United Nations, September 19 (Daily Kiran) : United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed disappointment over the United States’ refusal to grant visas to Palestinian officials. This visa ban means that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be unable to attend the high-level session of the United Nations General Assembly in person this year.
Guterres’ chief spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, stated, “The Secretary-General is deeply saddened by the announcement from the US, which has extended restrictions preventing members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority officials from participating in UN meetings.”
The Secretary-General urged the host country, the United States, to fulfill its obligations under the 1947 UN-US headquarters agreement by ensuring that all delegations receive the necessary visas. Dujarric confirmed that Guterres will continue discussions with US officials regarding this matter.
On Thursday, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution allowing President Abbas to participate in this year’s General Debate virtually. This decision came just a day after the US State Department announced its denial of visas to Abbas and other Palestinian officials. As a result of this ban, President Abbas will miss the high-level annual session for the second consecutive year.
Following the US’s refusal to issue visas for travel to New York, India voted in favor of the resolution permitting Abbas to address the upcoming high-level meeting via video link. The proposal was overwhelmingly approved with 152 votes, while only the US, Israel, and Paraguay opposed it, and four other nations abstained from voting.
This will mark the second time Abbas participates in the assembly virtually due to visa issues; he faced a similar situation last year. The US maintains that the Palestinian Authority’s policies still support terrorism. US Deputy Permanent Representative Tammy Bruce stated, “We will continue to insist that the Palestinian Authority and PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization, which governs the Authority) renounce terrorism unconditionally. They have not done so yet.”
Interestingly, the US has granted visas to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to attend the high-level session, despite being engaged in military conflict with Iran for several months.
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