'Key pin' on jacket of Palestine president during UN address angers Israel: Here's what it means

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday (Sep 25) addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) via video link as he was denied a visa to travel to New York for the session. However, even as he declared that Hamas would not have a role in the post-war Palestinian government, Israel found another reason to criticise him. Israel pointed out that the Palestinian president wore a small key-shaped lapel pin during his pre-recorded speech at the UN General Assembly. Notably, Abbas has been seen wearing the key-shaped lapel pin in his previous UN addresses as well.

What the key means for Palestine?

As per reports, the key represents the mass displacement of 1948 and symbolises their claim to the “Right of Return” to their ancestral homes. For Palestinians, it is not only a sign of protest, but a symbol to declare their right. The mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948, known as the Nakba or "catastrophe," involved the expulsion of approximately 750,000 Palestinian Arabs from their homes during the 1948 Palestine war. The key serves as a tribute to Palestinians who kept their house keys when they were forced to flee. Now, the key as a symbol holds a hope that they will one day return to their properties.

What the key means for Israel?

However, Israel views the symbol as a clear sign of its intended erasure. The Israeli Foreign Ministry posted on X that the pin signals “a desire to destroy Israel.” Slamming the recognition of Palestine by several Western nations, Israel categorically rejected the Palestinian right of return. The ministry added, “It is long overdue for Arab countries to grant citizenship to the descendants of those who left in 1948. Abbas’s ‘key’ represents the old PLO agenda: a single Palestinian state replacing Israel, which will not be allowed.” "This will not happen,” the ministry said in its post.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' UNGA address

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was denied a visa by the US for attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), addressed the session via video conferencing. In his address, he said that Hamas should not have any role in the governance of Palestine. Abbas added that the October 7 attack by Hamas does not represent the Palestinians. Abbas also highlighted that the Palestinian people in Gaza have endured nearly two years of genocide, destruction, starvation, and displacement. He condemned Israel’s actions as not just aggression but war crimes and crimes against humanity, stating that these atrocities would be recorded in history as a major humanitarian tragedy. Criticising the Israeli government for continuing illegal settlement expansions in the West Bank and referring to the latest E1 settlement plan, he warned that this plan would divide the West Bank, isolate Jerusalem, and undermine the possibility of a two-state solution, violating international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.