The PA president responded with egregious lies and hostility in response to Prime Minister Lapid’s call for peace talks that would culminate in a two-state solution to the conflict.
By United with Israel Staff
The day after Prime Minister Yair Lapid, at the 77th United Nations General Assembly, called for peace negotiations with the goal of creating a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas responded with hostility and vicious lies about the Jewish state.
“Israel is destroying the two-state solution,” Abbas declared at the same forum on Friday.
Making no mention of rampant Palestinian terror against IDF soldiers and innocent civilians, Abbas claimed that Israel is giving total freedom to the army and to the “terrorist settlers” – i.e. Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria — who he said are killing the Palestinian people in broad daylight, looting their land and their water, burning and demolishing their homes, compelling them to pay for the demolition or forcing them to destroy their homes with their own hands.
“This proves unequivocally that Israel does not believe in peace,” he said. “Therefore, we no longer have an Israeli partner to whom we can talk.”
Abbas also took the opportunity to blame Israel for the “deliberate” killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and called on the U.S. to prosecute those responsible.
He alleged that Israel is targeting Palestinian sacred sites, particularly in Jerusalem, without any justification. In fact, it is the Palestinians – incited by the PA regime as well as Hamas and other Islamic terror groups – who have been desecrating the holy sites, particularly on the Temple Mount, which is Judaism’s holiest site and Islam’s third holiest, after Mecca and Medina.
Next, he charged that Israel is imposing falsified curricula in Palestinian schools in “occupied” Jerusalem, apparently referring to the new textbooks in Arab schools, funded by the Israeli government, which include facts about Israel’s geography and urge religious tolerance.
He also claimed that Israel is disrupting the presidential and legislative Palestinian elections by forbidding Palestinian citizens in Jerusalem to take part in the process. But with polls showing a lack of faith by Palestinians in their leaders, and noting Abbas lack of popularity among his constituents, who have been caling for the octogenarian to step down, he has been using Jerusalem as an excuse to cancel elections and quelling protests by use of force as well as silencing reporters on human rights abuses.
It’s been 17 years since the 2005 elections when Abbas was elected for a four-year term. Although he won the presidency, the Iran-backed Hamas terror group won the general election but was never allowed to take control of the Palestinian legislature.
Frustrated with the situation, Hamas took the law into its own hands and staged a bloody military coup in Gaza in 2007, seizing power there from Abbas and killing or arresting the members of Abbas’ Fatah Party who had controlled Gaza until then.
He went on to underline that Israel has committed more than 50 massacres since 1948 – this time substituting the word “Holocausts” with “massacres.” During his recent address to the Bundestag, he dared to claim that Israel committed “50 Holocausts” – a public relations stunt that backfired – and he challenged Israel’s right to exist.
Finally, he slammed what he described as UN bias in favor of Israel – an outrageous statement, considering that the opposite is true. Then, playing the role of peacemaker – despite his clear record of incitement to violence and terror-funding – he outrageously stated:
“We will not resort to weapons, we will not resort to violence, we will not resort to terrorism, we will fight terrorism with you…
“We have had enough resolutions and enough words,” he asserted, urging the Israeli government to return to the negotiation table immediately and reiterating his demand for full-fledged membership for “Palestine” in the United Nations..