https://arab.news/bgwe3
The 80th UN General Assembly, which opened this week at its headquarters in New York, is expected to be one of the most consequential for the Palestinian people. One by one, leaders of countries, among them Canada, France, the UK, Belgium and Australia, are expected to announce from the podium of the Assembly Hall their recognition of a Palestinian state.
Regrettably, these moments of accomplishment and celebration for the Palestinian people will not be shared in person by their leader, since Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been banned from attending the session, now that he and 80 other officials of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization have had their visas revoked by the US State Department.
There are plenty of good reasons to block people from entering a country, but in this case the reasons given by the State Department have been vague and far from convincing. It stated that “it is in our national security interests to … hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace.” No further details were given about the risk posed by Abbas and his delegation to US national security interests or what specific commitments to peace prospects he and those who are now prohibited from entering the US have allegedly violated.
