Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday thanked pro-Palestinian protesters in America for marching in the streets against Israel even though he had harsh words for the U.S. government in his address to the United Nations General Assembly.
Abbas said he wanted to “express our gratitude and appreciation for the demonstrations that spoke against the genocide in Gaza and that supported Palestinian rights that have been taking place throughout the world, including the American people.”
“I acknowledge the American people are marching in the streets for these demonstrations, and we are grateful for that,” he added from the rostrum.
Pro-Palestinian protesters across the country have criticized U.S. military and diplomatic support to Israel. Rallies, demonstrations, and vigils have taken place in several major cities and spread to multiple college campuses over the course of a year. Such has been the backlash against Israel, that it has bled into the U.S campaign cycle, with tens of thousands of Democratic primary participants voting “uncommitted” in protest of the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
NETANYAHU REJECTS US-LED CEASEFIRE PROPOSAL WITH HEZBOLLAH
The United States is Israel’s closest ally and backer, supplying it with billions of dollars of aid and military material.
Abbas did not spare the U.S. government for its involvement in the war and blasted Washington for providing diplomatic cover and weapons to Israel.
“Stop this crime,” Abbas said. “Stop it now. Stop killing children and women. Stop the genocide. Stop sending weapons to Israel. This madness cannot continue. The entire world is responsible for what is happening to our people in Gaza and the West Bank.”
A large majority of the besieged Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once by the war, triggered by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Abbas claimed that when a ceasefire resolution was within reach, the U.S. blocked it. He said he could not comprehend why the U.S. “insists on opposing” Palestinians.
“We regret that the United States, the largest democracy in the world, obstructed three times draft resolutions of the Security Council demanding Israel to observe a ceasefire,” he said. “The U.S. alone stood and said, ‘No, the fighting is going to continue.’ It did this by using the veto.” Abbas was likely referring to the veto used to prevent censure in the U.N. Security Council of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“As long as the U.S. is supporting it, then why not keep going?” he added, saying the U.S. “furnished Israel with the deadly weapons that it used to kill thousands of innocent civilians, children, and women.”
Abbas also laid out a 12-point plan to the UNGA for what needs to be done the day after the war ends.
It includes giving the Palestinian government and the Palestine Liberation Organization authority on all Palestinian territories in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Eastern Jerusalem.
“We are not asking for more, but we will not accept any less,” Abbas said.
Other items include the full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, quick delivery of humanitarian aid, political and financial support for humanitarian organizations working in the area, and the mobilization of the “largest possible international support’ so Palestine can achieve U.N. membership.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Israel has maintained that its military operations are justified and are necessary to defend itself. South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel in the U.N.’s top court in December 2023. Israel rejected the accusations.
There have been more than 40,000 people killed in the yearlong war. Out of 251 people taken hostage on Oct. 7, 97 are still being held inside the Gaza Strip, including 33 who Israeli military officials say are dead.