The United States announced on Friday that it will not allow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to New York next month for the United Nations General Assembly, where several US allies are expected to formally recognize Palestine as a state.
According to a State Department official, visas will be denied or revoked for Abbas and about 80 other members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA). Abbas had planned to address the UN gathering and attend a summit where Britain, France, Australia, and Canada had pledged to recognise Palestinian statehood.
Abbas’ office said it was shocked by the decision, calling it a violation of the UN “headquarters agreement” of 1947, which generally requires the US to grant access to foreign diplomats attending UN events in New York. Washington argues, however, that visas can be denied on grounds of security, extremism, or foreign policy concerns.
The State Department defended the move by accusing the PA and PLO of failing to reject extremism while continuing to pursue “unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state. Palestinian officials dismissed these claims, saying decades of US-brokered peace efforts have failed to end Israel’s occupation or deliver an independent state.
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