state.
E. He accused Israel of harming the Palestinian narrative and forcing a “fake curriculum” on the schools in
East Jerusalem.
F. He praised the struggle of the Palestinian terrorists arrested in Israel, called them “heroes” and
presented at the United Nations a picture of the terrorist Nasser Abu Hamed who had cancer and was convicted of several murders.
However, he admitted in his speech that Nasser Abu Hamed had committed a “crime” and his words were strongly condemned in the Palestinian street and on social media
In his speech, the PA chairman ignored the PA’s commitment to fight terrorism, even though this issue is at the top of Israel’s agenda, PA sources say that his main goal was to destroy the content of Yair Lapid’s speech and prove that Israel does not want peace but the continuation of the occupation .
The PA prepared Palestinian public opinion a few weeks before the speech that the main topic of the speech would be the Palestinian demand that “Palestine” be accepted as a full member of the United Nations, but Abu Mazen has failed miserably, he has so far failed to obtain a majority in the Security Council for this demand and President Biden informed him of his opposition to his move and even threatened to impose a veto in the security council if the PA decides to go with this move.
Senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk said that Abu Mazen’s speech at the UN “was weak and repeated itself”.
There is disappointment on the Palestinian street with Abu Mazen’s speech at the UN, many say that there was nothing new in it. The disappointment stems from the fact that there was an expectation that the Palestinians would receive the status of a “member state” in the UN and from the fact that Abu Mazen did not live up to the ultimatum he issued to Israel a year ago.
Abu Mazen and Yair Lapid speeches at the United Nations brought the issue of the two-state solution back to the center of the agenda in Israel, the question is how long it will last in public opinion, the assessment in the Israeli political system is that it will not be the main issue of the election campaign.
Abu Mazen returns to the starting point after his speech at the UN, Prime Minister Yair Lapid refuses to meet with him and is probably waiting for the end of the succession battle in the Palestinian Authority and his departure from the political stage.
Fatah leadership is demanding to take a hard line against Israel and implement the decisions of the PLO Central Council to suspend recognition of Israel and cancel the Oslo Accords and the Paris קconomic agreement and freeze security coordination with Israel.
The PLO Chairman is awaiting the results of the elections in Israel and the elections in the US Congress and then will probably re-formulate his strategy.
