The US Has Denied Visas For Palestinian Officials And Blocked Them From Attending UN General Assembly In September
At least 80 Palestinian officials have been affected, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who has addressed the UNGA for years, according to Al Jazeera.
The US has denied visas for Palestinian officials to attend the UN General Assembly (UNGA) held in New York in September, where at least 14 countries are set to recognize a Palestinian state.
As the host country of the UNGA, the US is under an agreement to allow visas for officials heading to the UN.
However, in a statement on Aug. 29, the US president Donald Trump’s administration said it is “denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA)” ahead of the UNGA, citing security concerns.
It accused the PLO — the internationally recognized umbrella organization to represent all Palestinians worldwide — and the PA —which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank —of undermining peace efforts and inciting terrorism.
At least 80 Palestinian officials have been affected, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who has addressed the UNGA for years, according to Al Jazeera.
The PA has asked the US to “reconsider and reverse its decision, reaffirming Palestine’s full commitment to international law, UN resolutions, and obligations toward peace,” adding that the US action is in violation of international law.
The US said it is open to revising applications if the PLO and PA “meet their obligations,” including ending what it called “international lawfare campaigns” such as the case against Israel committing genocide at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Experts have said the US decision is an attempt to prevent the recognition of Palestine as a state and paves the way for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera.
At least 14 countries, including France, Australia, Canada and Belgium have announced they are going to officially recognize Palestine at the upcoming UNGA.
The countries have also called for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.
In response, Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that work will start on building new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank “to make sure that by September, Europe’s hypocrite leaders will simply have nothing to recognize.”
The US has denied visas to Palestinian officials speaking at the UN before.
In 1988, the US refused to grant a visa to PLO leader Yasser Arafat, resulting in the UN General Assembly convening in Geneva, Switzerland, instead of New York to allow him to speak.
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Cherry Mohamed
Cherry Mohamed
Cherry Mohamed
