Ma'an - Israel's ongoing occupation and colonization of Palestinian land remains the greatest threat to the two-state solution, President Mahmoud Abbas said at the United Nations in New York on Friday. "Time is running out and the risks are becoming greater while Palestinians suffer under the last occupation regime on earth," the president told the General Assembly, speaking a day after Israel's prime minister addressed the world body.
Abbas said that while the Palestine Liberation Organization remained committed to achieving a "comprehensive, just peace based on international legitimacy," Israel's continued colonization could eliminate any chance of resuming talks. Under such circumstances, "How can you imagine reaching an agreement while meanwhile Israel's bulldozers are working on creating a new reality? How can you imagine reaching an agreement to end the occupation or find a just solution for the refugees...?"
He said this was exactly what Palestinians were being asked to do under the status quo arrangement, to negotiate with Israel while it refuses to restrain itself and abide by its previous commitments.
Abbas praised Barack Obama's speech two days earlier, applauding the US president's stand on the illegitimacy of settlements and that he called for an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967. Obama "inspired the people of the region when he announced his support to the two-state solution," Abbas said. "We welcome every effort made by the Quartet, the European Union, and all of the Arab countries, but all of these efforts to relaunch the peace process have been thwarted by Israeli rejection."
Abbas reminded the UN that in line with Obama's call for regional agreements, the Arab world has continuously offered Israel peace with not just Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, but with every Muslim country via the Saudi Peace Initiative.