Abbas: Palestinians willing to coexist with Israel

President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that the Palestinians are willing to peacefully coexist with Israel as long as it recognizes their right to statehood and halts all settlements activities in the Palestinian Territory, especially East Jerusalem. “We are determined to end our conflict with Israel and achieve peace through negotiations,” said Abbas during a meeting with members of the Palestinian community in the Colombian capital Bogota, stressing that it is in Israel’s best interest to recognize the Palestinian state and coexist with Palestinians to live side by side in security and stability. “It has been our right to establish a Palestinian state since 1948, but the conditions were difficult. Now, we’ll get our right through the United Nations,” said Abbas, adding that 130 countries recognize the Palestinian state and more will recognize it soon. Abbas arrived Monday in Colombia, the third stop in his Latin American tour to rally international support for the Palestinian application for statehood membership in the UN Security Council.