Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made waves in New York on Wednesday after a press release announcing an upcoming public appearance in the city noted that among other topics, Abbas would address how “violent protest is the best method” for the Palestinians to achieve statehood.
Abbas is to arrive in New York on Friday to attend the UN General Assembly, where he plans to lobby world powers to support a new initiative for a Palestinian state, which is to include a concrete timetable for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.
The PA president is seen as a moderate internationally, and has repeatedly said that he favors nonviolent methods of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization, in response to a query by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, said that an auto-correct feature changed “nonviolent” to “violent” and that a new, amended press release had been sent out.
According to the press release, in addition to “Why nonviolent protest is the best method by which Palestinians should seek their rights,” Abbas will cover “How peace and inter-religious co-existence can flourish in Israel and Palestine with the help of the next generation” and “Why terrorism as practiced by Al Qaeda on 9/11 and ISIS is inconsistent with Islam.”
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Abbas is to speak at the Cooper Union building on September 23.
JTA contributed to this report.
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