Palestinian factions: Abbas’ speech at UNGA lacks national support

Palestinian factions yesterday stressed that Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is heading to the UN General Assembly without national support.

In a press conference held in Gaza, leaders from the different Palestinian factions stressed that Abbas cannot voice his opposition to the “deal of the century”, Judaisation of Jerusalem and internal Palestinian division “without taking actual steps on the ground”.

Leader of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine Badran Jaber said: “The absence of the internal support for the PA president makes him weak,” noting that Abbas “could have national support” before heading to the UN.

Spokesman of the Islamic Jihad Daoud Shehab said: “When Abbas insists on going to the UNGA alone and without responding to the national demands, it means that he is heading to a blocked road.”

He stressed his movement’s demand that Abbas “stop betting on the political process and the states which broker it… There is an opportunity for national unity that responds to the Palestinian demands represented in the people’s voices in the Great March of Return.”

READ: The blocking of Palestinian rights at an international level is endorsed by the PA 

Talal Abu-Zarifa, the senior leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said Abbas “should lift the punitive measures he has imposed on Gaza and do his best to facilitate the removal of the Israeli siege, as well as to end the internal division before heading to the UNGA.”

Meanwhile, Spokesman of Al-Ahrar Movement Yasser Khalaf said: “Abbas does not represent the Palestinians as he insists on his policy to monopolise the PLO and not to end the internal division.”

Fatah MP in the West Bank Najat Abu-Baker said: “Abbas’ speech will not have anything new. He will only petition and deliver appeals for the world which is busy in different areas, and if it becomes busy in the region, it will stand with Israel.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Parliament Speaker Ahmad Bahar said: “Abbas is heading to the UNGA to represent only himself.”