Erekat slams US
Photo: AFP
Erekat: US veto on statehood unjustified
Palestinian Authority slams American Administration, declares that Abbas will personally submit UN bid for statehood; US failed to restart peace process, should reconsider its position, top PA official says
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas intends to personally submit a bid for UN membership by the future state of Palestine in September, senior PA official Saeb Erekat said Saturday.
The US added it intends to "impose sanctions" on the leadership in Ramallah in such case.
Erekat told Palestinian news agency Ma'an that Abbas will be the one to submit the request, rather than the Arab League, as was reported this week.
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Erekat also condemned the official position of the United States, which informed the Palestinian leadership that it would use its veto power at the Security Council to curb a decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
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Addressing American statements objecting to the Palestinian UN bid, Erekat said: "We do not see any justification for the American position to utilize the veto power."
"We call on the American Administration to reconsider this position in a to-the-point matter, especially after the Administration failed in resuming the peace process and in forcing Israel to put an end to construction in the settlements," Erekat said.
Earlier this week, the Palestinian leadership, in unusually harsh criticism of Washington, held the US responsible for "racist" Israeli policies it said had sabotaged the peace process.
The leadership said recent developments had confirmed the need for the Palestinians to go to the UN General Assembly in September to seek international recognition for a Palestinian state within the 1967 lines.
"The only option facing the world today, especially the United States, is to use all tools to oblige the occupiers to halt their racist, expansionary policy," the PLO said in a statement.
Reuters contributed to the report
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