Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday called on the Biden administration to repeal an American law that considers the Palestinian Liberation Organization and its affiliates a terrorist group.
In a video address at the pro-Israel J Street left-wing national conference, Abbas said he was looking forward to “developing[ing] and strengthens[ing]”Connections with Washington, which Ramallah severed in 2017 after the Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
However, he noted that this would require “removing obstacles, the most important of which” was the 1987 Anti-Terrorism Act approach.
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Abbas argued that the relevance of the law had passed because the PLO and Israel recognized each other as the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples in the 1993 Oslo Accords, with Ramallah, Jerusalem and Washington subsequently signing counter-terrorism agreements together.
The Times of Israel reported in December that the PA is ready to change the way it pays the stakes of Palestinian security detainees, as well as the families of terrorists and other people killed by Israelis, in an effort to persuade the Biden administration to drop the law.
to # JStreet21Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterates the PA’s support for a two-state solution and discusses his hopes for relaunching US-Palestine relations. pic.twitter.com/94yjgypCX9
– J Street (@jstreetdotorg) April 18, 2021
Abbas seemed to suggest such plans during his speech on J. Street. The PA president first called for “the assistance of the corrupt lobby with the US administration and Congress to repeal all laws blocking the road to strengthening Palestinian-American relations.”
“For our part, we will remove all obstacles to achieving this goal,” he added, not specifying what steps the PA intends to take.
Palestinian officials told The Times of Israel last year that the PA’s current modified policy will base salaries on detainees’ financial needs, rather than during their sentences, potentially marking a shift from what has long been a blocking point for Ramallah. detractors.
The practice of paying compensation for those convicted of terrorist attacks and the families of those killed during the attacks – often referred to by some Israeli officials as a policy of payment for killing – has been criticized as a stimulus to terror.
Palestinian leaders have long defended the payments, describing them as a form of social welfare and compensation needed for the victims of the insufficient Israeli military justice system in the West Bank.
The change could also introduce Ramallah under the 2018 Taylor Force Act, which suspended U.S. aid to the PA as long as it continued to implement the inmate payment policy.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (L) listens to then-US President Donald Trump speaks to the press ahead of a meeting at the Palace Hotel in New York during the 72nd UN General Assembly on September 21, 2017 (Photo AFP / Brendan Smialowski)
Biden has two methods of repealing the 1987 legislation. One would be through the termination clause, which the president could activate by officially establishing that the PLO and its affiliates are no longer a terrorist group – a likely difficult task. , having regard to its membership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is blacklisted. PLO – or considering that the legislation is unconstitutional due to the handcuffing of the capacity of the executive power to conduct foreign policy.
Palestinian officials have pressured the Biden administration to adopt the latter approach, Ramallah sources said last year.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has expressed interest in re-establishing ties with the Palestinians, although it has said nothing about removing the PLO’s status as a terrorist group. Earlier this month, Washington announced it would officially resume $ 150 million in economic aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), a UN body tasked with supporting Palestinian refugees, amid broader action to restore aid. granted to the Palestinians. The US has announced an additional $ 75 million in economic and development assistance to the West Bank and Gaza, $ 10 million for peacebuilding programs through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and $ 40 million in security assistance .
The Biden administration has also said it intends to reopen closed diplomatic missions in Jerusalem and Washington. The Trump administration merged the US consulate in Jerusalem, which served as the de facto representative of the Palestinians, in its new embassy in the capital, making the Palestinian portfolio a subset of the broader US-Israel relationship.
Trump also closed the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s mission in Washington in 2018 amid Ramallah’s refusal to commit to his administration’s peace initiative. The reopening of the mission would have been legally attempted because of existing US laws – referred to by Abbas on Sunday – targeting the PA, as long as it continues to pursue charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court, in addition to its policy of paying prisoners.
Mahmoud Abbas, Joe Biden also left after their meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 10, 2010. (AP / Bernat Armangue / File)
A source familiar with the matter said that although the administration would like to see both missions reopened, the one in Washington will be a special challenge. The US will also need Israel’s approval to reopen a consulate in Jerusalem and expects to face some opposition, though not a total veto, the source said.
Abbas also took the opportunity in his first speech to J Street to challenge successive Israeli governments to strengthen the Jewish state’s presence in the West Bank, making a two-state solution more difficult to achieve.
He reiterated his support for a two-state solution, based on 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 on the basis of the resolution of international legitimacy, the agreements signed and under the auspices of the International Quartet,” he said.
“We believe that dialogue and negotiations are the only way to achieve peace,” Abbas added.
