UN allows Palestinian president to address via video after US visa denial

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The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday voted to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address its annual gathering of world leaders next week via video, for the second consecutive year, after the United States again denied him a visa to travel to New York, reports Reuters.

The resolution received 152 votes in favour, with three against and four abstentions. It also allows Abbas and other senior Palestinian officials to participate virtually in UN meetings and conferences over the next year if they are prevented from travelling to the United States.

The US said last year that Abbas and around 80 other Palestinians would be affected by its decision to deny or revoke visas for members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority.

Washington announced on Wednesday that it had extended the visa restrictions.

“If the PA wants to be treated as a partner, it must stop subsidising terror and stop using diplomatic theatre as a substitute for serious governance,” US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Tammy Bruce told the General Assembly before the vote.

Palestinian leaders rejected and condemned the US move, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the assembly.

The US State Department said on Wednesday, without naming specific officials, that it would extend visa sanctions against Palestinian officials over actions it said were aimed at “internationalizing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”, including pursuing cases against Israel at international tribunals.

A Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Abbas’s visa had been denied.

Under a 1947 UN “headquarters agreement”, the US is generally required to facilitate access for foreign diplomats to the UN headquarters in New York. Washington, however, has said it can deny visas on security, extremism and foreign policy grounds.