President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the general debate of the 76th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (New York, 21-27 September 2021) In a pre-recorded message presented on (24 Sep) to the General Assembly,

“From this podium, I call on the sons and daughters of Palestine everywhere around the world to continue pursuit of their peaceful and popular struggle that has shown the true image of the valiant Palestinian people striving for freedom and independence by resisting occupation and apartheid.”

His Excellency called on the UN Secretary-General to convene an international peace conference and said that to ensure that this initiative is not open-ended, Israel must withdraw from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem within one year.

H.E. said 

“We are at a crossroads. We have had enough.  This situation cannot continue and our people cannot endure it any longer.  If [an Israeli withdrawal] is not achieved, why maintain our recognition of Israel based on the 1967 borders? Our people will not surrender to the reality of occupation and its illegal policies and practices.”

President Abbas said

“we will go to the International Court of Justice as the supreme international judicial body, on the issue of the legality of the occupation of the land of the Palestinian state and the relevant obligations for the United Nations and States around the world in this regard and all will have to respect the conclusions of the Court. Colonialism and apartheid are prohibited under international law and they are crimes that must be confronted and a regime that needs to be dismantled.”

Marking the 73^rd anniversary of the Nakba, President Abbas said

 “More than half the Palestinian people were uprooted from their land and deprived of their property in that time. Myself, my family and many others still possess the deeds to our land. These deeds are registered as part of the United Nations’ records,”

President Abbas’ speech:

• Condemned the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem;
• Outlined that Israel, the occupying power, has not honoured commitments made for peace under the Oslo Agreements and instead continues to “pursue its expansionist, colonial enterprise, destroying the prospect of a political settlement based on the two-State solution.”;
• The occupier cannot ignore the rights of millions of Palestinians;
• Israel continues to act with impunity, as a state above the law;
• Elections will be held as soon as the Occupier commits to facilitating Jerusalemite Palestinians to participate;
• Palestine will confront the illegality of the occupation through the International Court of Justice;
• Palestinian people will defend their existence and identity and will not kneel or surrender, they will not leave and will remain on their land defending it, defending their fate and pursuing their great journey towards ending the occupation;
• Palestine will continue upholding the rule of law, the freedom of expression and human rights.

“This colonial regime it has established on our land will disappear, regardless of how long it takes. We will not allow them to hijack our lives and kill our people’s dreams, hopes and aspirations to realize freedom and independence.

“Why should a Palestinian continue living either under Israel’s racist occupation or as a refugee in neighbouring countries?”

His Excellency also raised the issue of the recognition of the State of Palestine, saying 

“I wonder what prevents countries that recognize Israel from recognizing the State of Palestine since they support the two-state solution?”