Jakarta. The White House’s decision to bar Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from the United Nations summit could be a violation of the host country agreement, according to an Indonesian diplomat, although Jakarta is still hoping Washington might change its mind. 

The United States -- Israel’s closest ally -- has denied visas to Abbas and his delegation, who wished to participate in the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. The forum already began on Tuesday. Abbas is expected to speak at the high-level general debate that will start on September 23. 

Tri Tharyat, the director-general for multilateral cooperation at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, recently commented on the White House’s visa refusal. According to Tri, Jakarta “still can’t issue an official statement” as of now, as there is still a chance for American President Donald Trump to eventually grant Abbas’ visa.

“But if they [the US] are still denying his entry, that would be a violation of the host country agreement between the US and the UN,” Tri told the press in Jakarta on Thursday evening.

“Under that pact, the host must facilitate the presence of any delegation regardless of their political relations,” Tri said.

The Palestinian delegation's blockade had sparked calls to move the one-day conference on the two-state solution from New York to the UN’s other office in Geneva. This meeting, which would emphasize the establishment of an independent state for Palestine alongside that of Israel, is scheduled for September 22. Tri said the move would be unlikely due to the time crunch. 

“It might be difficult to relocate the session because [the debate] is only 2 weeks from now. Perhaps Geneva is not ready to host this many delegations," the diplomat told reporters.

In 1988, the US prevented the then-leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Yasser Arafat, from traveling to New York, citing national security concerns. The UN later voted to move the session to Geneva to hear Arafat’s speech.

Prabowo -- who had gained the nickname “foreign policy president” from analysts -- will join the general debate later this month. He will be the third speaker after Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Trump. According to Tri, Palestinian statehood is among the topics in Prabowo’s much-anticipated statement.

Prabowo’s attendance will end the decade-long absence of an Indonesian president at the summit. His predecessor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who was in power from 2014 until last year, had always skipped the UN talks. However, Jokowi addressed the forum virtually back in the pandemic-struck 2020 and 2021.

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