Newspapers review: President Abbas’ speech before the UNGA focus of dailies

The speech delivered by President Mahmoud Abbas at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York dominated the front page headlines in Palestinian dailies on Friday.

Noting that there could be no peace without an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, Abbas was quoted in the three dailies stating: “Jerusalem is not for sale. The Palestinian people’s rights are not up for bargaining”.

He was also reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida affirming that the capital of the state of Palestine is “East Jerusalem and not some place in East Jerusalem”.

Threatening to renege on agreements with Israel, Abbas was reported in the dailies stating: “Either Israel abides by these agreements, or else we will renege on them.”

Using his speech to demand Washington to reverse its aggressive decisions against the Palestinian people, he was reported in al-Ayyam stating that US President Donald Trump’s administration has undermined the two-state solution.

He also said that the US could no longer be the sole mediator of the peace process because of its policies against the Palestinian people. He said: “The US cannot be a mediator single-handedly.”

Speaking of Hamas party, which rules the besieged Gaza Strip, Abbas was reported in al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida warning: “]We have concluded agreements with Hamas.[ Either they implement them fully, or we will distance ourselves from any agreements ]or measures that are concluded without our approval[ and will not bear any responsibility.”

The dailies said that Abbas was named as the Chairman of the Group of 77 and China.

According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories and in diaspora rallied around large screens to watch Abbas’ speech.

Moreover, al-Quds said that Israeli forces escorting settlers shot and injured several Palestinian protestors during violent confrontations around Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.

Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida explained that eight Palestinians, including two reporters, were injured during the violent confrontations with soldiers giving cover to settlers who stormed Joseph’s Tomb.

According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, Israeli forces injured at least two Palestinians in the central besieged Gaza Strip.

According to al-Quds, Israeli occupation authorities have seized a Palestinian-owned plot of land in Jit, a village to the northeast of the northern West Bank city of Qalqiliya.

Regarding the UN relief agency’s efforts to rapidly plug the $300 million gap left by the US, which pulled its financial support in August, UNRWA reportedly announced that it has received contributions of $118 million.

The pledges were reportedly made by Germany, the European Union, Kuwait, Ireland and Norway on the sidelines of the annual UNGA session in New York.

Al-Ayyam added that UNRWA Employees Union has announced a series of protests, including administrative disobedience and strike, in protest of layoffs.

Highlighting Israeli Premier’s speech before the UNGA, al-Quds said that Benjamin Netanyahu brushed past the Palestinians and focused instead on the alleged threat posed by Iran, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

Al-Ayyam added in this regard that Netanyahu assailed Abbas and the UN relief agency (UNRWA) and defended the Jewish Nation-State Law in his speech.

It said that Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee Saeb Erekat accused Netanyahu’s speech of being “misleading”.

He reportedly said: “Netanyahu insists on misleading the international community and exporting his old falsehoods that criminalize the victim and blame them in order to protect the system of the colonial occupation.”

He was also reported in al-Quds stating that peace requires the recognition by Israel of international law and the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.

Spotlighting the situation in East Jerusalem, al-Quds said that Israel turned the occupied city into a military barrack as 1,134 Israeli Jewish settlers forced their way into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

According to al-Ayyam, Israeli forces detained 13 Palestinians in multiple overnight raids across the West Bank.

Yet, al-Quds highlighted the findings of an opinion poll conducted by the PLO’s Research Center on the US Mideast plan, dubbed deal of the century. It said that 79 percent of Palestinians deem it as intended to liquidate the Palestinian question.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Presidential Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh stating: “We would only accept an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital” and “We will not accept the presence of a single occupation soldier on our Palestinian land.”

Abu Rudeineh reportedly made his remarks responding to Netanyahu’s statements regarding retaining Israeli security control over the West Bank.