Abbas to stake Palestinian claim to state at UN

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asks the UN on Friday to recognize a state for his people, even though Israel still occupies its territory and the US has vowed to veto the move. In what he may see as a date with destiny, Abbas, 76, will hand UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon an application for full UN membership, which the Security Council must then consider. His appeal to the council reflects a loss of faith after 20 years of failed peace talks sponsored by the US, Israel’s main ally, and alarm at relentless Israeli settlement expansion that is eating into the land Palestinians want for a state. It also exposes Washington’s dwindling influence in a region shaken by Arab uprisings and shifting alliances that have pushed Israel, for all its military muscle, deeper into isolation. Abbas will set out his case in a speech to the UN General Assembly, where Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu will also take the podium to argue that only direct negotiations between the two sides can lead to a Palestinian state.

1 COMMENT

  1. Did anyone listen to the zionist leader's address, Neythanayu began with 09/11 how radical Islam killed over three thousand innocent people. How the Palestinians since 2000 have bluntly refused Israel's repeated overture to peace. Less he thinks they are
    fools to tie the shackles with their own hands. The Palestinians refused because all the
    proposals put forward by Israel were hollow. Just as the zionist intention remains the same.

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