A group of 20 Israeli intellectuals, including artists and writers, held a meeting with Abbas at his headquarters in Ramallah, and discussed the Palestinian move for full membership at the UN and their right to statehood. They also expressed support to the Palestinian right to independence and statehood after ending the Israeli occupation.President Abbas said that Palestinians want to legitimize the Palestinian entity by obtaining independence. He confirmed that Palestinians should have an independent state as any other nation, the Maan News Agency reported.
“We are going to the UN because we want to fulfill our people’s self-determination’, Abbas told the visiting Israeli intellectuals,’The Palestinians are living under the Israeli Occupation that must end’.
“Negotiations have reached an impasse as the Israeli cabinet refuses to halt settlement construction, and refuses to commit to a clear agenda for peace talks’, Abbas added, ‘Israel refuses to hold peace talks based on international legitimacy resolutions’.
The Palestinian President further affirmed that the Palestinian leadership is committed to peace talks based on the 1967 borders, and that, for the peace talks to resume, Israel must halt its settlement activities, regardless of the outcome of the UN move.
The Israeli envoys expressed their support for Palestinians, and their UN statehood bid
“Independence is the dream of all nations, nations that seek justice, we are calling on the Palestinian Authority to go ahead and continue their just demand at the UN’, Sefi Rachlevsky, said during his meeting with the PA President, Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, ‘We wish you success and the best of luck’.
For his part, the former Israeli Foreign Ministry undersecretary, Aharon Lail, stated that “Europe, the USA and particularly the US President, Barack Obama, must feel ashamed should they vote against the Palestinian call because the Palestinian people deserve an independent state, similar to all other nations.”
“The Israeli occupation must be removed, the Palestinian people must obtain their independence as guaranteed by international conventions.” former Israeli Member of Knesset, Yael Dayan, stated
Yehuda Bauer,an Israeli Historian, stated that “No one has the right to prevent the Palestinian People from obtaining their independent state, as this is an internationally guaranteed right’.
