Abbas calls Temple Mount ‘exclusive property of Muslims’ in speech to UN General Assembly
In an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday morning, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas called the holiest Jewish site—the Temple Mount in Jerusalem—the “exclusive property of Muslims” and referred to Israel as a “terrorist state” that does not deserve membership in the United Nations.
Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas speaks during the U.N. General Assembly at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City on Sept. 26, 2024. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.
Abbas, whose presidential mandate expired in 2009–the last time P.A. elections were held–told those watching that “the world is responsible” for what he asserted were crimes against humanity taking place in the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s defensive war against Hamas.
He claimed that Israel “took advantage of what happened” on Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a massive assault in southern Israel—murdering, raping and torturing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage—to “launch a genocide” in the Gaza Strip. Abbas also said Israel has just launched a second “war of genocide” in Lebanon, calling into question what kind of hostilities the Jewish state could be involved in that wouldn’t qualify as one.
He also referred to Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir as a terrorist for calling for a Third Temple to be built on the mount.
Abbas saved a heavy dose of criticism for the Biden administration. He said he “regrets” that the White House “furnished Israel with deadly weapons it used to kill thousands of innocent civilians” while utilizing its veto power in the U.N. Security Council three times to thwart efforts to force a ceasefire on Israel with no guarantee that its hostages would be released from Gaza.
“As long as the U.S. is supporting” Israel, Abbas posed, “why not keep going?”
He also took Washington to task for denying the Palestinians full membership in the United Nations. “We don’t deserve membership in the eyes of America,” Abbas stated, adding “I don’t understand.”
He did acknowledge protesters across America who “are marching in the streets.” Many of them have called for the end of Israel and have expressed explicit support for terror groups; harassed Jews verbally and physically; and have disrupted Jewish life, including on college campuses.
“We are grateful to them,” said Abbas.
He laid out a 12-step laundry list of requests and demands for a “day-after” scenario, referring to the end of the war against Hamas and end of the terror group’s governance of Gaza. Those measures have all been laid out in one form or another in various public statements by the P.A., the United Nations and other international officials.
On that list was “an end to military aggressions by terrorist settlers” in Judea and Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem.
Abbas said he would be submitting a request to the General Assembly regarding what he said was Israel’s lack of qualification to hold U.N. membership. His citation for such a claim was unclear, as he referred to Israel’s acceptance of the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan, but provisions he said Israel has never accepted or implemented.
He also said that he would ask the world body to pass a resolution to ensure that Israel does not obstruct a visit by Abbas to the Gaza Strip, which he says he is trying to arrange.
Abbas did not fall back on Holocaust denial or revisionism—a staple of previous UNGA speeches.
Israel sent what appeared to be a staffer from its U.N. mission to attend the speech. Danny Danon, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations released a statement, pointing out that Abbas’s 26-minute speech contained no mention of Hamas.
“Since the massacre of Oct. 7, Abbas has failed to condemn Hamas for their crimes against humanity,” Danon wrote. “The Palestinian Authority under his leadership pays salaries to terrorists who kill Israelis: Whoever kills more, Abbas pays him more. Only when he stands on the U.N. platform does he talk about a peaceful solution.”
Danon said the P.A. leader’s legacy “is one of chronic weakness in the face of terrorism and hatred.”
