STORY: No Mideast peace without Palestinians' full rights: Abbas
DATELINE: Sept. 22, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:50
LOCATION: UNITED NATIONS
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. wide of UNGA Hall
2. wide of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas walking to the rostrum
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic/English): MAHMOUD ABBAS, Palestinian President
4. various of delegates
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic/English): MAHMOUD ABBAS, Palestinian President
6. wide of Abbas speaking
7. wide of Palestinian delegates applauding

STORYLINE:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that there would be no peace in the Middle East if Palestinians do not fully enjoy their legitimate rights.

"Those who think that peace can prevail in the Middle East without the Palestinian people enjoying their full and legitimate national rights would be mistaken," Abbas told the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.

He called for Palestine's full membership in the United Nations and urged countries to recognize Palestine's statehood.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic/English): MAHMOUD ABBAS, Palestinian President
"I also call on the states that have not yet recognized the state of Palestine to declare their recognition and for the state of Palestine to be admitted to full membership in the United Nations. I can neither understand, nor accept, that some states, including America and European states, are reluctant to recognize the state of Palestine, which the United Nations has accepted as an observer state. These same states confirm every day their support for the two-state solution. But they recognize only one of these states, namely, Israel. Why? What is the danger posed by the state of Palestine obtaining full membership in the United Nations?"

He appealed for holding an international peace conference, in which all countries concerned with achieving peace in the Middle East will participate. He requested UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to make necessary arrangements for the conference.
   
He also called on the United Nations and the secretary-general to implement the relevant resolutions to provide protection for the Palestinian people.
   
In the face of Israel's systematic destruction of the two-state solution, it has become necessary to call on each UN member state, in its national capacity, to take practical steps on the basis of the relevant resolutions, he said.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic/English): MAHMOUD ABBAS, Palestinian President
"My message today to the Israelis is that this hideous occupation that is imposed on us will not last regardless of their ambitions and delusions, because the Palestinian people are remaining on their land, which they have inhabited for thousands of years, generation after generation, as again confirmed by a recent UNESCO resolution regarding the city of Jericho, which has existed for ten thousand years. The Palestinians cannot leave their land. And if anyone must leave this land, that must be the occupiers. The occupiers should leave, not the people of the land. We will stay in our land. My message to the international community is that it should assume its responsibilities with full courage and implement its resolutions related to realizing Palestinian rights."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from United Nations.
(XHTV)