I was shocked when watching the frustration of the 80-year-old Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, while he was recently speaking at the annual session of the UN General Assembly. He was bitter and frank in expressing how tired he was with the mirage of the “direct peace talks” and the “two-state solution”, which have led his nation up a blind alley. In contrast, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu in his UN speech was in full bloom - excited, angry and threatening. In referring to others, Netanyahu uttered some truth: “When bad behavior is rewarded, it only gets worse”. Who does not know that Israel is a stubborn and violent country which started as a tiny state, and which now holds millions of Palestinians under the yoke of occupation? Its ever-expanding illegal settlements in Palestinian territory are always rewarded by the West. Abbas knows very well that at the UN, only the powerful have a voice, no matter if they are aggressors or the supporters of aggressors. When Israel cannot justify its occupation morally, it turns to history to prove its claim over Palestinian land. If this is the case, then every nation has the right to invade another on the pretext of ancient historical empires and their boundaries. Abbas has taken back something from the UN to console his people, namely, his picture at the raising of his country's flag at the United Nations. For the time being, it seems as if that is all that the world can offer Palestine. Masood Khan, Jubail