LOS ANGELES.–Speaking to the U.N. General Assembly today, 88-year-old Ramallah, West Bank-based Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas begged the global body to stop the “genocidal war,” a favorite word used to besmirch Israel’s right to defend itself against the Oct. 7, 2023 Naza-like massacre, killing 1,200, taking 250 hostages. Hamas, a U.S.-labeled terror group, attacked starting its war of annihilation with Israel, prompting 74-year-old President Benjamin Netanyahu to declare war. Abbas mentioned nothing about the Hamas massacre, only calling Israel’s actions “genocide.” “We will not leave. We will not leave,” Abbas said with emphasis, including himself in Hamas’s plight to hold onto power in the Gaza Strip. “Palestine is our homeland. It is the land of our fathers and our grandfathers. It will remain ours. And if anyone were to leave, it would be the occupying usurpers,” said Abbas.
Abbas statement presents real problems for the Biden-Harris administration that seeks a ceasefire and end to Israel’s Hamas war. Abbas was once considered a potential peace partner in a two-state solution but now throws himself with the Hamas cause of destroying the Jewish State. What more defiance can Abbas say to the U.N. General Assembly telling the largely anti-Semitic body that Israel is a “usurper state.” When Arabs lived in the Holy Land under Ottoman Turk or British rule for over 500 years, they never called the Ottomans or the British “occupying usurpers.” Only after the British, who ruled the Holy Land under the British Mandate of Palestine for only 28 years [1920-1948], deeded the land grant to Israel in 1948 did Arab uprisings and wars start. Arabs living in the Holy Land were called “Palestinians” by Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] Founder Yasser Arafat in 1964.
Abbas made it clear that there was no separation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. When Abbas talks about Gaza, he never refers to Hamas, only to the “usurper occupiers” committing genocide against Palestinians. Abbas praised the American people for their protests in support of Palestinians. “The American people are marching in the streets in these demonstrations. We are appreciative of them,” Abbas said, knowing that Palestinians protests are staged demonstrators back by leftist nonprofit groups like Drummond Pike’s San Francisco-based Tides Center, receiving millions from billionaire leftist George Soros. Abbas only dreams that there’s any American grassroots support for the Palestinian cause, knowing the close ties the U.S. government and people have with Israel. Abbas throws his support to Hamas because he has no choice.
Abbas wouldn’t dare call for Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar to leave Gaza so that the 2.3 million people can have any future at all when the war continues its upheaval in Gaza. Abbas talks about how life has become intolerable in Gaza but places no blame on Hamas for starting the war with its Oct. 7 massacre. “Entire family names have been written out of the civil record,” Abbas said. “Gaza is no longer fit for life. Most homes have been destroyed. The same apples for most buildings . . . Roads. Churches. Mosques. Water plants. Electric plants. Sanitation plants. Anyone who has gone to Gaza and know it before would not it anymore,” Abbas said, knowing the same thing would happen to the West Bank if it committed the same atrocity on Israel. Abbas is careful not criticize Hamas, knowing that he’s one step away from betting killed for daring to disagree.
Sinwar and a small military band are holed up in Gaza’s underground military tunnels but think they can hold out indefinitely now matter what happens to Gaza on the surface. U.N. officials have not called on Hamas to leave Gaza so the reconstruction can begin hopefully for the last time. Since Hamas seized control of Gaza from Abbas in 2007, it has fought several wars with Israel, all with the same outcome, destroying the Gaza Strip. Hamas leaders have looted the Gaza Strip for the last 18 years, with some like the late Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal becoming billionaires from outright larceny. Abbas has no control over Hamas, only dares not show any hint of criticism for looting the Gaza Strip for its time in power, leaving ordinary Gazans living in the most sordid conditions. Abbas blames Israel for all the misery in Gaza but he knows it’s caused by Hamas.
Abbas admitted today at the U.N. General Assembly that he agreed with Hamas that Israel is an “occupying usurper” of Palestinian land, meaning it had every right to attack Israel Oct. 7, raping, torturing and killing as many Jews as necessary to return Palestinian land. “Stop this crime. Stop it now. Stop killing children and women. Stop the genocide. Stop sending weapons to Israel. This madness cannot continue. The entire world is responsible for what is happening to our people in Gaza and the West Bank,” Abbas said, showing that he and Hamas are one-in-the-same. Abbas appealed to the international community to join the fight against Israel, to once-and-for-all destroy the Jewish State and allow Arabs to return to the Holy Land. Abbas has blown the lid off the White House fantasy of a two-state solution, knowing that Hamas and the PA are committed to destroying Israel.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
