Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg
The Trump administration decided last week to revoke the visas previously given to the Palestinian Authority leadership. Unless the decision is rescinded soon, canceling their visas will prevent the delegation from physically taking part in the UN General Assembly’s 80th session, which will start later this month in New York. Issues related to Palestine, including Gaza, the West Bank and independence, are expected to be high on the UN’s agenda. It will also have serious repercussions for the US’ standing in the region and around the world.
Saudi Arabia and France are going to host a high-level conference on the margins of the UNGA session — probably the most important high-level meetings held at the UN in some time — on the implementation of the two-state solution. In the words of French President Emmanuel Macron, this conference could be a “decisive turning point for peace and security for all in the region.”
These two countries have championed the cause of completing the circle of recognitions of the state of Palestine. On Tuesday, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said his country will recognize an independent Palestinian state at the UNGA, making Belgium the most recent addition to the list of countries planning such action in New York. Prevot also announced “firm sanctions” on the Israeli government.
At least half a dozen other states are expected to announce their support for Palestinian independence, bringing the total to more than 150, including some of America’s closest allies and partners. This total represents about 78 percent of the UN’s 193-strong membership and 95 percent of the world population, a stunning majority.
On Wednesday, Macron wrote on X, after speaking with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that they will co-chair the conference in New York on Sept. 22. He added that “the American decision not to grant visas to Palestinian officials is unacceptable,” while calling for “this measure to be reversed” to ensure proper Palestinian representation “in accordance with the Host Country Agreement.”
Macron said that the conference’s objective was clear: “To rally the broadest possible international support for the two-state solution — the only way to meet the legitimate aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians.” Achieving this objective will require a “permanent ceasefire, the release of hostages, the large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid,” Macron said.
Spelling out an important element of France’s thinking on the future of Gaza, Macron said that “the deployment of a stabilization mission in Gaza” will be needed. He added: “We are also working to ensure that, the day after, Hamas is disarmed and excluded from any governance of Gaza.”
Referring to Israeli efforts to prevent the conference from fulfilling its objectives, the French president said: “No offensive, annexation attempt or forced displacement of populations will derail the momentum we have created with the crown prince — momentum that many partners have already joined.” Israel has deliberately taken unprecedented actions in Gaza and the West Bank so that, when the conference is convened later this month, there will be no Palestine to recognize, according to ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet.
The US State Department’s decision to cancel the Palestinian delegation’s visas, including that of President Mahmoud Abbas, appears to be in sync with the Netanyahu government’s attempts to derail the conference. Denying the PA a place at the table when the fate of its people is at stake is a clear departure from US policy since 1993, when America brokered a historic deal between Israel and Palestine. Since then, support for the PA has been a cornerstone of US policy, including financial and political support and ensuring Israeli-Palestinian security coordination.
Together with the EU, the US has been among the PA’s main financial backers. This sudden volte face is astounding — it is a gift to Palestinian extremists, along with Israeli and Iranian hard-liners, all of whom want to undermine the PA for different reasons. This step goes against the US’ declared policy of preventing Hamas and similar hard-line groups from running Gaza.
American allies and partners have expressed disappointment at the administration’s hasty action against the moderate Palestinian leadership, which represents the only legitimate and globally recognized authority capable of running Gaza and the West Bank and leading efforts toward peace with Israel. The State Department could have taken less drastic action, such as restricting the delegation to a limited geographic area around New York, which would allow its members to take part in UN proceedings. Such restrictions have been used in the past when dealing with officials from countries with which the US had disagreements, such as Iran and Cuba.
The US’ denial of entry to the Palestinian leadership certainly places it on the wrong side of history and clearly outside the global consensus. It adds insult to the injury of the Palestinians who are dying daily by the score due to Israel’s brutal military onslaught, its deliberate policy of starving women and children in Gaza, and unprecedented settler violence in the West Bank.
This step complements other regrettable actions, also taken in haste, to shield Israel from international scrutiny, including sanctions imposed on the International Criminal Court officials involved in the investigation of Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity. They have been accompanied by unhinged statements by some anti-Palestinian lawmakers in support of these sanctions.
All these steps come at a time when there is universal recognition that Israel is committing the crime of genocide in Gaza, as renowned legal authorities the world over, including in Israel, have concluded time and again. For example, the International Association of Genocide Scholars this week passed a resolution calling on the government of Israel to “immediately cease all acts that constitute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza,” including starvation, blocking aid and forced displacement.
Raz Segal, the Israeli-American associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University, has said that what is happening in Gaza is a “textbook case of genocide.” And Israeli human rights organizations, like their counterparts around the world, have come to the same conclusion.
The US’ blind support for Israel when it is clearly committing genocide and other war crimes in Gaza strengthens the belief around the world of Washington’s acquiescence to Israeli actions, if not its straight-out complicity. It may preclude the US from playing the constructive role it has sought in the past in shaping a future for Palestinians and Israelis living side by side in peace and security in their respective independent states.
Courtesy: arabnews
