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Abbas: ‘Israel must assume all of its responsibilities as an occupying power’

The Palestinian president spoke on Wednesday at the UN where a flag representing the ‘State of Palestine’ was raised. Bibi arrives on Thursday.

by
Jonathan Zalman
September 30, 2015
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Palestinian boys stand next to their national flag fluttering on a small boat beached along the Mediterranean Sea shore line in Gaza City, September 11, 2015.Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Palestinian boys stand next to their national flag fluttering on a small boat beached along the Mediterranean Sea shore line in Gaza City, September 11, 2015.Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images

In the last week or so, New York City has played host to a number of significant officials: Pope Francis, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin. On Wednesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave a speech to the UN general assembly, noting that Palestinians “cannot continue to be bound” by the Oslo Peace Accords since “Israel continuously violates them.”

After Abbas’s speech, the flag of the State of Palestine was raised outside the UN building, a symbolic gesture that was unanimously approved earlier this month.

Watch Abbas’s speech below, or read the full text here.

Jonathan Zalman is a writer and teacher based in Brooklyn.