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Abbas Bashes Trump, US Policies in UN Speech

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 27, 2018.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 27, 2018.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said "Jerusalem is not for sale" and "Palestinians' rights are not up for bargaining" Thursday at the United Nations.

Abbas also called U.S. President Donald Trump "biased" in favor of Israel and said, "We will also not accept sole American mediation in the peace process."

The day before, Trump said he now favored a "two-state solution," a term that typically refers to splitting Israel and Palestine into two sovereign areas with Jerusalem as a shared capital. He said he would reveal a new peace plan in the coming months.

While Palestinians welcomed the statement, many were still furious at Trump's decisions to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, to close the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington and to end aid funding, including to a U.N. agency that supports Palestinian refugees.

"This administration has reneged on all previous U.S. commitments, has undermined the two-state solution and has revealed its false claims of concern about the humanitarian conditions of the Palestinian people," Abbas said in his speech.

"All such decisions threaten the Palestinian national cause and constitute an assault on international law and relevant United Nations resolutions," said the Palestinian Authority president.

"It is ironic that the American administration still talks about what they call the 'deal of the century.' But what is left for this administration to give to the Palestinian people? Humanitarian solutions?"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the next up to the podium, stating the Palestinian Authority kills those who sell land to Jews. "And you call Israel racist? The more they slay, the more you pay," he said.

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