*Content Warning: The following article contains graphic material. Viewer discretion is advised.*
Israel’s Prime Minister, Yair Lapid says he supports a two-state solution and called on Muslim nations to recognize and make peace with Israel.
“We need to understand history, respect it and learn from it but also to be willing and able to change. To choose the future over the past, peace over war,” he said.
“Israeli Arabs are not our enemies; they are our partners in life,” says Lapid.
"Despite all the obstacles, still today a large majority of Israelis support the vision of the two-state solution. I am one of them."
— Israel's Prime Minister Yair Lapid publicly expresses support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the UN. pic.twitter.com/nfuxulPk5I
— The Recount (@therecount) September 22, 2022
Palestine’s president expresses gratitude for positive efforts forward
“When we hear something positive, we acknowledge it,” Abbas said, referring to comments by Lapid and President Biden in favor of the two-state solution. “I attended them supporting the two-state solution and we’re thankful for that.”
“But the real test to the seriousness and credibility to this stance… is for the Israeli government to go back to the negotiation table immediately,” the PA president said, adding that Israel must cease all unilateral actions such as settlement building, demolition of homes, evictions and “killings.”
Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas told the UNGA that Israel does not believe in peace [Caitlin Ochs/Reuters]
Israel “is, through its premeditated and deliberate policies, destroying the two-state solution,” he told the General Assembly.
“This proves unequivocally that Israel does not believe in peace,” he added. “Therefore, we no longer have an Israeli partner to whom we can talk.”
Expressing a readiness to revive negotiations, he urged Israel: “You should at least temporarily stop unilateral measures… and if the negotiations fail then you can go back to whatever you want to do,” he said.
This footage from Jerusalem reveals Israel occupation forces brutally assaulting the journalist and Palestine TV producer Yousef Adi.
This is entirely normal in Palestine.
pic.twitter.com/QBA6lKt2ib— Rachael Swindon (@Rachael_Swindon) September 16, 2022
Israeli occupation forces assault and arrest a young Palestinian man in Bab al-Amud area, occupied Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/EMrja6gmum
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) September 22, 2022
Abbas accused Israel of alleged crimes he said it had committed during and since its establishment, accusing it of operating an “apartheid” regime against the Palestinians.
Abbas said Israel has been engaged in a campaign of land confiscation and was giving the military “total freedom” to kill and use excessive force against Palestinians.
“This is the truth: they are an apartheid regime,” he said.
“Israel has committed 50 massacres since 1948 and until today,” said Abbas.
He said the most recent of those “massacres” took place in Gaza during the May 2021 war that Israel fought against Hamas.
Abbas showed the cover of a New York Times newspaper, which showed photos of the 67 children killed during the war.
Israel protested the article and blamed Hamas for many of those deaths.
Abbas rejected Lapid’s claims and “requests for peace,” and said Israel “has decided not to be our partner in the peace process.”
“It has undermined the Oslo Accords, it has through policies – which are premeditated – deliberately destroyed the two-state solution. This proves unequivocally that Israel does not believe in peace, it is imposing a status quo by force and aggression,” he said.
The Palestinian leader accused Israel of conducting “a frantic campaign to confiscate our lands, to build settlements, to loot our resources as if this land is empty … It is giving total freedom to the army and to the terrorist settlers who are killing the Palestinians in broad daylight.”
“Do you know who is protecting Israel from being held accountable? The United Nations.” And on top of the United Nations, the most powerful in the United Nations,” he said.
“Why these double standards, why don’t they treat us equally with the others?”
Head of Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, Archbishop Atallah Hanna, said that Muslim and Christian Palestinians are united against the Israeli occupation, stressing that "Palestinians must be united in defence of their country and their just Palestinian cause." pic.twitter.com/WxaVKX9y2A
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) February 21, 2022
Abbas also accused Israel of targeting Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.
Israel dismisses the claim.
Head of the Greek Orthodox Church in #Jerusalem #Archbishop_Atallah_Hanna's message to the world on #Christmas. #FreePalestine #MerryChristmas#ICSFT pic.twitter.com/8o1ndHQRR4
— ICSFT Organization (@icsft) December 26, 2021
Hamas and the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem have also condemned the Israeli occupation for targeting Christians in Jerusalem.
In a letter to President Biden, the patriarch warned of attempts by extremist Israeli settler groups, backed by Israeli occupation government officials, to erode the Christian presence in the holy city.
“We hold the Biden administration responsible for such violations that have increased under his administration and all former administrations that sided with the Israeli occupation, granting it immunity from accountability and a cover-up to commit more crimes against Muslim and Christian holy sites,” wrote the patriarch.
“We call on the international community, the World Council of Churches, and human rights groups to denounce and oppose such racist practices against Jerusalem’s Muslim and Christian sacred sites and rally support for the Palestinian people’s right to defend their homeland and holy sites and achieve their aspirations for freedom and self-determination.”
Add comment