Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday called on the Biden government to repeal a US law that considers the Palestinian Liberation Organization and its subsidiary a terrorist group.
Abbas said in a video speech at the national conference of the left-wing, pro-Israel street J that he was looking forward to ‘development[ing] and strengthen[ing]”Ties with Washington, which broke Ramallah in 2017 after the Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
He noted, however, that it would require ‘the removal of some obstacles, the most important of which’ is to address the 1987 anti-terrorism law.
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Abbas maintained that the applicability of the law had expired, as the PLO and Israel recognized each other as the legal representatives of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples in the 1993 Oslo Accords, with Ramallah, Jerusalem and Washington subsequently signing agreements to to fight terrorism together.
The Times of Israel reported in December that the PA was prepared to change the way it paid allowances to Palestinian security prisoners, as well as the families of terrorists and others killed by Israelis, in an effort to overthrow Biden’s government. convinced to scrap the law.
By # JStraat21, Reiterates Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ support for a two-state solution and discusses his hopes for a resurgent US-Palestinian relationship. pic.twitter.com/94yjgypCX9
– J Street (@jstreetdotorg) 18 April 2021
Abbas seems to be pointing to such plans during this J Street speech. The president of the PA first called for the lobby’s’ assistance with the US government and Congress to repeal all laws blocking the way to the improvement of Palestinian-US relations.
“For our part, we will remove all obstacles to achieve this goal,” he added, not specifying what steps the PA plans to take.
Palestinian officials told The Times of Israel last year that the amended policy currently being considered by the PA would base the grants on the financial needs of prisoners rather than on the length of their sentences, which could indicate a shift from what has long been a bottleneck for Ramallah. opponents.
Critics say that the practice of paying allowances to those convicted of carrying out terrorist attacks and to the families of those killed while carrying out attacks – often by some Israeli officials as a pay-to-kill – policy is called – encouraged.
Palestinian leaders have long defended the payments, describing them as a form of social welfare and essential compensation for victims of Israel’s insensitive military justice system in the West Bank.
The change could also lead to compliance with the Taylor Force Act of 2018, which suspended U.S. support to the PA, as long as the existing prisoner pay policy is continued.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (L) listens to then-US President Donald Trump in front of a press conference in New York’s Palace Hotel during the 72nd UN General Assembly on September 21, 2017. (AFP Photo / Brendan Smialowski)
Biden has two methods of repealing the 1987 legislation. One would be through the termination clause, which could activate the president by officially declaring that the PLO and its affiliates are no longer a terrorist group – a likely difficult task given the membership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on the blacklist. the PLO – or by deeming the legislation unconstitutional because of the shackles of the executive’s ability to conduct foreign policy.
Ramallah, sources in Ramallah, said last year that Palestinian officials were pushing the Biden government to take the latter approach.
The Biden government, meanwhile, has expressed interest in restoring ties with the Palestinians, although it has said nothing about removing the status quo from the PLO’s terrorist group. Earlier this month, Washington announced that it would formally resume $ 150 million in economic aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN body tasked with supporting Palestinian refugees amid broader pressure. to restore his aid to the Palestinians. The US announced an additional $ 75 million in economic and development aid in the West Bank and Gaza, $ 10 million in peacebuilding programs through the US International Development Agency (USAID) and $ 40 million in security aid.
The Biden government has also said it intends to reopen closed diplomatic missions in Jerusalem and Washington. The Trump administration has merged the US consulate in Jerusalem, which served as the de facto representative for the Palestinians, into its new embassy in the capital, making the Palestinian portfolio a subset of the broader US-Israel relationship.
Trump also closed the mission of the Palestinian Liberation Organization in Washington in 2018 against the backdrop of Ramallah’s refusal to engage with his government’s peace initiative. The reopening of the mission would be legitimate as a result of existing U.S. laws – which Abbas referred to Sunday – targeting the PA as long as it continues to pursue charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court, in addition to the prisoner pay policy.
Mahmoud Abbas, left, and Joe Biden, after their meeting in Ramallah City on March 10, 2010. (AP / Bernat Armangue / File)
A source familiar with the matter said the government in Washington would be a particular challenge, although the government wants to see both missions reopened. The US will also need Israel’s approval to reopen a consulate in Jerusalem, expecting it to gain some opposition, but not a direct veto, the source said.
Abbas also used the opportunity in his very first speech to J Street to sharpen successive Israeli governments because they entrenched the presence of the Jewish state in the West Bank, thereby complicating a two-state solution.
He reiterated his support for a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
“We are ready to resume peace negotiations with our Israeli counterpart based on international legitimacy decisions, the signed agreements and under the auspices of the international quartet,” he said.
“We believe dialogue and negotiations are the only way to bring about peace,” Abbas added.
