RAMALLAH, November 16, 2011 (WAFA) –President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday urged Palestinians from all ranks to take active part in the popular resistance, stressing that it should not be left for some people and international activists only.

“I call for the widest participation in the popular resistance,” he said, addressing a special memorial held to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat.

“Everyone, rank and file, should join this resistance to show the world that resistance is our right and to prove that Israel is the aggressor,” he said, explaining that the Palestinians will not allow fanatics in Israel to draw them into violent confrontations.

“We are peace seekers and we resist peacefully,” he said. “This is my position and I will not change it.”

Abbas said the Palestinian people will not accept and give in to the Israeli occupation, but that they will resist it in anyway possible.

He said the Palestinians asserted their position at the United Nations when he applied for full membership in the international body on September 23. He said there will be no going back on the UN bid, no matter how long it will take to get full membership.

“If we do not get it (membership) today, we will get it tomorrow, or after tomorrow. We will not go back on our request. This is our right,” he said.

He said Israel was established based on UN Resolution 181 of 1947, which partitioned Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, on condition that it should accept this resolution and Resolution 194, which calls for the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes they had fled from in Palestine.

“This is our right, which does not go away in time,” he said.

Abbas said he has agreed with Hamas leader Khaled Mishaal to meet on November 23 to discuss the reconciliation agreement they had signed on May 4 in Cairo and to form a government of technocrats to prepare for presidential and legislative elections.

The two leaders will also discuss plans for the future to answer the question: “Where are we going?” He said the entire people need to know what will be the future of the Palestinians.

Abbas said that the United States remains a friend of the Palestinian people in spite of its strong support for Israel. He said the US helps the Palestinians financially and therefore it is considered a friend. However, he added, if US policy contradicts with Palestinian interest, he will not hesitate to tell it “no.”

“We want the US role to be balanced and its mediation honest,” he said, adding that, “We have very good relations with US President (Barack) Obama.”

He said negotiations with Israel will not resume before it accepts the 1967 lines as the borders of the Palestinian state and stops all settlement activities.

“Without these two conditions, there will be no negotiations,” he said, stressing that he had accepted the latest Quartet statement, but that Israel has not accepted it.

“We do not want negotiations that go forever and run in an empty cycle,” he said.

He sent a message to the Israeli people telling them that “we are serious and ready to achieve a just and comprehensive peace but that peace and settlements do not meet.”

“Peace is more important than settlements and more important than coalitions,” he said in reference to the Israeli government, which refuses to make peace and stop settlements because it does not want to break its coalition.

Abbas also said former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has promised to release prisoners when the Gilad Shalit case is over, but that the Israeli government has reneged on its promise.

He said the US has also promised a year ago to force Israel to make good will gestures by releasing prisoners, but that promise was never fulfilled.

He stressed that there will be no peace without release of all prisoners.

M.S.