Palestinian ‘legal formula’ to change after UN

‘An international recognition of our state based on the 1967 borders will make it a state under occupation. It will change the legal formula of our situation,’ Abbas told a joint interview with Jordan’s Al Dustur daily and Qatar’s Al Watan newspaper, without elaborating.

‘The UN will be our reference. Israel of course will continue its pressure to prevent us from growing.’

Last week, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said he expected at least 150 states to vote ‘for recognition of the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders with its capital in east Jerusalem as a full member at the United Nations.’

Israel is strongly opposed to the Palestinians’ UN bid, saying negotiations are the only way to resolve the conflict and establish a Palestinian state, a position backed by Washington.

‘Things will become clearer in the next days. We want to go to the United Nations because negotiations doors have been closed. If they open, we accept them,’ Abbas said.

On Saturday he asked European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to help ensure that Europe supports the Palestinian application.

Abbas meanwhile said the Palestinian reconciliation with Hamas ‘will go on to the end.’

‘There is only one authority because Hamas’ authority is not legitimate. Palestinian reconciliation has faced some obstacles but it will go on to the end,’ Abbas said, adding that Hamas does not object to the plans to seek UN membership

‘We are discussing certain issues now, while some issues have been postponed,’ he said.

Islamist Hamas and Abbas’s secular Fatah party have been at loggerheads for years but their rivalry turned bloody in 2007, when the Islamists forced Fatah out of the Gaza Strip. which they control.

In early May, the two sides signed a surprise unity deal, saying they would jointly appoint an interim government of independents to prepare for general elections within a year.

‘We faced some pressures against the reconciliation from Israel and the United States. We told them that Hamas is an integral part of the Palestinian people and that they have no right to interfere,’ Abbas said.