US-PLO row jeopardizes consular services for Palestinians
Visas and other services may be collateral damage as the Donald Trump administration closes the Palestine Liberation Organization’s mission office in Washington.
Palestinian-Americans are at risk of being collateral damage in the escalating diplomatic row between Washington and Ramallah.
The State Department announced Monday that it was ordering the closure of the Palestinians’ mission in the US capital because of their refusal to participate in a US-backed peace process that favors Israel. Unmentioned, however, is the fact that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office also provides a bevy of consular services for Palestinians, Palestinian-Americans and others seeking to do business in the West Bank and Gaza.
A source close to the Palestinian Authority called the office’s consular services “essential” in a recent interview with Al-Monitor.
“People don’t apply for visas to get back into their homeland if we don’t have a consulate,” said the source.
