Speech of President Mahmoud Abbas to UNGA 24th September 2014

Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 24th Sept 2014 

One of the news items, over Rosh Hashanah - Jewish New Year 2014, was the speech of President Mahmoud Abbas at the UN General Assembly.  Israelis did not find the speech pleasant to their ears. There were demands for an immediate end to the occupation and emphasis on so-called genocide committed by Israel against innocent Palestinians in Gaza. He blamed Israel for the intense suffering in Gaza as well as the destruction of homes of Gazans. Naturally the comparison of the Israeli occupation with the old apartheid regime of South Africa was also mentioned a number of times. He attacked Israel for its aggressive occupation policies, which he viewed as creating intense suffering of the Palestinian people. He also stated that the Gaza War - Operation Protective Edge was the most devastating, and caused the most suffering to innocent Palestinians.

When one listens to this speech in its entirety and not selected rhetoric as the Israeli Press, supportive of the Netanyahu Coalition publishes; we are able to judge the context of this speech more objectively.

We must also bear in mind to whom this speech was directed and the reasons.

Musa Abu Marzouk, the Hamas leader in Cairo, (it is interesting to note that he was not expelled from Cairo by President Fattah  el-Sisi of Egypt, whose hate for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas is well known) has stated that Hamas is prepared to cede the control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority under President Mahmoud Abbas.

According to Palestinian polls as mentioned in my previous articles, Abbas has very little Palestinian support. Most Palestinians still support Hamas in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Undoubtedly, Mahmoud Abbas feels that he must show his audience that he is in full control and he condemns the Israeli Occupation. He also stressed the urgency to end Israel's unjust domination of the Palestinians immediately. This, in his view, would strengthen his flagging support in Palestinian street. Ok, so the speech was not the kind of music Israel wanted to hear but we must understand why his speech sounded so aggressive.

Many omissions in his speech were so conspicuous by its absence. There was no mention of Hamas aggression against Israel by its firing of missiles indiscriminately into Israel for killing as many Israeli citizens as possible. We are all aware of the Iron Dome system that intercepted most of the missiles, preventing high casualty figures as well as saving many Israeli lives. There was no mention of Hamas-built tunnels in Gaza for terrorists to infiltrate Israel in order to carry out mega suicide attacks against innocent people nor was there any mention of Hamas human shield tactics to create the genocide picture of bloodshed and killing that served Hamas propaganda against Israel. It is no secret that Hamas had purposefully endangered Palestinian lives by firing from schools, hospitals, UNRWA sites and areas where there are high concentrations of Palestinian homes. This explained the tragically high Palestinian death rate.

The Hamas "heroic" leadership was hidden underground in bunkers safe from all the Israeli air, land and sea attacks. Khaled Mashal, the Hamas political leader in Qatar, gave instructions to carry on the war against Israel. This was done from his luxurious abode far away from the suffering of the Palestinians, whom he claims to represent.  No money was spent for bomb shelters for Palestinians in order to save their lives. They had the money spent on the lavish underground shelters for the Hamas leadership in Gaza. The shedding of innocent blood of Palestinians served Hamas propaganda against Israel as well as increasing anti-Semitic attacks against Jews all over the world by the incredible union of fascists and left wing "bleeding heart" wacko "humanists", sympathetic to the “freedom fighting” Hamas, with the same double-standard hypocrisy peculiar to pseudo-religious monotheists of the three Abrahamic religions.

Perhaps it was not prudent for Mahmoud Abbas to raise these facts during his speech. He continued his tirades against Israeli "genocide" in order to gain the support that he does not have.

However, it is significant to note that he made no mention of accusing Israel of "War Crimes" against the Palestinians at the International Criminal Court.

The latter part of the speech left the door open to negotiations on solving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by peaceful means and the urgency of getting the process started immediately. He did mention the murder and burning of a Palestinian teenager but he never mentioned the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers, nor did he mention the condolence visits by many Israelis to the home of the parents of the Palestinian teenager before Operation Protective Edge.

There were parts of the speech that one could not deny. Israelis have forgotten the vandalism committed by Jewish right wing extremists Price Tag against Palestinian property, including churches, mosques, and olive trees. I have written many articles condemning these barbaric acts by Price Tag and the abuse of Palestinians under occupation by settlers and the Israeli Authorities.

Nevertheless, as much as the occupation is an evil that is bad for Israel, the Palestinians and the stability of the region, we must also be cognoscent of the fact that, if this tragic problem is not addressed in a fair and just manner satisfying all the parties, this festering sore will eat into the well-being of both Israelis and Palestinians, creating more violence, unnecessary bloodshed, instability and devastation.

No solution and a continuation of the status quo will strengthen Hamas and the possibility of ISIS forming a union with Hamas to form a Caliphate by infiltrating into the occupied territories the consequences of which will be a disastrous nightmare. We must remember that ISIS or IS or ISIL and Hamas have a similar ideology of killing opponents, the former does it by beheadings, the latter by public shootings in the head. An intolerant Islamist dictatorship is the goal of both these groups in the Middle East. Hamas has a stronger emphasis on Israel's destruction at this stage, replacing Israel with an Islamist, Palestinian state. We must also bear in mind that the strength of the present ceasefire is dependent on Hamas desire to keep it.

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