Palestine – United States relations
Encyclopedia
Palestine – United States relations are not diplomatic relations in the normal sense, since the United States does not recognize Palestine as an independent state, and the U.S. government is very cautious not to define relations with a sub-state entity as fully diplomatic.
However, some sort of relations between the US government and the PLO existed from the 1970s onward. The PLO is represented in Washington by a General Delegation. The US government does not have any official representative office within Palestinian Authority areas, but has a Consulate General in Jerusalem, which handles relations with the Palestinian Authority.
Prior to the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, the US government considered The PLO and Fatah
under Yasser Arafat
's leadership as a terrorist organization, and as a result did not support Palestinian aspirations at the UN, and US diplomats in the Middle East were explicitly ordered by the State Department never to make any contacts with Arafat or any representative on his behalf. A certain change followed the Yom Kippur War. On November 3, 1973 a secret meeting was held in Morocco between Deputy Director of the CIA Vernon A. Walters
and Khaled al-Hassan
, number two in the PLO at the time, and the two discussed the possibility of integrating the PLO into the peace process. Even though no tangible agreement was reached at that meeting, it led to restraint of FATAH attacks on US targets.
From 1974 onward, some circles in the Department of State were considering accepting the PLO as partner in the Middle East peace-process. In June 1974, US Ambassador to Egypt Herman Eilts assessed that PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat
was looking for ways to integrate the PLO into the peace process. US President Gerald Ford
even alluded to that possibility in his news conference of October 29, 1974. At another press conference, on November 14, 1974, Ford made a non-committal statement on US position towards the PLO by saying:
However, due to US support of the Israeli government Washington agreed in 1975 to demand PLO explicit recognition of the State of Israel as a precondition to any dealing with its representatives. Referring to this, Ford said at a news conference on November 26, 1975:
As the PLO did not make such recognition explicitly at that time, the US government refrained from any official relations and the PLO was not allowed to maintain any offices on US soil, except for the PLO Mission to the United Nations, which is immune from US law.
A certain change of attitude took place under President Jimmy Carter
. Carter was the first US president to advocate the creation of a Palestinian state, which he did at a meeting held in Clinton, Massachusetts on March 16, 1977:
In 1978 the PLO was allowed to establish the Palestine Information Office in Washington DC.
A harsher stance towards the PLO was taken by President Ronald Reagan
. The Republican party program approved in 1980 stated that:
President Reagan continuously opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state or negotiating with the PLO. In September he made a proposal for a Palestinian autonomy under Jordanian supervision. Even though the plan did not call for any PLO participation, some PLO circles viewed this as a possible sign that the Reagan administration might consider an accommodation with the PLO at a later date.
An attempt to close down the Palestine Information Office was made following the passage of the Anti Terrorism Act in December 1987. This act proclaimed the PLO a terrorist organization and prohibited all of its activities except for disseminating information. Reagan then stated:
The US government attempted to close down the Palestine Information Office on grounds that it was involved in terrorist activities, but various courts in the United States ruled against this line of action, but allowed a stricter supervision of the office's activities.
. The US-PLO dialogue was suspended in June 1990, following PLO refusal to condemn an attempted attack on the Israeli coastline by the Palestine Liberation Front
. The Bush administration had continued to have negative views about the PLO also following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the 1991 Gulf war, and when asked at a press conference immediately after the Gulf War about a possible dialog with the PLO, Bush stated:
However, the Bush administration made tremendous efforts throughout 1991 to convene a general Middle East peace conference, which included also the Palestinian issue. In a news conference in early August, Bush stated:
Bush's efforts culminated in the Madrid Peace Conference in October 1991, which for the first time accepted an official Palestinian delegation, even though without open PLO participation.
