Palestinian Authority official criticizes US decision to bar Abbas from UN General Assembly
A senior Palestinian official rejected the United States’ decision to bar PA President Mahmoud Abbas from attending the UN General Assembly in New York to deliver his speech in person.
The official, who is one of Abbas’s closest associates, expressed dissatisfaction with what he said appeared to be the US administration’s lack of consideration for the efforts made by the PA to implement some new moves and reforms.
“It is clear that the US has taken a position without considering the details,” he claimed, referring to reforms the PA has begun introducing into its institutions as part of its commitments to the international community.
“It seems that the issue is not the reforms we make or do not make. Rather, it looks like a political issue,” he said, acknowledging that the US administration’s decision to deny Abbas’s entry visa was prompted by the PA’s diplomatic moves at international institutions, efforts to gain recognition for a Palestinian state, and actions with the International Court of Justice- steps the US and Israel consider unilateral.
This is the second year in a row that Abbas has been denied a US visa, forcing him to address the UN General Assembly remotely.
Palestinian officials condemn US move preventing Abbas from attending UN
The Ramallah-based official said there were expectations that, unlike last year, when President Abbas was barred from entering the US to attend the UN General Assembly summit, the United States would take a different approach this year. “We thought that the Americans would enable President Abbas to come to New York and join the gathering with other world leaders. But unfortunately, the Americans did not approve our request,” he said.
However, Abbas will be allowed to address the General Assembly remotely. The official said it has not yet been decided whether the Palestinian president will deliver his speech live by video conference or send a recorded statement.
He confirmed that Palestinian officials have recently pressured the US administration to reverse its decision, but these efforts haven’t succeeded. “I believe it’s over. I don’t think we are going to keep pushing. America took its decision,” he said.
Asked whether the PA would keep pursuing diplomatic moves at the international level, the official said, “We will do everything necessary according to our interests,” confirming that this includes continuing efforts to achieve recognition of a Palestinian state and to support the Palestinians cause.
The US State Department announced a few days ago that “the PLO and the PA have once again failed to live up to their commitments. This includes taking actions to internationalize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking to bypass negotiations through unilateral recognition, and continuing to pay stipends to terrorists and to glorify acts of terrorism and terrorists in public pronouncements and school textbooks.”
“As a consequence of their failure to reform, and their ongoing activities that undermine the prospects for peace, the United States will extend sanctions that deny visas to PLO members and PA officials,” the US statement said.
In response, President Mahmoud Abbas’s office issued a statement on Thursday rejecting the American stance and stating that “resorting to international institutions and international law is a legitimate right for the State of Palestine and a peaceful and legal means to protect our people and their rights, and that it cannot be equated with the policies of occupation, settlement, annexation, displacement, and settler violence, which constitute the real threat to the two-state solution and to the chances for peace.”
It further stated that “international recognition of the State of Palestine is not a substitute for negotiations, but rather an acknowledgment of the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and the realization of their independent state, and support for achieving a just peace based on the two-state solution.”
