Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday sent a letter to US President Barack Obama in which he defended the Palestinian's decision to seek membership in the UN.
In his letter, Abbas said that the decision to ask the UN General Assembly next month to vote in favor of upgrading the status of a Palestinian state to "non-member" was not a unilateral move.
Abbas also reiterated his commitment to the two-state solution and stressed that the statehood bid came to "solidify the right of the Palestinian people to their land, which is under occupation and not "disputed territories," Nimer Hammad, political advisor to Abbas, said.
Hammad said that Abbas reassured Obama that the statehood bid was not aimed at "isolating" Israel, but achieving international recognition of a Palestinian state to pave the way for the resumption of peace negotiations with Israel.
