Abbas: “We do not support violence or the armed struggle”
Abbas during a meeting with a Jordanian parliamentary delegation
Headline: “President [Abbas]: Our application to the UN follows their blocking of the possibility of negotiations”
“… President Abbas said: ‘Negotiations are the basis for reaching a solution, and we have no [other] option. I will not return to the armed Intifada; our option is the non-violent option, which has begun to be raised and upheld by the Arab Spring’… He continued: ‘From our point of view [the choice is] – negotiations, and again negotiations, and again negotiations.’ He emphasized, ‘If this option fails, then we will be left with no possibility – praise to Allah – other than to turn to the highest international body – the UN.’ The President noted, ‘The US is opposed to our applying to the UN. They have said to us: ‘If you go to the UN, we will use [our power of] veto.’ The President said: ‘We told them: If the negotiations are stuck, and you don’t want us to apply to the UN, what third option is there?’ They said, ‘We have none.’… The President said, ‘The entire world is with us, because we are taking the right road and precluding all the excuses by any element trying to divert our path.’
He added, ‘We do not support violence or the armed struggle. What I want is to build the state.’”
Headline: “President [Abbas]: Our application to the UN follows their blocking of the possibility of negotiations”
“… President Abbas said: ‘Negotiations are the basis for reaching a solution, and we have no [other] option. I will not return to the armed Intifada; our option is the non-violent option, which has begun to be raised and upheld by the Arab Spring’… He continued: ‘From our point of view [the choice is] – negotiations, and again negotiations, and again negotiations.’ He emphasized, ‘If this option fails, then we will be left with no possibility – praise to Allah – other than to turn to the highest international body – the UN.’ The President noted, ‘The US is opposed to our applying to the UN. They have said to us: ‘If you go to the UN, we will use [our power of] veto.’ The President said: ‘We told them: If the negotiations are stuck, and you don’t want us to apply to the UN, what third option is there?’ They said, ‘We have none.’… The President said, ‘The entire world is with us, because we are taking the right road and precluding all the excuses by any element trying to divert our path.’
He added, ‘We do not support violence or the armed struggle. What I want is to build the state.’”