Abbas Applies for Palestinian Statehood at the UN

The Palestinian President presented his official bid for Palestinian statehood on Friday.

In a much anticipated and widely controversial move Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas officially bid for UN membership on Friday. Abbas gave a speech at the General Assembly calling for a “Palestinian Spring” and senior Fatah officials have asked that the Security Council make its membership decision within two weeks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the General Assembly, emphasizing the need for a negotiated, bilateral agreement instead. Hamas, the political organization in control of the Gaza Strip, said neither the UN application nor negotiations would provide Palestinians what they want, and that Abbas’ description of Palestinian suffering differed from reality. The Canadian government said it would oppose the bid in a symbolic vote and maintained that direct negotiations with Israel were the way to go.