Today the leader of the Palestinian Authority wished “the Jewish people of the world” a Happy New Year in the UN. It surprised everybody. Not even Australia’s prime minister had done so outside a community paper.

Now, this was all part of a statement made by Mahmoud Abbas in the UN today on the occasion of Australia, Canada, France and the UK recognising a Palestinian state.

It was surprising and here’s what you should know about it because quite a bit was said. It will affect all no matter one’s religion in the weeks to come, for there is one huge roadblock all must face, but some tantalising rhetoric too.

Let’s begin.

Happy Jewish New Year says Palestine

The leader of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has spoken at the United Nations in a 12-minute address, and by surprise it ended with a wish to the “Jewish people of the world” for a “good new year”. Saudi Arabia’s English news service did likewise.

This is how Abbas’s address, verbatim, came to this end:

“We want ladies and gentlemen, a democratic, modern state based on the rule of law, pluralism, the rotation of power, equality, justice, and the empowerment of women and youth.

“We have previously recognized Israel’s right to exist in 1988 and in 1993, and we still recognize it.

“We reject the conflation of solidarity with the Palestinian cause with the issue of antisemitism, which we reject based on our principles.

“And I say to the Israeli people, our future and your future lie in peace. Let the violence and war stop.

“I take this opportunity to address all the Jews of the world, wishing them a good year on the occasion of the Hebrew New Year.”

How did we get there?

Now we need to look at what led up to it, as Abbas made one huge slip and included a number of criteria for peace that no negotiations with the PLO have ever achieved.

First the slip.

Abbas may not have realised it but he praised Egypt and Jordan for letting the people of Gaza be used as Hamas’s human shields. As we know, Egypt has locked its borders against Gaza with towers of razor wire. Abbas said: “We value the positions of Egypt and Jordan rejecting the displacement of Palestinians.”

Well, if not physically, what then did Egypt and Jordan do to prevent the movement of refugees to safety? Have they committed war crimes?

But let’s move on to the tangible issues:

1. Israel gives up Jerusalem. Abbas called for: “The embodiment of an independent State of Palestine with its capital, East Jerusalem, alongside the State of Israel in security, peace, and good neighbourliness.”

Someone has let Abbas think that this is set in stone. Whoever did so has lied: for it would handover ownership of the Jewish Western Wall and the Temple precinct to Palestine. Pre-Six Day war Jordan restricted Israeli and Jewish access. The Western Wall area today is the work of Israeli restoration of sites left decrepit by Jordan. Why would Israel jeopardise access to its holiest site again?

This is the whole ball game folks. Jerusalem is not just an issue. It’s the issue for Arab-Israeli peace.

2. UNRWA. Abbas called for: “The guarantee of the entry of humanitarian aid through the United Nations and UNRWA.”

Thing is, UNRWA personnel participated in the October 7 2023 massacre and in the hiding of hostages; UNRWA facilities were used by Hamas as military bases and weapons sites. Numerous countries have therefore already defunded UNRWA. Why would UNRWA be resurrected without criminal investigation and prosecution? Is Abbas worried about losing UN funding?

3. Trump and the US. Abbas said: “And we praise, ladies and gentlemen, the role of the Egyptian, Qatari, and American mediation that seeks to stop the war.”

Trump disagrees with any recognition of Palestine until Hamas surrenders and releases all hostages. We will see what Trump’s UN sit-down with key Arab partners produces tomorrow.

4. Hamas must end. Abbas said that: “Hamas will not have a role in governance and it, and other factions, must hand over their weapons to the Palestinian Authority because we want one state, one law, and one legitimate security force.”

How will he achieve this? Hamas went to war with Abbas’s PA, murdered them and tortured them on taking power. How will the world avoid a new civil war in Gaza and the West Bank if Hamas is pressured out?

5. Qatar. Israel’s strike on Qatar got a weird mention here. Abbas said: “The blatant aggression against the sovereignty of the sisterly State of Qatar and other Arab countries, a matter that requires a deterrent international stance.”

