Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called yesterday for an end to the “apartheid” that he said Israel had imposed on the Palestinians.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Abbas pledged to give peace efforts undertaken by US President Donald Trump a chance, but warned the new US-led drive must not jettison the two-state solution.
“If the two-state solution were to be destroyed due to the creation of a one-state reality with two systems - apartheid - this would be failure,” Abbas said in a nearly 45-minute speech.
“Can the world accept an apartheid regime in the 21st century?” he asked.
Quoting Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president and a staunch supporter of Palestinian statehood, Abbas told the assembly that the international community must do for the Palestinians what was achieved for South Africa. “We are entrusted and you are entrusted to end apartheid in Palestine,” he said.
Related Story