Jerusalem – In his historic speech to the United Nations, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas eloquently laid out the case for granting his people an independent state. But in doing so, he presented a narrative that is disputed by Israel, and in at least one case, appeared to be factually incorrect.
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Here is a look at the counterarguments to Abbas’ claims:
OCCUPATION: Abbas called Israel’s control of the territories claimed by the Palestinians “the only occupation in the world.”
THE FACTS: The world is full of ethnic minorities that might claim to be ruled by occupiers, ranging from Tibetans living under Chinese rule to Kurds in Turkey, Basques in Spain, Chechens in Russia and Muslim separatists in Indian-ruled Kashmir.
PRISONERS: Abbas referred to the roughly 8,000 Palestinians being held in Israeli jails as prisoners of conscience.
THE FACTS: Abbas did not mention that most Palestinian prisoners are being held because of alleged involvement in violence against Israelis. Israel’s prison service says it’s holding some 6,000 “security” prisoners, many of them involved in planning or carrying out deadly attacks on civilians.
JEWISH CONNECTION TO THE HOLY LAND: Abbas called for two states, Israel and Palestine, to live in peace together.
THE FACTS: Abbas did not address one of Israel’s central demands, that he recognize the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. And he ignored this Jewish connection by referring to the area as the land of Muhammad and Jesus, with no mention of any Jewish biblical figure.
GAZA STRIP: Abbas referred to Gaza as an integral part of a future Palestine, briefly mentioning his reconciliation agreement with the territory’s Hamas rulers and condemning an Israeli “war of aggression” there nearly three years ago.
THE FACTS: Abbas lost control of Gaza to Hamas militants four years ago, and talks over implementing a reconciliation deal announced last May are at a standstill, in large part because of Hamas’ refusal to disarm or renounce its armed struggle against Israel. In condemning Israel’s 2008-2009 offensive in Gaza, Abbas did not mention that the operation was launched in response to persistent rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled territory.
PEACE TALKS: Abbas declared the Palestinians “believe in peace” and repeatedly presented Israel as the obstacle to renewing peace talks.
THE FACTS: The Palestinians did not accept two Israeli peace offers, in 2000 and 2008, that offered them a state in the vast majority of the territories they claim. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has repeatedly offered to launch negotiations — but refused to accept minimum outlines of a peace deal endorsed by the Palestinians and the international community. He has also not met the Palestinian condition of a settlement freeze for the duration of the talks.
SETTLEMENTS: Abbas repeatedly condemned Israeli settlement activity as the chief obstacle to peace, saying that continued Israeli construction on lands claimed by the Palestinians shows that Israel is not serious about peace.
THE FACTS: Israel might argue — as Netanyahu did in his rebuttal Friday — that Arab enmity to Israel long preceded the settlement of lands occupied in 1967. But Abbas, ironically, could have been even stronger in his condemnation and mentioned a jarring statistic: The number of Jews living in the West Bank and east Jerusalem has roughly doubled, to some 500,000 people, since the Oslo Accords of 18 years ago.
And what was Jesus, a palestinian?
What a moron, by admitting to Jesus’ existence to placate the Christian world, he’s in essence agreeing that the Jews lived there at least 700 years before their ‘prophet’ showed up on the scene, and that the Jews had a temple on the Har Habeiyis.
Abba has been told how to do it the “American way” presumably by the current Administration occupying the White House. This Administration is doing the same white-washing of facts to the American people in many areas. Of course the educated aren’t fooled but in 2011, the educated aren’t in the majority – not even close! And so the Dems are well on their way to succeed again in 2012 while the Republicans seemingly ignore the lower-class MILLIONS & MILLIONS of potential voters living in the slums of the inner-Cities. For those that deal with those inner-city residents on a daily basis, know that Obama is portrayed as the victor and the “race card” is always played up.
Israel also faces masses of uneducated (young, party-loving) citizens who are tired of war and its toll and continue to be fooled into thinking there is peace possible with the Arabs. Obamas speech at the UN is nothing but “smoke & mirrors” to shield himself from the angry American voters who made themselves heard by throwing out long-time Dems in the Senate all across the US. Only the fools are blinded by the Muslim-named President the US has occupying the White House now. For shame!
Such a hypocrite I’ve never seen in my life. And I dont think it needs explaining.
#3 Billy you musn’t have been around when Arafat was saying ‘we want peace’ in English and saying ‘kill the Jews’ in Arabic for many decades.
Arafat is the epitome of hypocrisy, Abbas had a good teacher. And the world swallows it all.
A rare moment of lucidity by a major media outlet. I’m sure heads will roll at the AP for daring to present a reasonable view of the conflice.