The United States said on Friday it will not allow Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas to travel to New York next month for a United Nations gathering of world leaders, where several US allies are set to recognise Palestine as a state.
A State Department official said Mr Abbas and about 80 other Palestinians would be affected by the decision to deny and revoke visas from members of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the West Bank-based PA.
Mr Abbas had been planning to travel to New York for the annual high-level UN General Assembly at UN headquarters in Manhattan. He was also set to attend a summit there – hosted by France and Saudi Arabia – where Britain, France, Australia and Canada have pledged to formally recognise a Palestinian state.
Mr Abbas’s office said it was astonished by the visa decision and argued that it violated the UN “headquarters agreement”.
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Under the 1947 UN “headquarters agreement,” the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York. Washington, however, has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
The State Department justified its decision on Friday by reiterating longstanding US and Israeli allegations that the PA and PLO had failed to repudiate extremism while pushing for “unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state.
Palestinian officials reject such allegations and say that decades of US-mediated talks have failed to end Israeli occupation and secure an independent state of Palestine.
“(It) is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” the State Department said.
The department said the PA’s mission to the UN, comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.
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UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the UN would discuss the visa issue with the State Department, “in line with UN Headquarters agreement between the UN and the US”.
The US also refused to issue a visa to PLO leader Yasser Arafat in 1988. The UN General Assembly held a meeting that year in Geneva instead of New York so he could address it.
The State Department said it demands that the PA and PLO “consistently repudiate terrorism”, including the October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked Israel’s war in Gaza.
In June, Mr Abbas wrote a letter to France’s president in which he condemned the Hamas attack and called on hostages taken by the militant group to be released.
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar welcomed the State Department’s decision.
Israel and the US are upset with several allies who have pledged to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN next month.
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The recognition pledges by the western powers reflect frustration with Israel’s assault in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of people and set off a starvation crisis. It also reflects anger with Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, viewed as the heartland of a potential Palestinian state.
At least 147 of the 193 UN member states already recognise a Palestinian state. The Palestinians currently have observer status at the UN, the same as the Holy See (Vatican).
The Palestinians have long sought a state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The US says a Palestinian state can only be established through direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. – Reuters
