United Nations bedazzled by Abbas word wizardry

5. "Palestine is a country of holiness and peace. It is the birthplace of Christ, the messenger of love and peace, and the Isra' and Mi'raj(ascension to heaven and night journey) of Mohammed"

Abbas omitted any mention of the Jews – the forebears of the Christians

6. "It is no longer useful to waste time in negotiations for the sake of negotiations; what is required is to mobilize international efforts to oversee an end to the occupation in line with the resolutions of international legitimacy."

Abbas supposedly supports "resolutions of international legitimacy" – yet the PLO he heads has declared that the Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine, and everything that has been based upon them, are deemed null and void.

The League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the United Nations Charter are resolutions of international legitimacy that cannot be swept away because Abbas does not like them.

7. The state of Palestine, based on the 4th of June 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, is a state under occupation, as was the case for many countries during World War II."

(i) "The state of Palestine" does not meet the legal requirements of customary international law as encapsulated in the 1933 Montevideo Convention.

(ii) There were no borders – only armistice lines.

(iii) How can "Palestine" be a state under occupation since there was no such State in existence prior to 1967?

The applause accorded Abbas in the UN General Assembly indicates how his deceptively misleading word wizardry continues to confound attempts to end the 100 years old Jewish-Arab conflict.

Exposing its false peddlers must never cease.

Time the United Nations woke up and restored its own credibility.