Washington Closes the Palestinian Mission in the United States

Published in Le Matin
(Morocco) on 10 September 2018
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Izzy Okparanta. Edited by Nkem Okafor.
The decision of the United states to close the Palestinian mission in Washington, announced Monday by the number two person in the Palestine Liberation Organization, Saëb Erakat, adds to the flurry of measures taken in the span of a few weeks by the White House: the cancellation of more than $200 million in bilateral aid, the discontinuation of funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which provides assistance to millions of Palestinian refugees, and the suppression of $25 million distributed to Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem.

Unlike previous measures, the Americans have said the official justification for the closure of the Palestinian mission in Washington is not the persistent freeze in relations initiated by President Mahmoud Abbas but rather Palestinian efforts to hold Israeli leaders accountable for “war crimes,” explained Hossam Zomlot, a representative of the PLO in Washington. Palestinians will not “succumb to U.S. threats and bullying” [https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-seethe-over-planned-us-closure-of-washington-office/] and will not bend in their attitude regarding the Trump administration or in their efforts to prosecute the crimes committed against them by Israeli leaders, according to a statement from Saëb Erakat.

The PLO, whose office is set to close, is considered by the international community as the representative of the Palestinian people.


La décision des États-Unis de la fermeture de la mission palestinienne à Washington, annoncée lundi par le numéro deux de l'Organisation de libération palestinienne (OLP) Saëb Erakat, s'ajoute à une rafale de mesures prises en l'espace de quelques semaines par la Maison Blanche : annulation de plus de 200 millions de dollars d'aide bilatérale, arrêt du financement de l'Agence onusienne prodiguant ses services à des millions de réfugiés palestiniens (Unrwa), suppression de 25 millions de dollars d'aide aux hôpitaux palestiniens d'Al Qods-Est. Contrairement aux mesures antérieures, les Américains ont justifié officiellement la fermeture de la représentation à Washington, non par le gel persistant des relations à l'initiative du Président Mahmoud Abbas, mais par les démarches palestiniennes visant à traîner les dirigeants israéliens devant la justice internationale pour «crimes de guerre», a expliqué Hossam Zomlot, représentant de l'OLP à Washington. Les Palestiniens ne «succomberont pas aux menaces américaines» et ne fléchiront ni dans leur attitude vis-à-vis de l'administration Trump, ni dans leurs efforts pour faire juger les crimes commis selon eux par les dirigeants israéliens, a affirmé dans un communiqué Saëb Erakat. L'OLP, dont le bureau est appelé à fermer, est considérée par la communauté internationale comme représentant le peuple palestinien.
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