The P.A. leader said the late U.S. president was "the first who recognized the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.'
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas released a statement on Monday mourning the death of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, whom he praised for acknowledging the “realities of Israeli apartheid.”
In the statement, which Abbas’s office posted on social media, the P.A. chief called Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100, an “extraordinary statesman and global peacemaker” and “the first American president who recognized the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.”
The statement continued, “He spoke boldly against injustice, including addressing the realities of Israeli apartheid. A man of courage, moral integrity, humanity and diplomacy, President Carter was an inspiration to generations and a beacon of hope for all who believed in the power of justice and compassion.”