The Palestinians are prepared to resume peace talks with Israel after obtaining
membership in the UN General Assembly, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas said Tuesday.
He said that the Palestinians are planning to ask the
General Assembly next month to vote on their request to upgrade the status of a
Palestinian state to non-member.
Abbas’s comments came during a meeting
with representatives of the European Union in his office. The meeting came in
the context of Abbas’s efforts to persuade the EU to support his new statehood
bid.
Abbas told the representatives that the PA would rely on EU
statements regarding the Palestinian issue to formulate the resolution that it
intends to present to the General Assembly.
“We are prepared to conduct
dialogue with all international parties to discuss the wording of the
Palestinian application [for statehood],” Abbas said.
He added that the
Palestinians would work hard to obtain membership in the UN “to preserve the
Palestinian right.”
The statehood bid is designed to transform the
Palestinian territories from the status of disputed lands to a state under
[Israeli] occupation, Abbas explained.
“Going to the UN does not mean
canceling the peace negotiations,” Abbas emphasized. “Rather, this is a
complimentary step to safeguard the two-state solution.”
Abbas cautioned
that continued construction in the settlements would put an end to the two-state
solution. He said that Israel’s refusal to abide by international laws prompted
him to seek UN recognition “in order to protect our legitimate rights and the
twostate solution.”
Abbas called on the international community to take
immediate measures to stop settlement construction which, he added, “is killing
the Palestinian dream of establishing an independent state next to Israel.”