Senior Palestinian official Ashrawi says US denied her visa
Veteran negotiator and PLO politician believes her application was rejected due to political reasons, amid worsening crisis with Trump administration
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A senior Palestinian official has been refused a visa for the United States, she said Monday, amid worsening relations between the two sides.
Hanan Ashrawi, a longtime aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a series of tweets that she believed she had been rejected for political reasons.
“I’m over 70 & a grandmother; I’ve been an activist for Palestine since the late 1960’s; I’ve always been an ardent supporter of nonviolent resistance,” she said in a tweet.
“I’ve met (& even negotiated with) every Sec. of State since (George) Shultz, & every President since George H. W. Bush (present administration excluded).”
She later told AFP it was the first time she had ever been refused a visa to the United States, where her daughter and grandchildren live.
“I travel there at least three or four times a year,” she said.
A State Department official declined to provide details about Ashrawi’s case, citing confidentiality requirements, but said the US does not refuse visas based solely on people’s political views or statements.
Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee and former minister, has been involved in Palestinian politics for the past three decades and has won multiple awards for her work, including the French Legion of Honour.
With her fluent English, Ashrawi is a well-known Palestinian spokeswoman on TV and has met with top US officials throughout her career.
Palestinian leaders cut official ties with Washington in December 2017, following the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The Trump administration responded with a series of punitive measures, including severing assistance to the Palestinian Authority and defunding the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
The Palestinians see East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state and said change in longstanding US policy on Jerusalem meant it could no longer serve as Mideast peace mediator.
US President Donald Trump’s administration is expected to unveil a long-awaited peace plan possibly as early as next month, but the Palestinians have already rejected it as heavily biased in favor of Israel.
In January, Ashrawi castigated the Trump administration on Twitter, telling peace envoy Jason Greenblatt that the US “unilaterally destroyed the chances of peace by taking illegal unilateral measures to prejudice/predetermine the outcome of the basic requirements of peace.”
This self-appointed advocate/apologist for Israel claims not only to know what’s good for the Palestinians but also claims that he knows them better than they know themselves. Patronising, condescending hubris! https://t.co/GI75cwzXAS
— Hanan Ashrawi (@DrHananAshrawi) May 12, 2019
On Saturday, Greenblatt blasted Palestinian leaders for preemptively rejecting Washington’s peace proposal without knowing what it contained.
“If they fail to engage constructively and professionally to see if a deal can be reached then shame on them,” he told Fox News.
Ashrawi hit back at Greenblatt on Sunday, calling him a “self-appointed advocate/apologist for Israel.”
The Times of Israel Community.