The inauguration of President Bill Clinton
altered the official US attitude towards the PLO. On September 10, 1993, the eve of the signing of the Oslo Agreement between the Israeli government and the PLO, President Clinton announced the resumption of the US-PLO dialogue, suspended in 1990. The signing ceremony of the Oslo Accord on September 13, 1993 was held in Washington D.C. in the presence of Clinton, even though negotiations for the agreement took place under the auspices of the Norwegian government. Following that ceremony, Arafat became a regular visitor to the White House, the first Palestinian leader to be accorded that honor. The US government also became more involved in Israeli-Palestinian talks, and invited both parties to come to Washington at certain occasions in order to push forward the peace process. This way, the Clinton administration brokered the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire agreement of October 1996, and in October 1998, Clinton brokered an agreement on Israeli further redeployment in the West bank.
The Clinton administration also assisted materially to the formation of the Palestinian Authority by hosting the first donor conference for that purpose, held in Washington DC on October 1, 1993. In October 1993, Congress passed the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1993, which authorized the US government to monitor PLO compliance with international law.
Following the Oslo Agreement and the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority
in 1994, the PLO office was upgraded and renamed as the PLO Mission to the United States.
The US government took an active part in lending technical assistance in building the institutions of the Palestinian Authority. On March 30, 1994, President Bill Clinton
ordered the allocation of $ 4,000,000 for the construction of the Palestinian police, and on March 16, 1995 ordered additional $ 5,000,000 to be allocated towards the same purpose. In July 1995, US Congress passed the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1995, which authorized the President to withhold funds from the Palestinian Authority in cases of what it viewed as incompliance with commitments made to the Israeli government under the Oslo Agreement. In December 1998, President Bill Clinton became the first US President to visit the Palestinian Authority.
US attitudes towards the Palestinian Authority changed following the inauguration of President George W. Bush
. President Bush refrained from meeting Arafat, and refrained from referring to him as "President Arafat", as Palestinian officials insisted, but only as "Chairman Arafat". During the first year of his administration, Bush maintained relations with the Palestinian Authority on the technical level only. Following another round of violence in the Palestinian territories, in June 2002 Bush expressed support for a Palestinian state following a process of negotiations. On June 3, 2003, Bush met for the first time Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas at a multilateral conference at Sharm el-Sheikh, a format of meeting designed to avoid a direct meeting with Arafat, now viewed negatively by Bush and the Israeli leadership. On July 25, 2003, Abbas visited the White House for the first time. At that meeting, the two leaders established the Palestine Economic Development Group, a high level joint American-Palestinian committee to overlook economic ties.
Following Arafat's death in November 2004, the new Palestinian president Abbas became a regular visitor to the White House. Bush now referred to him in official communications as "President" instead of "Chairman", as was done with Arafat. Abbas visited the White House while receiving the honors of a head of state on six different occasions:
- May 26, 2005
- October 20, 2005
- November 26, 2007
- April 24, 2008
- September 25, 2008
- December 19, 2008.
During the visit of May 26, 2005, Bush stated his support for the parameters of the Palestinian state:
In relation to internal structure of the Palestinian Authority, Bush supported the Israeli demand for holding new presidential elections in January 2005 and parliamentary elections in January 2006. In January 2008 President George W. Bush visited the Palestinian Authority.
Relations improved following the inauguration of President Barack Obama
. From the beginning of his administration, Obama pledged his support for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Abbas visited the White House on May 28, 2009 and June 9 and September, 2010. As of September 2011, Abbas was only three times a visitor at the White House, less than the parallel period under the Bush administration, as a result of Obama's fears of antagonizing pro-Israeli Congress members.
In July 2010 the Palestinian mission was upgraded and renamed PLO General Delegation to the United States.
In December 2010, the US government and the Palestinian Authority launched a joint project in information technologies capacity building.
Throughout 2011, relations worsened as a result of the Palestinian initiative of seeking unilaterally UN membership, as the US government supported the Israeli opposition to that move and return to negotiations.
reported that in October 2011, a group of about 30 Palestinian protestors "accosted an American diplomatic delegation visiting the West Bank
," in response to the possible cutting of aid by the US to the Palestinian Authority.
