Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday used his speech at the UN General Assembly to attack Israel, as he has done in past speeches as well.
In his remarks, Abbas claimed that Israel is evading its responsibility to end its “occupation of Palestine”.
"While we call to end the occupation, Israel incites and pretends there's no Palestinian partner for peace," Abbas charged, ignoring the fact that he has continuously rejected invitations from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to sit down for direct talks.
The UN bears a legal, political, moral and humanitarian obligation to end Israeli “occupation”, he continued, adding that Israeli “occupation” breeds incitement and violence.
"'Draining the swamp' of Israeli occupation would greatly affect the fight on terror," he said.
"We called on Israel's Prime Minister to sit with us to negotiate. He rejected this offer," Abbas claimed, adding, "Israeli policies stir religious animosity and may lead to a violent religious conflict."
Abbas has imposed endless preconditions on talks, most recently demanding that talks be on the basis of the two-state solution, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and the determination that “settlements” on all Palestinian land are illegal.
Abbas also told the UN that Jerusalem is an occupied city and that Israel's decisions there are null and void and illegal. READ MORE
