UNGA

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas address the general debate of the UN General Assembly’s 70th session, September 20, 2015. (UN Photo/Cia Pak)

What Abbas should have told the United Nations

What if the Abbas had announced this was his last UN speech as Israel’s security contractor? A reimagined version of the speech that wasn’t. (Read or watch Abbas’s actual speech.) By Rida Abu Rass H.E. Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, President of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, Excellencies,…

By +972 Magazine October 3, 2015

WATCH: Netanyahu’s deafening silence, the extended version

The Israeli prime minister digs deeper into his bag of UN shtick. (Updated below with even better versions.) Israeli Prime Minister is known for his antics and shtick at the United Nations. In the past he has flaunted cartoon drawings of bombs, waved blueprints of Auschwitz and now he used a new prop — deafening silence.…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man October 1, 2015

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the UNGA during the general debate, September 26, 2014. (UN Photo/Amanda Voisard)

Is this what the end of Oslo looks like?

Abbas tells UN General Assembly that the PA cannot continue to be bound by previous agreements with Israel; calls for a multilateral approach to peacekeeping. The Palestinian Authority cannot continue to be bound by previous agreements with Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the UN General Assembly during his speech Wednesday, throwing the PA’s obligation to…

By Edo Konrad September 30, 2015

Latest

Flags of member nations flying at United Nations Headquarters. (photo: UN / Joao Araujo Pinto)

European fickleness ahead of UN vote as immature as Israeli response

As I was witnessing how Israel lost European support last week ahead of the Palestinian statehood bid at the UNGA, I felt like it reminded me of something. But I couldn’t remember what. The day after the vote, it dawned on me. As I was watching my daughter play with her kindergarten friends during a…

By Ami Kaufman December 1, 2012

Celebration in Ramallah over the Palestinian statehood bid, November 29, 2012 (photo: Activestills)

UN votes yes on Palestinian statehood: Not ‘just’ a symbol

While commentators say the vote is merely symbolic, at least for Palestinians and the international community, the vote could be a game-changing kind of symbol. One week ago, the request to the UN General Assembly to grant Palestine status as a non-member observer state looked like a poor stepchild of the highly anticipated first “UN…

By Dahlia Scheindlin November 29, 2012

What Netanyahu got wrong about us ‘medieval’ Arabs

The Arabs are backward and Muslims want to destroy the world. And then there was that diagram. Comedian Amer Zahr breaks down Netanyahu’s UN speech. By Amer Zahr This week, Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech in front of the General Assembly of the United Nations. As a Palestinian, I tuned in. It’s my duty. Plus,…

By +972 Magazine September 30, 2012

Why I hate those Bibi memes

They serve as Netanyahu’s echo chamber, they divert attention from the real issues at hand and they disguise political desperation as internet-activism. Memes shouldn’t be more than inside jokes, but nowadays they seem to lead the conversation. On Thursday night, Ami Kaufman posted on this site a collection of memes dealing with the Looney Toons…

By Noam Sheizaf September 29, 2012

Bibi’s ACME bomb at UNGA inspires Israeli meme artists

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (or should I say Bib E. Coyote?) had a lot of people worldwide holding their stomachs with laughter as he held his Looney Tune ACME bomb above the UNGA podium. The Israeli meme artists, as usual, were quick to respond. Here are a few (I may update as the creativity surges):…

By Ami Kaufman September 27, 2012

Netanyahu with his cartoonish diagram of a bomb (photo: screenshot)

Bibi and the bomb: Buffoonery or clever tactics at the UN?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave his much-anticipated speech at the United Nations General Assembly today. He started off by leaning casually on the podium and surveying the people in the hall. At one point he punctuated his speech with the idiomatic expression, “Yeah, right!” He gratified his fans on Twitter by lubricating their virtual drinking…

By Lisa Goldman September 27, 2012

Obama and Netanyahu in the Oval Office (photo: Wikimedia commons)

Wild Card – last chapter: Bibi and Obama pave the way for one-state solution

SAVE THE DATE: September 23, 2011. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will give his “truth” speech at the UN General Assembly. The “truth” will actually be the annihilation of a two-state solution, and thus with it, the end of Zionism In October 2010 I started writing the “Wild card” campaign. To make a long story short,…

By Ami Kaufman September 18, 2011

September: The rules of the game have already changed

Israel’s new ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, gave a fumbling interview to Haaretz, illustrating the panic growing in Israeli diplomatic circles ahead of September. The vote won’t bring the Palestinians a state – but rules of the game have plainly already changed, before the vote even happened. The summer will be spent largely aligning…

By Dimi Reider June 19, 2011