Abbas to wage a ‘diplomatic intifada’ at UN

Mahmoud Abbas is expected to present his own version of a peace plan to the UN.

By World Israel News Staff

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is planning to wage a “diplomatic intifada” against President Trump’s “Deal of the Century” at the United Nations this week, reports Channel 13 News.

In addition to denouncing Trump’s peace plan, the Israeli news agency reports that Abbas will also present his own version of a peace plan to the UN.

Palestinian UN representative Riyad Mansour announced last Wednesday that Abbas will push the UN Security Council on Tuesday to take a vote on a Tunisia-sponsored resolution denouncing the peace plan. (Tunisia’s ambassador to the UN was fired for not consulting with his government when drafting the resolution.)

“[Abbas will] put before the entire international community the reaction of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian leadership against this onslaught against the national rights of the Palestinian people by the Trump administration,” Mansour said.

“We will try our best with our friends to have the strongest possible draft resolution and to receive the strongest and largest possible voting in favor of that resolution,” he added.

The resolution is not expected to pass because the U.S. will certainly veto the resolution despite the fact that France, Russia, and China will most likely vote in favor of it, reports Reuters.

Abbas will also enjoy the support of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during his “diplomatic intifada.”

The two are expected to hold a joint press conference this week to condemn Trump’s peace plan while the UN Security Council sits in deliberation.

In 2008, Abbas rejected an offer from Olmert that included a Palestinian capital in eastern Jerusalem, almost complete sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, and placing the Old City of Jerusalem under international control.

On Saturday, the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIU) convened in Jordan for an emergency meeting called for by Abbas.

All members present called for “absolute rejection of any peace settlement which does not fulfill the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to an independent state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital,”  the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

The AIU also called Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel “a dangerous escalation that threatens the security of the region and cuts the road to peace opportunities, paving the way for a religious war to which Israel will be a major party.”

According to a Channel 13 News report, a parliamentary representative from Kuwait dropped a copy of  Trump’s plan in the garbage during the meeting and said, “Its proper place is in the dustbin of history.”