Abbas urges: ‘Give people hope’

U.S. ‘depriving peace process of credibility’: Palestinian president

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took to the world stage on Thursday to slam the United States for “depriving the peace process of any credibility” and undermining prospects for a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In a speech before the UN General Assembly, Abbas also criticized the U.S. for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, for saying that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories are legitimate and for cutting development aid to the Palestinians.

U.S. policy, he said, is “pushing large segments of the Palestinian people to lose hope in the possibility of long-awaited peace,” and renewed his call for an international peace conference.

Hours later, the Israeli foreign minister called on “all countries” to follow the American example and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

“No one can separate the Jewish people from our historical homeland, and no one can separate us from Jerusalem, our eternal capital,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said.

The Trump administration has been working on a longawaited peace plan, which the Palestinians have rejected over what they see as the administration’s unfair bias toward Israel. Katz called on the Palestinians to return to direct peace negotiations without any pre-conditions.

The last round of direct peace negotiations broke down in 2009, shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assumed office.

Abbas opened his speech with a warning:

“Our people are waiting for hope. Be careful, be careful, be careful,” Abbas said. “You should not ignore this generation and deprive them of this hope.

“I hope you do not deprive them of this hope.”

Abbas was not the only one seeking UN help to address conflicts with neighbours as leaders from nations struggling with war and poverty had their say before the world body.

The president of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, accused Turkey of undermining recent peace talks with its aggressive behaviour. The two have been at odds since 1974, when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece, splitting the country along ethnic lines.

Inequality within the United Nations also was a theme: Abbas urged the General Assembly to give the Palestinians, who in 2012 were granted the status of a UN observer state, full membership in the 193-nation world body.

Separately, Sierra Leone’s president, Julius Maada Bio, called for the Security Council to give Africa a permanent seat on the Security Council, which is the UN’s most powerful body.