Palestinian leader: ‘Rights are not up for bargaining’

CAMEROON, CAMEROON — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared Thursday that his people’s rights “are not up for bargaining” and he accused the U.S. of undermining the two-state solution, a day after President Donald Trump suggested for the first time in office that he “liked” the long-discussed idea as the most effective way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Abbas halted ties with Trump’s administration in December after the U.S. recognized contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and Palestinians have said a pending U.S. peace plan will be dead on arrival because of that and other recent U.S. moves that Palestinians see as favouring Israel.

“Jerusalem is not for sale,” Abbas said to applause as he began his speech at the annual UN General Assembly. “The Palestinian people’s rights are not up for bargaining.”

He said Palestinians would never reject negotiation, but that “it’s really ironic that the American administration still talks about what they call the ‘deal of the century.’”

“What is left for this administration to give to the Palestinian people?” he asked. “What is left as a political solution?”

Added Abbas: “We are not redundant. Why are we treated as redundant people who should be gotten rid of ?”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to address the world leaders later Thursday. The speeches fell on the same day that members of a vast UN developing-countries group formalized their decision to give the Palestinians the chairmanship in 2019.

Although known as the Group of 77, it promotes the interests of 135 developing nations.

The Palestinians’ upcoming chairmanship stands to boost their aspirations for official statehood but angers Israel.

Trump made his comment about the two-state solution while meeting with Netanyahu on Wednesday.

The U.S. president told reporters he believes that two states — Israel and one for the Palestinians — “works best.” He has been vague on the topic, suggesting he would support whatever the parties might agree to, a message he also recapped Wednesday.

“If the Israelis and Palestinians want one state, that’s OK with me. If they want two states, that’s OK with me. I’m happy if they’re happy,” he said.

Hours before Netanyahu’s scheduled speech, Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman expressed indifference to Trump’s remarks, saying that the Israeli interest is “a safe Jewish state.”

A Palestinian state “simply doesn’t interest me,” Lieberman said.

Netanyahu had reluctantly accepted the concept of Palestinian statehood but has since backtracked.

A top coalition partner is threatening to topple his government if it returns to the agenda.