Visa denial is new low in US relations, says Hanan Ashrawi
▶ Despite her devoted service, the Palestinian negotiator has been denied a US visa
A veteran Palestinian negotiator decribed a US decision to deny her a visa as a new low in relations between Ramallah and Washington.
The move by the Trump administration appeared to signal a new phase of political pressure on the embattled leadership of the Palestinian people.
Hanan Ashrawi, 72, an outspoken critic of Israel and US President Donald Trump, announced late on Monday in a viral thread on Twitter that her visa was rejected with “no reason given”.
Speaking to The National, Mrs Ashrawi said she believed her criticism of the US administration and the officials involved in crafting President Trump’s much-vaunted peace plan – specifically Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt – was behind the decision.
“This is a new low. To deny visas, this is really petty,” Mrs Ashrawi said.
The Christian member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee and passionate advocate of Palestinian rights said she travels to the US regularly and, on this occasion, had hoped to visit her daughter and grandchildren in
Virginia. She had a planned meeting with the Middle East Project, a US think tank, and invitations to speak at several universities. This is the first time she has been refused a visa to visit the US.
“I have a daughter, sister, and nieces all there. All of my husband’s family are in the States,” she said. “I have been going there for years, three or four times a year, and I have never been denied a visa.”
A State Department official told The National on Monday that visas are never refused on the basis on a person’s politics, as long as the views did not breach US laws.
But the State Department did not respond to a request for comment about her comments on the US-Palestinian relationship.
Mrs Ashrawi said there could be no reason for the refusal other than the deteriorating relations between Ramallah and Washington, and her remarks about Mr Trump and his Middle East team.
“It’s clear that the US administration is vindictive and they do not accept criticism,” Mrs Ashrawi said.
“This is part of a pattern. There is no logical reason why they should deny me a visa.”
Palestinian officials have cut ties with Washington in protest against President Trump’s decision to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Mrs Ashrawi applied for her visa at the consular office at the US embassy in Amman. That office notified her of the decision.
She said the reaction to the news about her visa was largely supportive, apart from online abuse from Israeli apologists and extremists.
“People think it reflects badly on the administration, not me,” she said.
Palestine seeks East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967 and annexed years later, as the capital of any future sovereign state. Officials in Ramallah say US policy under Mr Trump favours Israel.
His administration has since closed the PLO office in Washington, cut all aid to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees and chosen not to condemn continued Israeli settlement building, deemed illegal under international law, in the occupied territories of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The acrimony has only deepened as US officials prepare to roll out a peace plan that Palestinian officials say is probably intended to pressure them into surrendering to Israeli occupation.
Mrs Ashrawi has frequently sparred on social media with Mr Greenblatt, whom she referred to on Sunday as an apologist for Israel. He is a supporter of Israel’s settlements.
As an adviser to Mr Trump in 2016, he has routinely condemned Palestinian leaders for not being open to Mr Trump’s plans.
Mrs Ashrawi said Mr Greenblatt invited her to the White House in February for talks.
“He said his door is open,” she said. But Mr Greenblatt and Mr Trump’s other key Middle East official, Jared Kushner, she said, are “certainly quite negative about the Palestinian leadership”.
The Palestinians have pre-empted the unveiling of Mr Trump’s plan by saying that US officials are trying to hold them accountable for its failure before its details have been revealed.
“They don’t know that we are quite pluralistic and independent,” Mrs Ashrawi said.
On Monday, senior Palestinian negotiator Hanan Ashrawi announced via Twitter that she had been denied a visa to visit the United States. As a longtime member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s executive committee, she went on to explain, she has met every single US secretary of state since George Shultz took office in 1982, and every US president since George H W Bush, who was first elected in 1981. With her daughter and grandchildren living in Washington DC, Mrs Ashrawi also has family ties to the US. Having devoted her career to achieving a peaceful and equitable solution to the plight of her people, it is deeply disappointing that she should be treated in such a way. However, it is not surprising.
Mrs Ashrawi is a staunch opponent of the Trump administration, whose policies have had gravely detrimental effects on Palestinians. Last year, the US chose to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Shortly after, it slashed $200 million in aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Then, in March, it recognised the occupied Golan Heights as Israeli, sparking concerns that the West Bank, Eastern Jerusalem and Gaza could soon face the same fate.
In February US envoy to the Palestinian-Israeli peace process Jason Greenblatt tweeted: “Dr Ashrawi – my door is always open to the Palestinian Authority and Palestinians to speak.” That door has now been slammed shut. “This is part of a pattern,” Mrs Ashrawi told The National. “There is no logical reason why they should deny me a visa.” Since Mr Trump took office, US policies have consistently favoured Israel and ignored the rights of Palestinians. Against this backdrop, the Palestinian Authority now refuses to enter into dialogue with the White House and has already dismissed its as-yet-unrevealed Middle East peace plan. As a result, the perfect environment now exists for militant groups to present themselves as Palestine’s only hope for the future. Sidelining high-calibre diplomats such as Mrs Ashrawi can only make matters even worse.