US-UK colonialist aspirations behind Al-Nakba: Abbas

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The Palestinian people have the right to self-determination, to obtain their independence, and to return, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday while addressing the 77th United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

Abbas, who spoke on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, or the Catastrophe, also said during his speech at the UNGA that the rule of law is "the promise of those who have nothing to those who do not deserve anything."

"This UN conference represents an acknowledgment by the organization of the injustice that has affected the Palestinian people since 1948," the PA president established.

His words came before the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People to mark the 75th anniversary of the Nakba. 

He also underlined that the UN took hundreds of resolutions regarding the rights of the Palestinian people, noting that not a single one of them was implemented. "Certain countries have obstructed the implementation of UN resolutions regarding the Palestinian cause."

"The Palestinian narrative on the Nakba has begun to make its way into the consciousness of people, and they are now discovering the falsity of the Israeli narrative," he stressed. "They claimed the Palestinians voluntarily left their countries, and the truth of the matter is that they were quick to defend their homeland with the simple tools they had."

The Israeli occupation, the Palestinian president said, continues to attack the Palestinian people, prevents the refugees from returning to their homeland, and occupies and confiscates Palestinian land.

"We demand today officially" that the UN must insist that the occupation respects "these resolutions or suspends Israel's membership in the UN," Abbas said. 

"Israel" should be forced to accept Resolutions 181 and 194 on the return of Palestinian refugees or face suspension, he argued.

The head of the Palestinian Authority underlined that certain countries have come to terms with the fact that "Israel" is above the law, providing it with protection from any punishment through their right to veto. 

The United States and the United Kingdom are responsible for the permanent displacement of close to a million Palestinians during the Nakba, Abbas added.

The US and the UK, he insisted, "bear political and ethical responsibility directly for the Nakba of the Palestinian people because they took part in rendering our people a victim when they decided to establish and plant another entity in our historic homeland."

He also said Washington and London both took these actions for "their own colonial goals and objectives [...] Israel would not have continued its hostility and aggression without the support it receives from these two countries."

"The memory of the Nakba will remain present in our consciousness until the end of the occupation."

Moreover, Abbas underscored the rights of the Palestinian people to both the occupied Palestinian territories and the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

He called for the right of return for Palestinian refugees to land within the pre-1967 lines. 

Abbas then stressed the importance of there being a "return of the refugees to their towns and villages of which they were displaced so that this tragedy does not constitute a scar for humanity."

He also touched on the Israeli acts of aggression, asking: "How can Israel's wars be defensive when half of the population of Palestine was displaced from their land in 1948?"

The Palestinian leader explained that he was talking about the "repeated wars of aggression waged by Israel in Jenin and Nablus, the latest of which was in Gaza."

Read next: Vigils in several countries in solidarity with Gaza amid aggression

"The country they describe as the only democracy in the Middle East is the one that commits crimes, occupies the land and practices racial discrimination," he stressed.

"There are ministers in occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet who openly call for the killing of Palestinians, expelling them from their homes, and demolishing their homes," he underlined.

Read more: Haaretz: "Israel" concealing archives of Nakba civilian killings

Also on the occasion of the Nakba, which the Israeli occupation claims to be its "Independence Day", Abbas said, "Israel's celebration of independence is a lie."

Furthermore, he stressed that "Al-Quds is Arab, and we will not give it up, regardless of what former US President Donald Trump or anyone else says regarding this issue."

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, which saw the Israeli occupation uprooting the Palestinian people from their land and claiming it to be theirs. This event saw hundreds of thousands of Palestinians kicked out of their homes and rendered refugees.