UN Assembly Hears Palestinian President After Visa Dispute
A contributor’s account says the United States denied Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas a visa for the UN General Assembly, prompting a vote on allowing him to address the gathering by video. The account says 152 countries backed the arrangement, while the US, Israel and Paraguay opposed it.
The United Nations General Assembly heard Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas by video link after the United States denied him an entry visa to attend the gathering in person, according to an account by Owei Lakemfa published by Premium Times. Lakemfa said the US objected to the Palestinian Authority’s legal actions against Israel at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. He also cited the US position that the authority’s financial support for families of Palestinians convicted in Israeli courts amounted to support for terrorism.
The writer argued that denying Abbas and the Palestinian delegation access breached the UN-USA Headquarters Agreement. He referred to provisions requiring visas for state delegations and UN representatives to be issued promptly and without charge, regardless of relations between the governments involved. The proposed video appearance itself faced US opposition.
Tammy Bruce, the US deputy ambassador to the UN, said the Palestinian Authority should stop what she described as subsidising terrorism and using diplomatic activity in place of governance. She also called for the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organisation to renounce terrorism. According to the account, 152 countries voted for the resolution permitting the video address.
Three — the United States, Israel and Paraguay — voted against it, while Panama, Honduras, Peru and Colombia abstained. Abbas described Israel’s war in Palestine as genocide and called for an end to the attacks and military occupation, the article said. He advocated a permanent settlement allowing Israelis and Palestinians to live in separate countries with security and peace.
The account contrasted Abbas’s treatment with that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was welcomed by the US but faced a walkout at the assembly. It said 77 delegations left when Netanyahu began speaking. The source material presents these events as part of a wider dispute over diplomatic access, international legal proceedings and accountability.
This independently written report is based on information supplied by the named publisher. Vertrix News has not independently verified the source report.