Talk about playing to your crowd, the reaction from the rabidly anti-Israel U.N. must have been orgasmic.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of ethnic cleansing Thursday for building settlements in east Jerusalem.

“It is a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people via the demolition of their homes,” Abbas said in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

His remarks came shortly before Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to speak.

Israel conquered the eastern part of Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Mideast War. It later annexed it but the move has not been internationally recognized. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to the capital of their future state in the West Bank.

Abbas also said he has opened talks on a new bid for international recognition at the U.N., but didn’t specify exactly when he will ask the General Assembly to vote.

HT: DRUDGE