PA’s Abbas tells UN Palestinians ‘will not disappear,’ calls for Palestinian state alongside Israel

NEW YORK — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking to the UN General Assembly, insists that Palestinians “will remain on their land” amid calls from members of Israel’s government for “voluntary migration” from Gaza.

“They will not accept displacement, and they will not disappear. Neither military occupation, nor settlements and annexation, nor settler terrorism can constitute a solution or create lasting security,” Abbas asserts in a prerecorded video speech.

“At the same time, we will not continue waiting, and we will not accept what the governments of the Israeli occupying state decide for us. No lasting security can be built on the occupation of another people and the denial of their legitimate rights,” he says.

“Our vision for peace is clear… a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel; and Palestinian-Israeli peace that opens the way toward peace, regional integration, cooperation, prosperity and security for all,” Abbas says.

He stresses his rejection of terrorism and antisemitism during his prerecorded speech to the UN General Assembly.

“On behalf of the State of Palestine, I renew the commitments in which we believe: We want security and peace for all. We reject attacks against civilians by any party. We reject terrorism and extremism in all their forms. We combat antisemitism, racism and hatred. And we believe in a culture of peace, dialogue and coexistence,” Abbas says.

“We want a democratic Palestinian state that respects the rule of law and human rights, a non-militarized state that lives in security and peace alongside the State of Israel,” he continues.

Abbas, during his decades helming the PA, has coordinated on security in the West Bank with Israel. During that time, he has also made antisemitic remarks in public speeches, including a 2018 speech blaming the Holocaust on Jewish behavior, which was widely decried.