The United States has said that it will not allow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to New York next month for a United Nations General Assembly session, where several US allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.
The US Department of State in a statement yesterday said, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The statement said, it is in the national security interests of the United States to hold the PLO and the PA accountable for not complying with their commitments.
It said, before the PLO and PA can be considered partners for peace, they must consistently repudiate terrorism – including the 7th of October massacre – and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO. He said they must also end efforts to bypass negotiations by pursuing legal cases against Israel at international courts. Rubio said, the PA Mission to the UN will receive waivers as per the UN Headquarters Agreement.
A State Department official said, that the Palestinian Authority President is affected by this action along with approximately 80 other PA officials. State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott in a social media post said, the PA and PLO must completely reject terrorism and stop counter-productively pursuing the unilateral recognition of a hypothetical state.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority presidency in a statement, expressed deep regret and astonishment at the US State Department’s decision of not granting visas to the Palestinian delegation. The statement called on the US to reconsider and reverse its decision.
On the other hand, Israeli officials, including Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN, Danny Danon, praised the move. Meanwhile, UN spokesman Stephanne Dujarric has said, the UN will discuss the matter with the US State Department and expressed hope the issue would be resolved. Mr Dujarric said, it is important that all member states, permanent observers, be able to be represented. France, the UK, Canada and Australia have announced plans to recognise a Palestinian state at the General Assembly meeting next month.
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