USA TODAY International Edition
PLO protests plan to shut DC office
US threatens those who work with world court
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration announced plans Monday to shutter the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in Washington – a move that drew an immediate rebuke from Palestinian officials who said the White House is trying to bully them.
The State Department’s spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, said the administration was closing the office because the PLO has not been a productive partner in efforts to achieve a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
“The PLO has not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel,” Nauert said in a statement Monday. “To the contrary, PLO leadership has condemned a U.S. peace plan they have not yet seen and refused to engage with the U.S. government with respect to peace efforts and otherwise.
“The United States continues to believe that direct negotiations between the two parties are the only way forward,” she added. “This action should not be exploited by those who seek to act as spoilers to distract from the imperative of reaching a peace agreement. We are not retreating from our efforts to achieve a lasting and comprehensive peace.”
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said in a statement that Monday’s announcement was “another affirmation of the Trump administration’s policy to collectively punish the Palestinian people, including by cutting financial support for humanitarian services including health and education.”
In a related move, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said on Monday the U.S. would slap sanctions on those who cooperate with any International Criminal Court investigation into alleged U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan. The ICC has long been controversial, with critics like Bol- ton suggesting it’s a threat to American sovereignty. Supporters say the court offers a last-resort recourse for victims of genocide and other war crimes.
In a speech on Monday, Bolton called the ICC a “supranational tribunal that could supersede national sovereignties and directly prosecute individuals for alleged war crimes.”
The ICC was first envisioned in 1998 by the Rome Treaty as a tribunal that could prosecute genocide, war crimes and other crimes against humanity.
“As a court of last resort, it seeks to complement, not replace, national courts,” reads a statement on the ICC’s website.
“In theory, the ICC holds perpetrators of the most egregious atrocities accountable for their crimes, provides justice to the victims, and deters future abuses,” Bolton said in prepared remarks to the Federalist Society on Monday. “In practice, however, the court has been ineffective, unaccountable, and indeed, outright dangerous.”
The court has been a particularly difficult flashpoint between the U.S. and the Palestinians. That’s because last year, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, suggested taking the issue of Israeli settlements to the International Criminal Court.
Amnesty International criticized the administration’s threat to the ICC.
“Rather than imposing sanctions, the United States should instead once and for all reaffirm its signature of the Rome Statute establishing the ICC, and support – not impede – its investigations,” said Adotei Akwei, who is deputy director of advocacy and government relations at Amnesty International USA.
The Trump administration threatened to close down the PLO’s office in Washington last fall but later backed off. Bolton’s decision to finalize that move will further inflame tensions between the U.S. and the Palestinians – coming on the heels of the Trump administration’s decision to nix funding for U.S. aid to the West Bank and Gaza and to freeze support for the United Nations program that supports Palestinian refugees.
“This dangerous escalation shows that the U.S. is willing to disband the international system in order to protect Israeli crimes and attacks against the land and people of Palestine as well as against peace and security in the rest of our region,” Erekat said Monday.
He said Palestinians would take necessary measures “to protect the rights of our citizens living in the United States to access their consular services.”
The court has been a particularly difficult flashpoint between the U.S. and the Palestinians.