UN General Assembly Urged to Move to Geneva Amid Visa Denials

The Leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasser Arafat, arrived at UN Headquarters by helicopter. A view of the helicopter as it approached the North Lawn of the UN campus on 13 November 1974. But Arafat was denied a US visa for a second visit to the UN in 1988.

When Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), was denied a US visa to visit New York and address the United Nations in 1988 under the Ronald Reagan administration, the General Assembly defied the United States by temporarily relocating its sessions to Geneva—the first time in UN history—providing a less-hostile environment for the PLO leader.

Arafat, who first addressed the UN in 1974, noted the move wryly, saying, “It never occurred to me that my second meeting with this Hon’ble Assembly would take place in the hospitable city of Geneva.”

Now, 37 years later, a campaign is underway to again temporarily move the General Assembly sessions to Geneva to provide a platform for Palestinian delegates who are being denied visas to enter the US.

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of DAWN, a nonprofit advocating US policy reform in the Middle East, told IPS, “It’s clear the US is trying to deter discussion about the genocide in Gaza and Palestinian statehood by revoking the visas of Palestinian officials.”

She added, “The world is fed up with the daily Israeli atrocities, so we hope they will act promptly to move the General Assembly meeting to Geneva, just as they did the last time the US pulled such a stunt.”

Whitson, a former director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch, argued that moving the meeting to Geneva would signal that the international community does not tolerate breaches of long-standing agreements guaranteeing access to all UN representatives.

DAWN highlighted that the 1947 US–UN Headquarters Agreement requires the United States to provide unfettered access to UN proceedings for all representatives, regardless of bilateral disputes. Section 11 guarantees an “unrestricted right” for officials to enter the US for UN business, while Section 12 applies these provisions “irrespective of the relations existing between the Governments” and the US.

This is not the first time the US has violated the Headquarters Agreement. In 1988, it denied a visa to Arafat, prompting the UN to move its General Assembly meeting to Geneva to allow him to speak.

Martin S. Edwards, Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs at Seton Hall University, told IPS, “In a very real sense, the call to move the meeting is to be expected. The Trump administration pursues policies without regard to other countries’ opinions, so it’s no accident that America First is becoming America Alone.”

UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on August 29, “We are going to discuss this with the State Department. The Headquarters Agreement deserves to be read—particularly Sections 11 and 12. It is important that all Member States and permanent observers can be represented, especially ahead of the upcoming two-state solution meeting hosted by France and Saudi Arabia.”

Meanwhile, the US State Department confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is denying visas to PLO and Palestinian Authority (PA) members ahead of the upcoming General Assembly. The department stated that compliance with US law, repudiation of terrorism, and constructive engagement are prerequisites for consideration as partners for peace.

So far, 147 of the 193 UN member states (over 76%) have recognized Palestine as a sovereign nation. Palestine has held non-member observer state status in the UN General Assembly since 2012. Western allies of the US, including the UK, France, Australia, and Canada, have announced plans to recognize Palestine during the General Assembly sessions in mid-September.

In 2018, Palestine was elected chair of the 134-member Group of 77, despite US objections. A former UN assistant secretary-general told IPS that, since the US does not have veto power in the General Assembly, a resolution—possibly sponsored by the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)—could be adopted to facilitate Palestinian participation.