The next UN General Assembly is scheduled for next month at the UN Headquarters in New York City. Due largely to the increasingly criticized war in Gaza, multiple countries are expected to vote in recognition of Palestine. In response, the Donald Trump administration has opted to deny and revoke the visas of all Palestinian officials, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
147 out of 193 countries formally recognize Palestine as a state. Among the countries that, at best, maintain conditional recognition are major NATO allies such as the UK, the US, and Italy. Most NATO members don’t recognize Palestine at all. But after what’s now approaching two years of civilian and journalist deaths in Gaza — some countries are finally considering recognition if that’s what it takes to end the war.
Trump, for his credit, has also been vocal about wanting to see the end of this war — even if some critics concluded that this might just be so he can win a Nobel Peace Prize. But regardless, peace is peace. And the State Department insists that revoking the visas of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) will somehow move the situation closer to a ceasefire.
The State Department accused the two authorities of actions that “materially contributed to Hamas’s refusal to release its hostages, and to the breakdown of the Gaza ceasefire talks.” It advised them to reject terrorism instead of pursuing a “counterproductive” goal of recognition of what the executive department described as “a hypothetical state.”
Israeli officials have praised the move. But CNN reports that some experts and diplomats with insider knowledge don’t see how this will improve chances for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Palestinian authorities, however, just released a diplomatic response to the visa refusal, expressing shock and hoping that the Trump administration reverses its decision.
It still remains to be seen whether the floor of the UN General Assembly in Sept. will be affected by this revoking of visas. This is not the first time the operations of an international organization have clashed with the government of Israel. Earlier this year, the ICC was sanctioned by the Trump administration because they named both the leaders of Hamas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as suspects of crimes against humanity. Reportedly, the ICC employees are even making jokes internally that if you hand them a pen, you might end up getting sanctioned by the Trump administration.
A lot is at stake for the Palestinian state with this vote at the UN General Assembly. If they are recognized by more states, then they have legal redress for their large and longstanding issues with neighboring Israel. The hopes for a two-state solution all but ended when Israel turned the West Bank into what the BBC describes as “colonization.”
If Palestine does get recognized by the UN General Assembly, there’s a bittersweet resolution for the saga. Experts believe that it will be a political and moral statement for the countries that chose silence or diplomatic neutrality — but nothing more. The situation in Gaza might not even change.