However, some sort of relations between the US government and the PLO existed from the 1970s onward. The PLO is represented in Washington by a General Delegation. The US government does not have any official representative office within Palestinian Authority areas, but has a Consulate General in Jerusalem, which handles relations with the Palestinian Authority.
Basic factors in United States-Palestinian relations
There are several factors governing US attitudes towards the Palestinian issue:- US basic support for the State of Israel, both for its security as well as a Jewish state and a major non-treaty strategic ally. This support is carried out by Evangelical Christians who view modern Israel as the fulfillment of Biblical prophecies and the Palestinians as the modern enemies of what they perceive as the chosen people. This support also rests on circles in the Pentagon and the US arms industry that favor doing business with the Israeli government. This support makes it more difficult for the Palestinian Authority to receive support for its positions in the face of Israeli policies of settlement expansion and refusal to cede more territory.
- US traditional support for oppressed peoples, which is used to explain the partial support given by Washington to the goal of a Palestinian state as the outcome of the peace-process.
- US traditional support for Christian communities around the world, which in the Palestinian case can lead to support either Palestinian or Israeli position. The concern for the Christian minority in the Palestinian Authority leads in some cases to criticism of Israeli policies as obstructive to Christians' living conditions and in some cases to criticism of Palestinian policies as a form of persecutions against Christians.
- Strategic interests in the region, which compel Washington to lend partial support to Palestinian aspirations in order not to antagonize Arab or other Third World government, as well as to avoid military escalation in case of total despair on the part of the Palestinians.
- Public perceptions of national independence movements as terrorists, a view that increased considerably in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This view makes it easier for the Israeli government to justify hawkish stances on grounds of combating terrorism.
Relations prior to 1988
US plans and considerations of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip began already in June 1967, immediately following the Six Day War.Prior to the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, the US government considered The PLO and Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
under Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
's leadership as a terrorist organization, and as a result did not support Palestinian aspirations at the UN, and US diplomats in the Middle East were explicitly ordered by the State Department never to make any contacts with Arafat or any representative on his behalf. A certain change followed the Yom Kippur War. On November 3, 1973 a secret meeting was held in Morocco between Deputy Director of the CIA Vernon A. Walters
Vernon A. Walters
Vernon A. Walters was a United States Army officer and a diplomat. Most notably, he served from 1972 to 1976 as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, from 1985 to 1989 as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations and from 1989 to 1991 as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany...
and Khaled al-Hassan
Khaled al-Hassan
Khaled al-Hassan also known as Abu Said was an early adviser of Yasser Arafat, PLO leader and a founder of the Palestinian political and militant organization Fatah. Khaled is the older brother of Hani al-Hassan.-Early life:...
, number two in the PLO at the time, and the two discussed the possibility of integrating the PLO into the peace process. Even though no tangible agreement was reached at that meeting, it led to restraint of FATAH attacks on US targets.
From 1974 onward, some circles in the Department of State were considering accepting the PLO as partner in the Middle East peace-process. In June 1974, US Ambassador to Egypt Herman Eilts assessed that PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
was looking for ways to integrate the PLO into the peace process. US President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
even alluded to that possibility in his news conference of October 29, 1974. At another press conference, on November 14, 1974, Ford made a non-committal statement on US position towards the PLO by saying:
The Israelis have said they will never negotiate with the PLO. We are not a party to any negotiations. I think we have to let the decision as to who will negotiate to be the responsibility of the parties involved.
However, due to US support of the Israeli government Washington agreed in 1975 to demand PLO explicit recognition of the State of Israel as a precondition to any dealing with its representatives. Referring to this, Ford said at a news conference on November 26, 1975:
the Palestinians do not recognize the State of Israel. And under those circumstances, it is impossible to bring the Palestinians and the Israelis together to negotiate. So, unless there is some change in their attitude, I think you can see a very serious roadblock exists.
