RAMALLAH, January 14, 2018 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas called on the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) meeting in Ramallah on Sunday for a revision of the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel.
“I call on the Central Council to revise all the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel because Israel has brought these agreements to a dead end,” he said, adding that “we are going to take this decision even though we know in advance what it will bring to us.”
Abbas said that “Israel has ended the Oslo agreement,” and therefore the Central Council needs to think of “where should we go from here?”
President Abbas also recommended to the Council to rule out any role for the United States in mediating a peace solution with Israel, after the US recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, lashing out at the US for its biased position toward the Palestinians.
“We will not accept what the US is going to propose to us and will not accept its mediation after its Jerusalem crime, but we will accept only an international mediation in the peace process with a goal to end the occupation,” he said, adding that “we will get engaged in any serious peace talks under United Nations auspices to end the occupation.”
He nevertheless criticized the UN and the international community for not implementing UN resolutions on Palestine.
He said that the UN Security Council passed 86 resolutions in favor of Palestine, in spite of 43 US vetoes and 705 UN General Assembly resolutions throughout the international body’s history but none were implemented.
Abbas also said he cannot accept to have an authority without power, nor would he accept to allow the occupation to continue without any cost.
Yet, he stressed that it is important to keep the gains made by Palestine, internally and externally, stressing that the Council should come out in support of the peaceful popular resistance, which he said is the best way to end the Israeli occupation.
The Palestinian leader also said he will continue to fight all forms of terrorism.
Abbas called for revamping the Palestinian National Council (PNC), the highest Palestinian legislative body, and the PLO in order to allow it to play a more effective role in the coming critical period.
He also said that he will not accept stopping payment of allowances to families of Palestinians killed in action or prisoners as demanded by the US and Israel.
He said that the Palestinians will continue to pursue justice from international forums and the International Criminal Court, while continuing efforts to gain full membership in the United Nations as well as continue efforts to join hundreds of conventions and agreements.
The Central Council opened on Sunday a two-day meeting called for to discuss the ramifications of the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to discuss Palestinian strategy after that.
All Palestinian factions have attended the meeting except for Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, which are not members in the PLO, after they objected to the venue of the meeting.
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