Firstly why is Qatar central to the Palestinian cause if not for its money? Secondly, what does he mean by deterrence? Is Abbas hinting that the Saudis, Egyptians, Turks and Jordanians have agreed to fly combat air patrols over Qatar and the Mideast and engage Israel in combat going forward? Is he suggesting that France, UK, Canada and Australia will fly defensive sorties above Doha, Damascus and Sa’ana?

6. The PLO is the law. Abbas declared that anybody running for the new Palestinian parliament must pay homage to the PLO. In mentioning elections and a Palestinian constitution Abbas said: “No parties or individuals who do not adhere to the political program and international commitments of the Palestine Liberation Organization and international legitimacy, will participate, with international observation.”

Is Abbas saying he will guarantee that Palestine will never become an Islamic republic or an Islamic caliphate? Is he saying that Palestine can never wage a jihad on Israel or be run by Sharia law? And again, which other nations will step up as electoral scrutineers?

7. Secularism. It looks like the answer is yes on denying Sharia law, as Abbas next said: “We want, ladies and gentlemen, a democratic, modern state based on the rule of law, pluralism, the rotation of power, equality, justice, and the empowerment of women and youth.”

Outside Israel, no such country exists in the Middle East. Does equality expand to LGB rights? Why would the Arabs and Islamists let this occur with Al Qaeda now encamped in Syria, Iran still looking for nukes, and with the West overrun with extremists calling for the imposition of Sharia while flying Palestinian flags in London, Paris, Toronto and Melbourne?

8. Recognition of Israel. Abbas made it clear though, saying: “We have previously recognized Israel’s right to exist in 1988 and in 1993, and we still recognize it.”

Has he therefore decreed the end of jihad against Israel from all Muslim lands? How will Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Yemen and Qatar take this?

9. Antisemitism. And here’s the BIG one, for Abbas has been a Holocaust denier. Here he renounces all past antisemitism when he said: “We reject the conflation of solidarity with the Palestinian cause with the issue of antisemitism, which we REJECT based on our principles.”

So, how will this renouncement and point 8 above get out to the anarchists on the streets of the West? How will they agree that not only must anti-Zionism stop but that it must never be extended to antisemitism? How will Abbas take control of Palestine’s antisemitic PR machine?

Therefore, the ultimate question is: Has Abbas really changed his spots?

10. Wishing a happy Jewish New Year. Abbas then took all by surprise and said: “I take this opportunity to address all the Jews of the world, wishing them a good year on the occasion of the Hebrew New Year.”

Not even all Western leaders have done this.

The reality

In summary we have a mixed bag here.

Abbas both demands full Arab respect for the Jews and the Zionist cause, while also calling for the protection of Qatar and UNRWA.

Abbas calls for a secular and moderate Palestine against rabid Sharia sentiment, while cementing a mindset that “pluralism” for all religions and “equal rights” for men and women are the values of the PLO.

Abbas also calls for a Palestinian military, using Hamas’s arms, while invoking an international military deterrence against Israel, plus the US’s full compliance.

There are too many fires here that Abbas cannot control.

In the meantime Israeli hostages rot in Hamas’s tunnels of doom. Abbas has no sway over Hamas. Hamas continues to march in the streets, universities and classrooms of the West, and Hamas will not concede that it has yet lost.

Therefore, let the first step towards peace be the West taking back its streets from Hamas’s sympathisers. That’s how you get Hamas’s attention. That’s how you get Netanyahu to take world opinion seriously.

The few Western countries that recognised Palestine today did not achieve this, particularly coinciding with the Jewish Rosh Hashanah High Holiday when Israel could not even attend the UN. Remember that the last countries that tried that strategy lost the Yom Kippur War.

© 2025 Adam Parker.

Picture credit: Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas addresses the UN General Assembly after Australia, Canada, France, and UK recognise the State of Palestine. September 22 2025. Public domain.