A Palestinian diplomat speaking to students at the United Nations headquarters in New York told them the Palestinians were proud to be throwing stones at Israeli forces and will continue teaching their children to do so.

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In a recording obtained by Ynet, Abdallah Abushawesh, who serves as a senior adviser to the UN's Development Group and as a member of the Palestinian UN mission, is heard saying in broken English, "We are very clever and very expert at throwing the stones. We are very proud to do that. We will not stop to learn our kids (to do that)."

Abdallah Abushawesh tells students about stone throwing

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To the sound of sniggering from his listeners, Abushawesh went on to say that every Palestinian caught throwing stones by Israel gets sent to jail. "We are very proud that we are stone throwers. I'm one of them. Now I became a little bit older, but I stay resistant in the name of my kids," he continued.

The Palestinian diplomat later told the students about his own past as a stone-thrower during the first intifada. "I was in high school. I never missed an opportunity to throw stones. This is our life. We develop our resistance every day. We're proud of it," he said.

Abushawesh was speaking to a group of international relations students from McGill University who were at the UN for a tour and a series of meetings as part of their program.

Abdallah Abushawesh

The students also met with Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, who told them about Palestinian efforts to be recognized as a state by the UN.

"There's a country in the Security Council, the US, which won't allow us to realize what's ours, and it is blocking us for political and ideological reasons, and not for legal reasons," Mansour said.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, slammed Abushawesh's comments, saying, "The Palestinians are no longer trying to hide the truth. The Palestinian leadership and its representatives are inciting against Israel and openly encouraging terrorism. The international community must not allow it."

"It cannot be that inside the UN, which is supposed to make peace and protect human rights, a diplomat will incite to violence and terrorism, which wound and even kill innocent Israelis," Danon added.