Prepared now for U.N. step, Abbas states
CAIRO — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that he is moving ahead with a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution on setting a November 2016 deadline to end the Israeli occupation.
Abbas told Arab League foreign ministers that he had put off such a step repeatedly in response to requests from Washington, but: “We can’t wait any longer.”
“The status quo is not sustainable any longer, especially at a time when the Israeli government is continuing its attacks, its settlements, demolishing houses, confiscating lands and imposing facts on the ground,” he said
Abbas said he will now begin consultations on the draft resolution, but he did not mention a timetable.
“This is a basic issue, this is a very important issue, and the Arab League agrees with it,” said Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby, adding that it is “natural” that it is heading to the Security Council now. Arab League foreign ministers unanimously supported the plan.
The resolution is likely to fail, either because it falls short of the needed votes or because the U.S. will veto it.
The last round of U.S.-brokered peace talks collapsed in April. Since then, Israel fought a 50-day war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and advanced plans to build hundreds of new homes in Jewish areas of east Jerusalem.
Elaraby also condemned a proposed law that would define Israel as “the Jewish state,” saying it shows the “extent of Israel’s racism against the Palestinian people.”
Meanwhile, Israeli police said a fire was set at a bilingual Hebrew-Arabic school in Jerusalem.
Police spokesman Luba Samri said the fire was set Saturday night to a classroom in the Jerusalem school, which has both Jewish and Arab students. Graffiti was found on the walls reading “death to Arabs” and referring to a late American-Israeli ultranationalist rabbi.
She said police were investigating, but it appeared to be the latest “price tag” incident. The phrase is used by a small group of Jewish extremists to protest what they perceive as the Israeli government’s pro-Palestinian policies.