AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Every year in New York City, about 150 world leaders attend the United Nations General Assembly, known as U-N-G-A or UNGA. One leader will be notably absent at the meeting this month - the president of the Palestinian Authority, the party in charge of roughly 40% of the West Bank. The U.S. has blocked him and 80 other Palestinian officials by revoking their visas, a decision the U.N. has opposed. At least five Western countries have said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the meeting, something the Trump administration opposes.
To understand what's at stake, we've reached Hady Amr. He's the former U.S. special representative for Palestinian Affairs and is currently with the Brookings Institution. Welcome to the program.
HADY AMR: Honored to be here. Your show's a national treasure.
RASCOE: Oh, thank you so much. What is the implication of not having the Palestinian officials present at the meeting where, obviously, the war in Gaza and discussions of a Palestinian state will probably be front and center?
AMR: The direct implications of the administration blocking the visas is limited to preventing those individuals from coming - the 90-year-old Palestinian leader and his entourage - but Palestinian recognition will still go ahead as planned. It prevents some of the pomp and circumstance that would've occurred. It's probably a violation of the 1940s treaty establishing the U.N. headquarters in New York. It's a bad look for the United States. Does it make us look weak? Does it make us look strong? Does it make us look wise? I think it's the former, not the latter.
RASCOE: Well, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been in power for 20 years without calling elections, and the Palestinian Authority's popularity is at its lowest in years. What is the state of Palestinian leadership today?
AMR: Look, this is unquestionably the darkest chapter in modern Palestinian history, with just the human catastrophe in Gaza, the ongoing challenges in the West Bank, you know, over 60,000 killed in Gaza, you know, 3% of the population, a per capita equivalent of 10 million Americans. An unconscionable bloodbath livestreamed on TV. So there's no question that any Palestinian leader that has endured the last few years would be deeply unpopular.
And as you noted, Abbas is, you know, 20 years into his four-year term. They have not held elections, which is not entirely their own fault because it requires Israel to allow them to vote - to have voting in Jerusalem, as was the case in the elections that I personally observed, you know, 20 - you know, years ago. And so, you know, they are deeply unpopular.
So, yes, the PA has many flaws. Many of them are baked into the system. And it's a - they're in a bind, in a sense, where they - on the one hand, they're supposed to be advancing the freedom, security and prosperity of their people, but at the other hand, you know, promoting Israel's interests and trying to keep Israel safe. So they're in a real bind. He is deeply unpopular, and I'm not sure that, you know, any leader, even if there were a Palestinian - Bush, Obama, Clinton or even Trump, would be popular at this juncture in Palestinian society.
RASCOE: What do you make of the - you know, the decision to block Palestinian leaders from attending the General Assembly, especially considering that the Palestinian Authority is not designated a terrorist organization, unlike Hamas? And the U.S. has discussed having the PA participate in governance of Gaza after the war is over. Is this a bad sign for that?
AMR: Look, I - it - I think that the administration is trying to apply pressure to the PA, to the Palestinian leadership, to get it to take steps that it wants. And so that's clear. And I think it's - that's also clear to the Palestinians. It's just not clear to me what they can do to appease the Trump administration. So that's kind of the situation that we're in, but it - I think it is - you're right, it's not a good sign.
And I think for those who - you know, if you believe in the idea of the Jewish people and the Palestinian people, you know, kind of equally deserving the same levels of freedom, security and prosperity, and you believe in the idea of a two-state solution where the West Bank and Gaza would be integrated as a Palestinian state, eventually, it's really not a good sign for that.
RASCOE: Former U.S. special representative for Palestinian Affairs, Hady Amr, thank you so much for joining us.
AMR: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SAMBA TOURE'S "WHITE CROCODILE BLUES (A SONG FOR M) [INSTRUMENTAL]") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
