UNGA votes to allow Palestine head address high-level meet via video link after US denies visa

United Nations: India has voted for a General Assembly resolution to allow Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas to address the high-level meeting next week through a video link after the US refused to give him a visa to come to New York.

The resolution passed overwhelmingly on Wednesday with 152 votes, while only the US, Israel, and Paraguay voted against it, and four others formally abstained.

Washington, however, has given visas to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to attend the high-level session even though its war with the country is now in its seventh month.

This will be the second time that Abbas speaks by video at the Assembly, which he did last year after a visa refusal.

US Deputy Permanent Representative Tammy Bruce defended the video refusal, accusing Palestine of not giving up on terrorism.

“We will not relent on our insistence that the Palestinian Authority and the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organisation, which controls the Authority] completely and unequivocally renounce terrorism”, she said.

“They have not yet done so”, she added.

Palestine is not recognised as a nation, and it has observer status at the UN.

Palestine’s Permanent Observer Riyad Mansour reiterated its commitment to Israel’s right to exist “in peace and security” alongside Palestine.

“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.”, he said.

“They are present front and centre”, he said,

“And they will be until we put an end to this illegal occupation [of Palestine territory by Israel] and allow a global consensus of the international community to have a two-state solution: the state of Palestine, free and independent and sovereign, on the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem, next to the state of Israel, to live in peace and security”, he said.

China and Russia joined him in criticising the US for not giving Abbas a visa, which they said was Washington’s obligation under the agreement to host the UN.

All the Western countries voted for the resolution.

Last month, when reports surfaced that Abbas won’t get a visa, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric called on the US to let him attend the high-level meeting.

“Our call and our hope remain that the host country will fulfil its obligations under the host treaty agreement, which is meant to facilitate the travels into New York City, into the United States, for people having business, diplomats and Government officials having business in front of the United Nations”, he said.

–IANS