The Palestinian president said Wednesday he is opposed to another armed uprising against Israel, even if faltering peace efforts fail later this year.
Mahmoud Abbas told reporters in Tunisia that he remains committed to the U.S.-backed target of reaching a negotiated peace agreement with Israel by September. But with talks stalled for months, he repeated his plan to unilaterally seek United Nations endorsement of Palestinian independence in the absence of a deal.
Abbas said he would turn to the U.N. General Assembly, where he said he expects some 140 countries to vote in favour of an independent Palestine.
Since the assembly's decisions are not legally binding, the vote would would be largely symbolic, and it remains unclear what the Palestinians will do after that.
Abbas said whatever happens, he did not consider violence an option. "I will not accept a third military uprising," he said, noting that the last armed uprising against Israel, last decade, "was disastrous for us."
Some 6,000 Palestinians, along with more than 1,000 Israelis, were killed in years of fighting that erupted in September 2000. The fighting also heavily damaged the Palestinian economy.
Abbas said he still supported "popular resistance" — or demonstrations — against Israel's occupation of the West Bank. Israel says these demonstrations often turn violent, and activists are sporadically wounded, or even killed, in clashes with Israeli forces.
"We have the popular resistance," he said. "But to say that you want to hold a gun or pistol to fight, then excuse me, I will not allow that as long as I'm the president."
Israel and the Palestinians relaunched peace talks last September at the White House, where President Barack Obama pledged to forge a peace deal within a year.
The talks broke down just three weeks later after an Israeli moratorium on settlement construction expired. The Palestinians say there is no point in negotiating if Israel continues to build homes for Jews in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — captured territories the Palestinians claim for their future state.
Abbas has said he will return to the negotiating table if Israel halts settlement construction and commits to a near-total withdrawal from the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says peace talks should start without any preconditions.
September is shaping up to be a key month for peace efforts. The Palestinians say that in the absence of a peace deal, they will take their case to the United Nations.
While they can expect strong support in the General Assembly, it appears doubtful that they can win recognition from the more powerful Security Council.
The U.S., which wields veto power in the council, has been cool to the idea of a unilateral declaration of independence, saying Israel and the Palestinians must resolve their differences through negotiations. Still, widespread international support for Palestinian independence
The Palestinians won an important endorsement last week when donor states, which send hundreds of millions of dollars in aid each year, said institutions developed by the Palestinian Authority are now "above the threshold for a functioning state."
The international support for the Palestinians has put heavy pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offer his own diplomatic plan to end the impasse.
Netanyahu is expected to deliver a major policy speech to the U.S. Congress next month. But officials close to the prime minister say he has not yet decided what he plans to say.
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