UN speech step in right direction; words must be strengthened with actions

(WASHINGTON DC 10/01/2015) – The American Muslims for Palestine, a national education and advocacy organization, is heartened by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ comments before the United National General Assembly yesterday for focusing the world’s attention on Israeli breaches of the Oslo Accords and for demanding Israel to take full responsibility for its occupation of Palestine. At the same time, AMP strongly asserts this rhetoric must be supported by concrete actions, which will serve to unite the Palestinian body politic and could help in ending Israel’s colonizing, apartheid enterprise in Palestine and freedom and dignity for the Palestinian people.

While President Abbas did not call for an end to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords outright, he said Palestinians will no longer abide by the agreement in light of Israel's consistent failure to do so for that last 22 years. Since the Accords were signed, the settler population in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has more than doubled; settlement construction continued unabated; an apartheid wall and checkpoints have prohibited Palestinians' freedom of movement and Israel has enforced a total blockade on Gaza. Palestinians daily are faced with the threat that Israeli authorities will divide Al Aqsa mosque and prohibit Palestinians’ presence from a significant portion of the Al Aqsa sanctuary.

The speech was a step in the right direction but it must be backed up by meaningful, concrete actions. The PA must immediately end its security cooperation with Israel, through which the PA carries out occupation policies against its own people; it must recognize that “positive investment” without a political component to ensure Palestinian freedom is just occupation by economic means; and the PA must expedite the process of holding Israel accountable for war crimes by creating a timetable to implement taking Israel before the International Criminal Court.

These measures must be put into place if Israel is to take full responsibility for its occupation and if Palestinians are ever to have full self-determination. Without these measures, the status quo will remain and Palestinian freedom and dignity will remain merely a dream.

AMP also calls upon the PA and the Palestinian body politic to reaffirm the commitment to unity and to take definitive steps toward meaningful reconciliation. We also feel that Mr. Abbas was right in evoking President Barack Obama’s 2009 hopeful Cairo speech, in which he called for a Palestinian state and an end to settlement construction.

In view of his Cairo speech, AMP calls upon President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry to reaffirm the US position that settlements are illegal and an obstacle to peace. We ask the president and secretary to recognize Israel has never upheld the Oslo Accords and that Palestinians are worse off today because of this. In light of global support for Palestinian liberation, we ask President Obama and Secretary Kerry to acknowledge that our unilateral support for Israel’s illegal and inhumane policies hurts Americans’ national security and our standing around the world.

Finally, AMP calls upon the international community to bring the political will to bear upon Israel to end the occupation so Palestinians can once again enjoy their inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.