Abbas seeks super observer status for Palestinians

UNITED NATIONS: President Mahmud Abbas sought a new super observer UN status Thursday for Palestinians as he condemned Israel's settlement campaign in the occupied territories as “ethnic cleansing.”

One year after his emotional bid for full membership of the United Nations, Abbas returned to the UN General Assembly to warn that Israel's tactics were a sign that it “rejects the two-state solution.”

He called on the UN Security Council to pass a binding resolution setting out a path to end the two-year deadlock in talks between the Palestinians and Israel.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the speech as “libelous.” Abbas also faced condemnation from the Hamas government in Gaza. But the Palestinian leader earned a new standing ovation from the UN audience.

The Palestinians' bid for full UN membership has been blocked at the Security Council by the United States. So Abbas returned to seek a more modest strengthening of the Palestinians' existing UN observer status.

He said he would seek a vote at the UN General Assembly in the coming months to approve Palestine as a “non-member state of the United Nations.” As a permanent Security Council member, the United States can veto any council resolution backing full membership for the Palestinians.

But no country can block a resolution in the General Assembly, where an overwhelming majority of the 193 members states would back Abbas.

“We are confident that the vast majority of the countries of the world support our endeavor, aimed at salvaging the chances for a just peace,” Abbas said.

Direct Israel-Palestinian negotiations have been frozen for two years. Abbas refuses talks, while Israel continues to build and approve new Jewish settlements.

The United States condemns the Israeli construction but protects its close ally from UN criticism.

AFP