PA President Mahmoud Abbas urged Palestinians to step up peaceful Arab Spring-style protests agaisnt the Israeli occupation

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Palestinians on Wednesday to be inspired by the Arab Spring and step up popular resistance to back the diplomatic Palestinian recognition right at the United Nations.

Speaking at a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) meeting, Abbas said seeking full UN membership for Palestinian state alongside the Zionist entity was a diplomatic move resulting from paralysis in the U.S.-backed “peace process”.

"In this coming period, we want mass action, organized and coordinated in every place," Abbas said. "This is a chance to raise our voices in front of the world and say that we want our rights."

Though the United States is expected to block the Palestinian quest for a full seat, the Palestinians expect to secure at least an upgrade in their UN status during September's General Assembly meeting in New York.

Palestinian officials are describing the diplomatic initiative as part of a new approach to the Palestinian rightful struggle to create an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Israel, which occupied those territories in 1967, sees the move as part of Palestinian efforts to “isolate” it and has warned Abbas against unilateral action.

"We support popular resistance," he said. "Every day, we face things that drive us to carry out popular resistance on a wide scale and not in one place," he said.

"I insist on popular resistance and I insist that it be unarmed popular resistance so that nobody misunderstands us. We are now inspired by the protests of the Arab Spring, all of which cry out 'peaceful', 'peaceful'," he said.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz indicated that Israel is concerned that September could serve as a platform for protests inspired by Arab uprisings this year which have toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia and have challenged others in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Bahrain.