UNITED NATIONS, Sept 27 (NNN-XINHUA) – When Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, began to deliver his speech, during the general debate of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) yesterday, most delegates walked out of the UNGA hall in protest.
In his address, Netanyahu criticised those countries announcing their recognition of the State of Palestine over the past few days, saying, “You know what message, who recognised a Palestinian state this week sent to the Palestinians? It’s a very clear message. Murdering Jews pays off.”
France, Britain, Portugal, Australia and Canada are among Western nations that have recently recognised the State of Palestine, in support of the two-state solution, over the past few days. So far, more than 150 UN member states have recognised Palestine, except Israel and its staunch supporters – the United States.
Scores of delegates walked out of the General Assembly hall in protest, when Netanyahu took the stage. He was booed by some delegates.
In his speech, Netanyahu accused the Palestinians of not believing in the two-state solution. “They never have. They don’t want a state next to Israel. They want a Palestinian state instead of Israel.”
He also alleged that “the persistent Palestinian rejection of a Jewish state in any boundary is what has driven this conflict for over a century.”
He claimed that, his opposition to a Palestinian state “is not simply my policies or my government’s policy. It’s the policy of the state and people of Israel.”
Addressing world leaders via video link on Thursday, Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas said, the Palestinian Authority had recognised Israel’s “right to exist” as early as 1988 and again in 1993.
“I speak to you today after almost two years, in which our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip have been facing a war of genocide, destruction, starvation and displacement,” Abbas said, adding that, the genocide has been “waged by the Israeli occupation forces, in which they killed and injured more than 220,000 Palestinians, most of them women and innocent children.”
Abbas condemned the Oct 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, saying, those actions “do not represent the Palestinian people, nor their just struggle for freedom and independence.”
Abbas extended thanks to the countries that recently recognised Palestinian statehood, and the people and organisations around the world, who protested in support of the rights of the Palestinian people, adding, “We reject confusing the solidarity with the Palestinian cause and the issue of antisemitism, which is something that we reject.”
Earlier this month, the UNGA adopted a draft resolution, endorsing the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution. The declaration, circulated at a high-level international conference, held at the United Nations in late July, sets out an action-oriented pathway towards a peaceful settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the realisation of the two-state solution.– NNN-XINHUA
