History has proven that every concession Israel was seen – correctly – by the Arab world as a sign of weakness that enabled the Palestinian Authority to go for broke, including the demand for the immigration of five million Arabs into Israel from foreign countries, an issue that Abbas threw into his speech.
He made it clear in his address that there is no room for compromise. he stated:
The goal of the Palestinian people is the realization of their inalienable national rights in their independent State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on all the land of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
He also repeated his “renouncement of violence and rejection and condemning of terrorism in all its forms, especially State terrorism” even though incitement and praise of terror as an official Palestinian Authority policy have been reported at least once a week in the JewishPress.com based on translations and publication of incitement uncovered by Palestinian Media Watch.
Abbas previously has said that negotiating with Israel no longer is practical, but he reversed his view for the sake of the General Assembly, stating:
I declare that the Palestine Liberation Organization is ready to return immediately to the negotiating table on the basis of the adopted terms of reference based on international legitimacy and a complete cessation of settlement activities.
His statement was an open declaration that nothing is to be negotiated.
Abbas also claimed that the Palestinian Authority, as a country, will have “rules and regulations for ensuring accountability and transparency in the work of our Ministries and departments; to entrenching the pillars of democracy as the basis for the Palestinian political life.”
For the record, Abbas now is serving the 11th year of his four-year term, of office after the first and only elections.
The Palestinian Authority flag was raised Wednesday at the United Nations for the first time, another symbolic sign of statehood that both Arafat and Abbas have rejected without conditions that would pave the way for the eventual Arab takeover of all of Israel as Palestine” and as defined on official Palestinian Authority maps.
The issue of freedom of religion in his envisioned state was clear in his speech.
Abbas said:
I come before you today from the Holy Land, the land of Palestine, the land of divine messages, ascension of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the birthplace of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him), to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people in the homeland and in the Diaspora, to say, after 63 years of suffering of the ongoing Nakba: Enough. It is time for the Palestinian people to gain their freedom and independence.
He made no mention of Judaism or Jews in his “Holy Land.”
