Mahmoud Abbas

Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas has just addressed the UN General Assembly. He began by lamenting the progress of the international community to implement the clear path to the full re-establishment of Palestinian statehood that was promised in the 1993 Oslo Accords which were signed between PLO leader Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin (who was later assassinated by an Israeli terrorist for his role in the accords) and US President Bill Clinton.

(MPN) — The nearly two million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, under the dual thumbs of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, have faced waves of military destruction, along with enforced shortages of basic goods and services. Israel, at the Authority’s request, has cut off most of Gaza’s electricity as well.

GAZA — The Gaza Strip — one of the most densely populated areas in the world and often referred to as an open-air prison — rarely makes headlines nowadays, despite a situation there that is becoming increasingly dire for local Palestinians.

Gaza has been the focus of intense talks behind closed doors in recent weeks as disquiet has risen among Arab states at the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the coastal enclave.
Palestinians there are enduring a scorching summer with barely a few hours of power a day, after Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority (PA) has refused to finance essential services. Abbas is trying to weaken his Hamas rivals who rule Gaza and assert his own authority.

Perhaps it was fitting that the most significant act of organized mass resistance by Palestinians to the occupation in many years was launched from behind bars. In April of this year more than 1,500 political prisoners began an indefinite hunger strike against their increasingly degrading treatment by the Israeli authorities. Some called it a prison “intifada,” the word Palestinians use for their serial efforts to “shake off” Israeli oppression.

Mohammed Abed is a 28-year-old taxi driver from the village of Qarara, near the town of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. He has no teeth.
Lack of medical care and proper dentistry work cost him all of his teeth, which rotted and decayed at a very young age. Yet, his dire financial needs prevented him from acquiring dentures. His community eventually pitched in, collecting the few hundred dollars needed for Mohammed to finally being able to eat.

It was time to do the Zionist boogie within a mere period of 27 hours, and anyone wishing to see two muggers of history enjoying each other’s company found themselves peering at Donald Trump of the United States, and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, nearly arm in arm on the recent tilt in US policy.  “We understand each other,” effused the Israeli leader, “and so much of the things that we wish to accomplish for both our countries.”

Donald Trump has visited the holy city of Bethlehem for talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Trump gave a rather vague opening address before walking past a dower and downtrodden looking Abbas who heads Palestine’s Fatah party. This was miles away from the friendly ‘first name basis’ with which Trump greeted and clearly enjoyed

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas listens during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Abbas wants peace talks with Israel without any preconditions at all, as soon as possible. (AP/Virginia Mayo)

President Donald Trump shakes hands with with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, May 3, 2017, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)
A tweet posted on U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal account on Wednesday saying it was “an honor” to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was removed a day later.
The tweet, posted shortly after the two leaders met at the White House, said Trump was hoping to get “something terrific” agreed between Israel and the Palestinians.