United Nations: The United States on Friday slammed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ speech at the United Nations, saying it was “offensive” and undermined peace efforts.
“President Abbas’ speech today included offensive characterisations that were deeply disappointing and which we reject,” said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
“Such provocative statements are counterproductive and undermine efforts to create a positive atmosphere and restore trust between the parties,” she said.
In his address to the UN General Assembly, Abbas demanded an end to occupation, accused Israel of waging a “war of genocide” in Gaza and asserted that Palestinians faced a future in a “most abhorrent form of apartheid” under Israeli rule.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also blasted Abbas, accusing him of “diplomatic terrorism”.
Abbas vowed to seek war crimes prosecutions against Israel over what he called the 50-day “war of genocide” in Gaza that killed 2,140 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and left the enclave in ruins.
“The hour of independence of the state of Palestine has arrived,” he said.
He did not set a deadline for fast-tracking to Palestinian statehood, after aides suggested they were eyeing 2017 as a possible date.
Describing Israeli attacks on Gaza as a “genocidal crime”, Abbas pledged: “We will not forget and we will not forgive, and we will not allow war criminals to escape punishment.”
The war in Gaza was “a series of absolute war crimes carried out before the eyes and ears of the entire world”, he said, citing the destruction left behind and the deaths of more than 460 children.
The Palestinians have threatened to join the Hague-based International Criminal Court to allow legal action to be taken against Israel, but Abbas did not specify in his address whether he would resort to the ICC.
In 2012, the Palestinians won the status of observer state in the United Nations, which gives them the ability to become a party to the ICC, where they could sue Israeli officials over alleged war crimes.
Speaking to the 193-nation Assembly, Abbas asserted that it would be “impossible to return to the cycle of negotiations that failed to deal with the substance of the matter and the fundamental question” of statehood.
He accused Israel of forging ahead with colonies and maintaining a blockade of Gaza despite formal pledges of peace.
Israel is offering Palestinians a future either in “isolated ghettos” or “at worst it will be a most abhorrent form of apartheid”, he said, referring to the racist regime that ruled South Africa until free elections in 1994.
