Prior to the UN headquarters’ high-level meetings in the coming months, the Palestinian presidency expressed “astonishment” at Washington’s decision on Friday to revoke the visas for Abbas and 80 other Palestinian officials.
Abbas currently leads the Palestinian delegation and has frequently addressed the General Assembly.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Abbas’s spokesman, told The Associated Press on Saturday, pleading that the decision “will only increase tension and escalation.”
“We’ve been in touch with Arab and foreign nations since yesterday, particularly those who are directly concerned with this issue. According to Abu Rudeineh, this work will continue nonstop.
The spokesperson also urged other nations to press US President Donald Trump’s administration to reverse its decision, particularly those that have organized a high-level conference to discuss reviving the two-state solution.
France and Saudi Arabia are hosting the conference, which is scheduled for September 22.
ideologically driven
The Trump administration’s visa restrictions come as the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip’s devastating war against Palestinians are under increasing scrutiny.
A growing number of nations have announced plans to recognize an independent Palestinian state at the UN in September as a result of the deadly attacks.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) were accused of “refusing their commitments” and “undermining the prospects for peace,” according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who defended the revocations on Friday.
Rubio also accused the Palestinian Authority of engaging in “lawfare campaigns,” including those that involve holding Israelis accountable for violations of the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
However, Matt Duss, executive vice president of the US-based Center for International Policy, claimed that the Trump administration’s decision to revoke the visas “clearly violates diplomatic protocol.”
The US is intended to provide UN member-state representatives and officials with visas to travel to New York City’s headquarters as a host nation.
Duss told Al Jazeera, “What’s happening here is obviously ideologically driven.”
According to him, “some people in the Trump administration are closely aligned with the right-wing Israeli government, and their goal is to simply drop the Palestinian liberation movement from the international agenda.”
They “do not recognize the Palestinian people’s right to a state,” according to the statement from New York. “They are both trying to prevent that on the ground in Palestine.”
criticism from Europe
The European Union’s foreign policy representative added that the group is urging Washington to reconsider its visa denials.
Following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Copenhagen on Saturday, Kaja Kallas stated, “We all urge that this decision be reconsidered in light of the existing agreements between the UN and its host country.”
Jean-Noel Barrot, the French envoy to France, added that access restrictions for the General Assembly are unavoidable.
According to Barrot, “the United Nations headquarters is a sanctuary for peace, where conflicts are settled,” and that is true.
Meanwhile, Pedro Sanchez, the prime minister of Spain, said he spoke with Abbas on Saturday to “exprim his strong support” for the “unjust” visa suspensions.
Source: Aljazeera
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