The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, has addressed the UN General Assembly again this Thursday via videoconference, forced by the restrictions imposed by the United States, and has denounced the "malignant colonial plan" that, in his opinion, Israel is carrying out with the complicity of a good part of the international community. "What is he waiting for to protect the Palestinian people?" he has asked.
Abbas began his speech lamenting that, for the second consecutive year, Washington has blocked the physical presence of the Palestinian delegation at the United Nations headquarters and has reminded that preventing their entry "constitutes a violation of the obligation of the United States as the host country."
"The Palestinian people are facing one of the most dangerous moments in their history," he has stated, denouncing that "the genocidal war" of Israel in the Gaza Strip "has created an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe," while in the West Bank the "terrorism of the settlers" continues to rise.
The Palestinian leader has emphasized that, for years, they have been warning the United Nations and the Security Council about the situation in the Palestinian territories without those alerts having stopped Israeli policies, which, he said, threaten not only a negotiated solution but the very survival of the Palestinian people.
"They are not isolated incidents, but a malignant colonial plan, whose objective is to make life impossible for the Palestinians in their land (...) Do not allow terrorist gangs protected by Israeli occupation forces to burn Palestinian homes while they are sleeping (...) Do not allow our children to live under the yoke of fear and threat," Abbas has urged.
"How much longer will some States remain silent in the face of Israel's actions? (...) What is the international community waiting for to protect the Palestinian people, ensuring their continuous presence in their lands, ending the Israeli occupation, and applying the two-state solution in accordance with international legitimacy?" the Palestinian leader has insisted.
Abbas has expressed his disappointment at the failure of the various proposals presented so far, including the peace plan of the President of the United States, Donald Trump. "Israeli murders and assaults continue to claim the lives of Palestinian women, children, and men in Gaza," he has pointed out.
In the same line, he has condemned other acts of Israel, such as the attacks against United Nations facilities in the Palestinian territories, against holy places like the Al Aqsa Mosque or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, as well as the occupation projects promoted by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu in the West Bank and the seizure of funds worth 6 billion dollars.
Despite his reproaches to the international community, Abbas has acknowledged the support of those states that have backed the Palestinian cause, have imposed sanctions for Israel's actions, and have consistently defended the two-state solution, a formula that he has once again placed at the center of his intervention.
Thus, and despite the adversities that the Palestinian people have suffered, Abbas has reiterated his commitment to the coexistence of two states in peace. "We want security and peace for all," he has emphasized. "Our vision of peace is clear. A Palestinian people that remains in its own land, that decides its own future. A Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel," he has stated.
"We reject violence against civilians by anyone. We reject terrorism and extremism in all its forms. We fight against antisemitism, racism, and hatred. And we believe in a culture of peace, dialogue, and coexistence," the president of the Palestinian Authority has remarked.
However, Abbas has stressed that the Palestinian people "will not accept displacement" and "will remain in their lands." At the same time, he has defended their right to self-determination. "We have our own national project," he has affirmed, once again demanding from the United Nations "full membership" in the organization.