Banned from entering US, Palestinian Authority president speech will be virtual

Banned from entering the United States, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will instead deliver his UN General Assembly speech virtually.

For the second straight year, the Trump administration has prohibited Abbas and his delegation from traveling to the United States, forcing the nonagenarian Palestinian to transmit his speech from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Abbas is scheduled to speak Wednesday morning, several hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The decision to ban Abbas is all the more striking because the Trump administration allowed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to enter the US, along with his delegation. Throughout the months-long war that the US and Israel launched against Iran in late-February, Iran has attacked and killed US forces in the Middle East, destroyed American military equipment in the region, and hammered US bases.

Meanwhile, under President Donald Trump’s stalled 20-point ceasefire plan for Gaza, a reformed Palestinian Authority is supposed to take over Gaza at some point. In other words, the Palestinian Authority is supposed to be the partner, not Iran.

Yet the US held hours of talks with Iran’s delegation. US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi for at least two hours this week. The Palestinian Authority will have no chance for such a meeting.