Shutting out Palestine

The Trump administration’s decision to deny visas for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation to attend the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly violates the headquarters agreement, international law and the principle that all states must be heard at this global organisation. This is the second time the US has banned the top Palestinian leader from entering the US. The first was in 1988 when Yasser Arafat was banned after the Palestine National Council, Palestine’s parliament-in-exile, issued its Declaration of Independence in Algiers. The General Assembly responded by convening in Geneva for Arafat’s landmark address in which he renounced the armed struggle and adopted the two-state solution mandating a Palestinian mini state alongside Israel.

During his first term in office, Donald Trump undermined the two-state solution when he argued that the two sides would have to determine the fate of conflict-ridden Palestine. He also recognised Israel’s capital in Jerusalem, moved the US embassy there from Tel Aviv, declared that Israeli West Nank settlements are not illegal in violation of international law, and closed the US consulate in East Jerusalem and the Palestinian mission in Washington. During the deadly and devastating ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, Trump has not pressed for a lasting ceasefire or for Israel to end its blockade of water, food, medicine and fuel supplies to Gaza. Instead of focusing on Israel’s actions, the administration has demanded an end to the Palestinian Authority’s applications to the International Criminal Court for prosecution of Israeli leaders for war crimes and to the International Court of Justice to end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.

There was serious debate over locating UN headquarters in New York City for practical as well as political reasons. While an international city inhabited by millions from the world over, New York is expensive, suffers from high crime rates and traffic jams and vulnerable to US intervention. But there were compelling reasons for opting for the city. By choosing the city, UN organisers sought to tie the US to the UN as the successor to the post-World War 1 League of Nations which was based in Geneva and the US scuppered with rejection. The land was donated by US billionaire John D. Rockefeller Jr and New York City and Congress provided a loan for construction.

Under the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement, the US must issue visas “without charge and as promptly as possible” to all foreign officials attending UN events in New York. When endorsing the agreement, both houses of Congress, however, adopted a resolution stating that “nothing in the agreement” could weaken “the right of the United States to safeguard its own security.” This was invoked in 1988 to block Arafat’s visa for the General Assembly. This was not the sole US violation of its obligation. Former UN Secretary General Butros Butros Ghali observed, “When one state abuses its role as host, it reveals the arrogance of empire, not the spirit of cooperation that the UN was created to embody.”

The Trump administration appears to have been motivated by the plan of France, Britain, Australia, Canada, and Malta plan to grant recognition to Palestine which has already been recognised by 147 of the 193 member states: 76 per cent. Nevertheless, Palestine is treated as a non-member observer state. If Palestine overcomes the US Security Council veto and achieves UN membership it will be 194. This is a significant figure for the Palestinians as it was the number of the UN General Assembly resolution adopted on December 11, 1948, which in paragraph 11 states that Palestinian refugees from Israel’s war of establishment “wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.” This is seen by Palestinians and their supporters as establishing their “right to return” and statehood.

The very wording of paragraph 11 was adopted from reports of the UN mediator chosen to secure a ceasefire and an end to the 1948 Israeli war in Palestine, Swedish diplomat and head of the International Committee of the Red Cross Count Folke Bernadotte. When he did not go along with Israel’s conquest of Palestine and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, he was assassinated by Israel’s Stern Gang terrorist gunmen on September 17th, 1948. This group was headed by Yitzhak Shamir who served as Israeli prime minister from 1986-1992.

Israel’s 1949 admission to the UN was informally conditioned by its commitments to abide by the UN Charter and implement General Assembly resolutions, notably resolution 181 which called for the partition of Palestine between Arab and Jewish states and resolution 194 on the return of Palestinian refugees. Several Arab states have called for Israel’s membership to be revoked or suspended until it meets its obligations, but such demands have naturedly been ignored by the US and Western states which had been fully committed to Israel.

The recognition of a Palestinian state by Western powers at the coming General Assembly session revels that Israel’s war on Gaza and colonisation of the West Bank have undermined these countries’ uncritical approach to Israel. The US remains as subservient as ever.

Photo: Reuters