Washington — The United States has barred Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and dozens of senior officials from entering New York for next month’s United Nations General Assembly, triggering outrage from Ramallah and raising new questions about Washington’s credibility as a broker of peace. The move, widely condemned as an abuse of America’s status as UN host country, underscores both the double standards at the heart of US diplomacy and its continuing role as Israel’s unflinching protector in the face of mounting accusations of genocide in Gaza.
The sweeping visa denial covers more than 80 officials from the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization, according to US officials who confirmed the action on Friday. The State Department defended the move by claiming that Palestinian leaders had “undermined peace” through unilateral recognition bids at the UN and legal cases against Israel in international courts. Abbas, they insisted, was being punished for refusing to abide by past commitments.
The ban effectively blocks Abbas from using the General Assembly as a platform to highlight what Palestinians describe as the gravest chapter of their modern history, the devastation of Gaza under Israeli bombardment, the blockade of humanitarian aid, and what human rights agencies call deliberate policies of starvation. Denying the Palestinian leader the right to speak, critics argue, amounts to an attempt to erase the voice of a people already under siege.
Abbas’s office denounced the decision as a “political act of sabotage,” charging that it violated the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement, which obliges the US as host country to grant visas to foreign delegations. “This is not merely about travel documents,” one senior official said. “It is about silencing the truth of what is happening in Gaza, famine, destruction, and mass killings, while the US stands fully complicit.”
The episode recalls an infamous precedent: in 1988, the US barred Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat from addressing the UN in New York, prompting the General Assembly to relocate an extraordinary session to Geneva. That move drew condemnation from allies and adversaries alike. By reviving this tactic, critics say, Washington risks repeating the same diplomatic blunder but under even graver circumstances, as Israel faces accusations of genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.
Ironically, the ban comes just as several close US allies, Canada, France, the UK, and Australia, prepare to recognize Palestine formally at the September UN assembly. Their decisions represent a historic shift within Western capitals long aligned with Washington on Israel. That divergence highlights the widening gulf between the US approach of shielding Israel at all costs and the growing international consensus that Palestinians are entitled to statehood, dignity, and freedom.
“The US is isolating itself,” said a European diplomat involved in drafting the recognition statements. “Blocking Abbas while we move toward recognition only deepens the perception that Washington is not a neutral actor but an enabler of Israel’s worst excesses.”
For Palestinians and their supporters, the visa ban encapsulates America’s double standards. While US officials insist that Israel is merely defending itself in Gaza, they have turned a blind eye to what aid groups call systematic war crimes: deliberate starvation policies, bombing of hospitals and refugee camps, and the killing of journalists and children. At the same time, Washington has rushed military aid and weapons shipments to Israel, even as UN agencies warn that famine is sweeping through Gaza.
“On the one hand, the US lectures the world about freedom of expression,” said a Palestinian academic in exile. “On the other, it silences the Palestinian president, denying him the right to speak about his people’s suffering in the world’s only global forum. This is hypocrisy on a monumental scale.”
The ban’s timing could not be more stark. Gaza, already shattered by nearly a year of relentless Israeli assault, is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history. UN reports say over half the population is on the brink of starvation, while aid convoys are blocked at crossings and vital medical supplies lie stranded. Israel, with US backing, insists that aid routes are being used by Hamas and has tightened restrictions further. Hospitals have collapsed, and rare diseases are spreading among children weakened by hunger.
By silencing Abbas at the UN, critics say, Washington is preventing him from directly addressing these humanitarian disasters. “This is about erasing Gaza’s suffering from the international conversation,” one aid worker in Rafah said. “The Americans want to make sure the only narrative the world hears is Israel’s.”
For US policymakers, denying Abbas a visa is not just about punishing the Palestinian Authority. It sends a broader message that Washington will not tolerate Palestinian appeals to the UN or to international law. Legal cases brought before the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice have rattled Israel, which now faces unprecedented scrutiny. Blocking Abbas reinforces Washington’s role as Israel’s shield, ensuring that Palestinians cannot use global forums to air their grievances.
Yet analysts warn the strategy is deeply shortsighted. Each time the US moves to silence a Palestinian voice, it reinforces the perception that Israel cannot stand without American protection. The result is a steady erosion of US credibility on the world stage and a surge of international sympathy for the Palestinian cause.
The ban has triggered criticism not only from Palestinians but from international legal scholars and human rights organizations. Amnesty International described it as a violation of international norms and an attempt to obstruct justice. The International Federation for Human Rights called on the UN itself to intervene, arguing that the integrity of the General Assembly was at stake.
Diplomats say that the momentum toward recognition of Palestine at the UN is unlikely to be slowed by the US ban. If anything, it may accelerate it. Canada, France, the UK, and Australia are all expected to make formal announcements during the assembly, signaling a profound shift in the Western world’s posture. Many Latin American and African nations, already staunch supporters of Palestine, will likely follow suit.
The US decision to bar Abbas from the UN General Assembly represents far more than a travel dispute. It is a reflection of Washington’s deepening complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza, its willingness to silence Palestinian voices, and its determination to protect Israel from accountability. By reviving a tactic last used against Yasser Arafat nearly four decades ago, the US risks further isolation at a moment when international recognition of Palestine is gathering unprecedented momentum.
As Reuters reported, the State Department defended the ban as consistent with national security concerns. Yet to Palestinians and much of the world, it is a transparent attempt to block the truth from being spoken in the very hall where it matters most — the United Nations.
