US Blocks Abbas and 80 PA Officials From Attending UN General Assembly By The Media Line Staff The United States announced Friday that it will not allow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to New York for next month’s United Nations General Assembly, where several American allies are expected to recognize a Palestinian state. […]
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The Media Line: US Blocks Abbas and 80 PA Officials From Attending UN General Assembly
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US Blocks Abbas and 80 PA Officials From Attending UN General Assembly
By The Media Line Staff
The United States announced Friday that it will not allow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to New York for next month’s United Nations General Assembly, where several American allies are expected to recognize a Palestinian state.
A State Department official told The Times of Israel that the visa restriction applies to Abbas and about 80 other Palestinian Authority officials. The decision implements a policy first outlined last month, now formally enforced in the run-up to the annual UN gathering of world leaders.
Abbas had planned to deliver an address at UN headquarters in Manhattan and take part in a summit organized by France and Saudi Arabia. Britain, France, Australia, and Canada are expected to use the occasion to extend recognition of a Palestinian state.
Abbas’s office expressed “astonishment” at the US move, saying it violates the UN Headquarters Agreement of 1947, which generally obligates Washington to allow foreign diplomats entry to the UN. The office argued the decision contradicts international law and undermines the status of Palestine as an observer member of the organization.
The State Department said the ban was rooted in security and foreign policy concerns. “It is in our national security interests to hold the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” its statement read. The official added that Washington can deny visas for reasons of security, extremism, or foreign policy.
The move recalls a 1988 decision when the US barred then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat from entering the country. Unlike today, that came before the Oslo Accords in which Israel recognized the PLO. US policy has since permitted controversial leaders, including former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to attend UN sessions in New York.
Abbas’s office urged Washington to reverse its decision, reaffirming “Palestine’s full commitment to international law, UN resolutions and obligations toward peace,” as conveyed in his letters to world leaders, including former US President Donald Trump.