BICOM

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has taken over from Egypt as the chair of the G77 group of states at the UN.

At the inaugural meeting, the President of the PA, Mahmoud Abbas, called for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Abbas also addressed the recent terrorist attack in Nairobi and called on all states “to work with us to combat terrorism”. Abbas set goals for the G77 in the upcoming year, including combatting climate change and ending child labour.

The PA is a non-member observer state at the UN but has been recognised by the G77 group of states as a member state since 1976. The UN General Assembly held a special vote in October to temporarily elevate Palestine’s status to allow it to take over the chairmanship.

UN Secretary General, Antonio Gutteres, spoke at the meeting and welcomed the “historic leadership of the State of Palestine”. He said: “Palestine and its citizens have first-hand experience of some of the most challenging and dramatic global issues we face”.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said that the PA “pays terrorists’ salaries from its budget that should be used for its infrastructure and development”. He added that “this will not help the Palestinian people and will be an abuse of the G77’s goals”.

The Jerusalem Post reported that 80 civil society organisations in Gaza sent a letter to the G77 group complaining that Abbas is not authorised to represent the Palestinians because his four-year term in office has expired. The letter criticised Abbas for imposing sanctions on the Gaza Strip and using the PA security forces to crack down on university lecturers, students, lawyers, physicians, journalists and human rights activists.