Mahmoud Abbas — UN General Assembly address, 78th session (2023)

Once again, I come to you carrying the cause of my people, who are struggling for freedom and independence, to remind you of the tragedy caused by the Nakba since seventy-five years ago, the effects of which continue to be exacerbated by the Israeli occupation of our territory. This occupation that challenges your resolutions that have exceeded a thousand, violates the principles of international law and international legitimacy, while racing against time to change the historical, geographical and demographic reality on the ground aimed at perpetuating the occupation and entrenching apartheid.

Despite this painful reality, and thirty years after the Oslo Accords, which Israel has totally discarded, we still maintain hope that your esteemed organization will be able to implement its resolutions demanding an end to the Israeli occupation of our territory and the realization of the independence of the fully sovereign State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the borders of the 4th of June 1967, as well as resolving the issue of Palestine refugees, in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy, especially General Assembly Resolution 194 (III) […]

The occupation government also persists violating the City of Jerusalem and its people, assaulting our Islamic and Christian sacred sites, and violating the historical and legal status of the holy sites, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque, which international legitimacy has recognized as an exclusive place of worship for Muslims alone […]

I also call on the States that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine to declare their recognition and for the State of Palestine to be admitted to full membership in the United Nations.

Our people defend their homeland and their legitimate rights, through peaceful popular resistance as a strategic option for self-defense, and to liberate the land from a colonial occupation that does not believe in peace, and has no regard for the principles of truth, justice and human values. We will continue our resistance to this brutal occupation until it is defeated from our land.

My message today to the Israelis is that this hideous occupation against us will not last regardless of their ambitions and delusions, because the Palestinian people are remaining on their land, which they have inhabited for thousands of years […] They cannot leave their land, and if anyone must leave it must be the occupiers and usurpers.