2013, year of Palestinian state: Mahmoud Abbas

Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas has pledged that 2013 would be the year for the Palestinian independence.

In a speech to Palestinians on the eve of the 48th anniversary of the formation of the Fatah movement, Abbas said that last month’s UN General Assembly vote to upgrade the Palestinian status was a “certificate” of a Palestinian state.

“We have a birth certificate… and we want to complete the march toward full independence.”

“Next year, 2013, will be the year of statehood and independence.”

On November 29, the 193-member UN General Assembly voted 138-9 with 41 abstentions at the UN headquarters in New York to upgrade Palestine’s status to non-member observer state. The United States and the Israeli regime were among those UN members that voted against the resolution.

The observer state status grants Palestinians access to UN agencies and the International Criminal Court, where they can file formal complaints against the Israeli regime. The upgrade also allows Palestinians to participate in debates at the UN and improves their chances of joining UN agencies.

Direct talks between Tel Aviv and the Palestinian Authority were stalled around three weeks after they had resumed in the United States in September 2010 due to Israel’s refusal to extend a partial freeze on its illegal settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Source: PressTV