UN General Assembly approves video address for Mahmoud Abbas after US visa refusal
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United Nations: India has voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution allowing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address next week’s high-level session via video link after the US denied him a visa to travel to New York.
The resolution, adopted on Wednesday, received 152 votes. The US, Israel and Paraguay voted against it, while four countries abstained.
The US has nevertheless granted visas to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to attend the high-level session, despite the conflict between Washington and Tehran entering its seventh month.
It will be the second consecutive year that Abbas addresses the General Assembly remotely. He also spoke by video last year after the US denied him a visa.
US Deputy Permanent Representative Tammy Bruce defended Washington’s decision, saying the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organisation must “completely and unequivocally renounce terrorism”.
“They have not yet done so,” she said.
Palestine is not a full UN member and holds observer status at the organisation.
Palestinian Permanent Observer Riyad Mansour reaffirmed his people’s recognition of Israel’s right to exist “in peace and security” alongside an independent Palestinian state.
“The fact that we were denied visas does not mean that the big elephant in the United Nations, the Palestinian people and their leadership, are not present,” Mansour said.
“They are present front and centre, and they will be until we put an end to this illegal occupation and allow a global consensus of the international community to have a two-state solution,” he added.
Mansour said the proposed Palestinian state should be free, independent and sovereign, based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and exist alongside Israel in peace and security.
China and Russia criticised the US decision to deny Abbas a visa, arguing that Washington was required to facilitate the participation of diplomats and government officials under its agreement to host the UN.
All Western countries supported the resolution.
Last month, after reports emerged that Abbas might be denied entry, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric urged the US to allow him to attend the high-level meeting.
“Our call and our hope remain that the host country will fulfil its obligations under the host treaty agreement,” Dujarric said, referring to provisions facilitating travel to New York and the US for diplomats and officials conducting UN-related business.
(Inputs from IANS)