&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "US again denies visa to Palestinian president, officials to attend UN General Assembly")
The United States has again denied a visa to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian officials ahead of next week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Palestine is a non-member observer state at the UN. This status lets Palestinian officials take part in General Assembly debates and lets its leader address the body, but Palestine has no voting rights on resolutions.
A similar decision by the Trump administration last year prevented Abbas, who regularly attends the UN General Assembly, from travelling to New York. He addressed the gathering through a video message instead.
The US State Department did not name Abbas directly in its statement but said it would deny visas to members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and officials of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The department said the decision was being taken “as a consequence of their failure to reform, contrary to their commitments to the United States, and their ongoing activities that undermine the prospects for peace.”
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US cites Palestinian actions
The State Department said the PLO and PA had “once again, failed to live up to their commitments”.
Washington accused the Palestinian organisations of taking steps to “internationalise the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”. It pointed to their actions at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The US also accused the Palestinian leadership of trying to “bypass negotiations through seeking unilateral recognition”.
Washington further said the Palestinian Authority continued to pay stipends to terrorists and “glorify acts of terrorism and terrorists in public pronouncements and school textbooks”.
The US and Israel have also objected to the Palestinian Authority’s earlier system of payments to families of Palestinians who were imprisoned or killed, including those who carried out attacks against Israelis.
The Palestinian Authority has since changed the system. It now says welfare payments are based on the needs of families rather than political affiliation or prisoner status.
Palestinian Authority hits back
The Palestinian Authority criticised the US decision and called it “an unjustified measure”. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the move was against efforts to rebuild trust, improve Palestinian-US relations and create the conditions needed to implement a two-state solution.
The ministry also “expressed its astonishment at the US statement's disregard for the substantive reforms carried out by the State of Palestine”.
It said these reforms included changes to the social welfare system as well as financial, administrative, educational and legal reforms “according to clear, transparent, and verifiable mechanisms.”
The US decision also puts Washington at odds with several countries that have recognised a Palestinian state.
France was among the countries that recognised Palestine at the United Nations last year. After a conference co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, 142 UN member states endorsed a declaration supporting a two-state solution.
