PA ready to resume talks after UNGA status upgrade

Abbas says Palestinians prepared to renew peace talks with Israel after they obtain status of Palestinian state non-member at GA.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
PA President Mahmoud Abbas at the UN 370 (R) (photo credit: Lucas Jackson / Reuters)
PA President Mahmoud Abbas at the UN 370 (R)
(photo credit: Lucas Jackson / Reuters)
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.”