Abbas urges UN to accept statehood bid

DEFYING US and Israeli opposition, Palestinians asked the United Nations yesterday to accept them as a member state, sidestepping nearly two decades of failed negotiations in the hope this dramatic move on the world stage would re-energise their quest for an independent homeland.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was greeted by applause and whistles from the delegations in the General Assembly hall as he outlined his people’s hopes of becoming a full member of the UN. Members of the Israeli delegation, including Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, left the hall as Abbas approached the podium.

In a scathing denunciation of Israel’s settlement policy, Abbas declared that negotiations with Israel “will be meaningless” as long as it continues building on lands the Palestinians claim for that state. He went so far as to warn that his government could collapse if the construction persists.

“This policy is responsible for the continued failure of the successive international attempts to salvage the peace process,” said Abbas, who has refused to negotiate until the construction stops.

“This settlement policy threatens to also undermine the structure of the Palestinian National Authority and even end its existence.”

He said he had asked UN chief Ban Ki-moon to expedite deliberation of his request to have the UN recognise a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

Shortly after, Ban announced he had referred the application to the Security Council, where it is expected to founder under the weight of US opposition and a possible veto.

The Security Council is to take up the membership request on Monday, but action could take weeks, if not months.

The speech papered over any Palestinian culpability for the negotiations stalemate, deadly violence against Israel, spurned peace offers and the internal rift that has produced duelling governments in the West Bank and Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was “willing to make painful compromises.”

“I extend my hand to the Palestinian people, with whom we seek a just and lasting peace,” Netanyahu said, to extended applause.

From the General Assembly podium, Netanyahu repeated his offer to meet with Abbas on the sidelines of the UN session — an offer the Palestinian leader has rejected in the past.

Meanwhile, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said Ireland supported the establishment of a Palestinian state.