U.S. criticized for denying Mahmoud Abbas visa to attend UN as Palestinian statehood set for discussion

The U.S. says it won’t allow Mahmoud Abbas entry to the country, where he was set to attend a gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York City, prompting a spokesperson for the Palestinian president to call for the decision to be reversed.

Representatives for Canada and several other countries have said they’re prepared to recognize Palestinian statehood when they attend the UN General Assembly, which is set to open Sept. 9, ahead of the second anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war with Israel in Gaza.

A U.S. State Department official said Abbas and about 80 other Palestinians would be affected by the decision to deny and revoke visas from members of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA), an administrative body that governs Palestinian territories and deals with such areas as security, health and education.

The Palestinians have observer status at the UN, the same as the Holy See (Vatican).

Late last month, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada would join the U.K., France and other allies in recognizing a Palestinian state at the next UN assembly. That represents a shift in Canadian foreign policy, which for decades has supported a two-state solution.

Abbas’s office said it was astonished by the U.S.’s visa decision and that it violates the UN Headquarters Agreement.

Under the 1947 agreement, the U.S. is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN. However, Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.

Foreign ministers criticize U.S. decision

On Saturday, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for Abbas, called for Washington to alter the decision.

“We call on the U.S. administration to reverse this decision, which contradicts international law, specifically the  Headquarters Agreement between the United Nations and the United  States, which prohibits preventing any delegation from access,” he told Reuters.

Several European foreign affairs ministers arriving at a European Union meeting in Copenhagen on Saturday criticized the U.S. decision.

A UN General Assembly “cannot be subject to any restrictions on access,” French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters. Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris said the EU should protest the decision “in the strongest possible terms.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a statement that he had spoken with Abbas to express Madrid’s support. Sanchez also called the visa decision “unjust.”

“Palestine has the right to make its voice heard at the United Nations and in all international forums,” he said on social media platform X.

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The State Department justified its decision by reiterating long-standing U.S. and Israeli allegations that the Palestinian Authority and PLO had failed to repudiate extremism while pushing for “unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state.

Palestinian officials reject such allegations, saying that decades of U.S.-mediated talks have failed to end Israeli occupation and secure an independent state of Palestine.

“[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,” the State Department said.

It said the PA’s mission to the UN, involving officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.

UN says it will discuss visa issue with U.S.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the organization would discuss the visa issue with the State Department.

In 1988, the U.S. refused to issue a visa to then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The UN General Assembly held a meeting that year in Geneva instead of New York City so he could address it.

The State Department said it demands that the PA and PLO “consistently repudiate terrorism,” including the deadly October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

In June, Abbas wrote a letter to France’s president in which he condemned the Hamas attack and called on hostages taken by the militant group to be released.

Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Saar welcomed the State Department’s decision.

Israel and the U.S. are upset with several Western allies that have pledged to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.

At least 147 of the 193 United Nations member states already recognize a Palestinian state.

The Palestinians have long sought a state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The U.S. says a Palestinian state can only be established through direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.