As the PLO did not make such recognition explicitly at that time, the US government refrained from any official relations and the PLO was not allowed to maintain any offices on US soil, except for the PLO Mission to the United Nations, which is immune from US law.
A certain change of attitude took place under President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
. Carter was the first US president to advocate the creation of a Palestinian state, which he did at a meeting held in Clinton, Massachusetts on March 16, 1977:
There has to be a homeland provided for the Palestinian refugees who have suffered for many, many years.
In 1978 the PLO was allowed to establish the Palestine Information Office in Washington DC.
A harsher stance towards the PLO was taken by President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
. The Republican party program approved in 1980 stated that:
Republicans reject any call for involvement of the PLO as not in keeping with the long-term interests of either Israel or the Palestinian Arabs. The imputation of legitimacy to organizations not yet willing to acknowledge the fundamental right to existence of the State of Israel is wrong. [- - -] We believe the establishment of a Palestinian State on the West Bank would be destabilizing and harmful to the peace process.
President Reagan continuously opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state or negotiating with the PLO. In September he made a proposal for a Palestinian autonomy under Jordanian supervision. Even though the plan did not call for any PLO participation, some PLO circles viewed this as a possible sign that the Reagan administration might consider an accommodation with the PLO at a later date.
An attempt to close down the Palestine Information Office was made following the passage of the Anti Terrorism Act in December 1987. This act proclaimed the PLO a terrorist organization and prohibited all of its activities except for disseminating information. Reagan then stated:
I have no intention of establishing diplomatic relations with the PLO.
The US government attempted to close down the Palestine Information Office on grounds that it was involved in terrorist activities, but various courts in the United States ruled against this line of action, but allowed a stricter supervision of the office's activities.
Following declaration of statehood
Following the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in November 1988, the PLO officially recognized Israel, and an open dialogue began between the PLO and the US government. The Palestine Information Office now changed its title to Palestine Affairs Center. The dialogue continued also after during the early months of President George H. W. BushGeorge H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
. The US-PLO dialogue was suspended in June 1990, following PLO refusal to condemn an attempted attack on the Israeli coastline by the Palestine Liberation Front
Palestine Liberation Front
The Palestine Liberation Front is a Palestinian militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Canada, the European Union and the USA. It is presently led by Dr. Wasel Abu Yousef.-Origins:...
. The Bush administration had continued to have negative views about the PLO also following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the 1991 Gulf war, and when asked at a press conference immediately after the Gulf War about a possible dialog with the PLO, Bush stated:
to me, they've lost credibility. They've lost credibility with this office right here. And the reason they have is because they behaved very badly to those of their own fundamental faith.
However, the Bush administration made tremendous efforts throughout 1991 to convene a general Middle East peace conference, which included also the Palestinian issue. In a news conference in early August, Bush stated:
In the Middle East, we're close to convening a conference this October that will launch direct talks among Israel, the Palestinians, and the Arab States. I welcome Prime Minister Shamir's statement that he supports our proposal, and I call upon Israel and the Palestinians to clear away remaining obstacles and seize this truly historic opportunity for peace.
Bush's efforts culminated in the Madrid Peace Conference in October 1991, which for the first time accepted an official Palestinian delegation, even though without open PLO participation.
The inauguration of President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
altered the official US attitude towards the PLO. On September 10, 1993, the eve of the signing of the Oslo Agreement between the Israeli government and the PLO, President Clinton announced the resumption of the US-PLO dialogue, suspended in 1990. The signing ceremony of the Oslo Accord on September 13, 1993 was held in Washington D.C. in the presence of Clinton, even though negotiations for the agreement took place under the auspices of the Norwegian government. Following that ceremony, Arafat became a regular visitor to the White House, the first Palestinian leader to be accorded that honor. The US government also became more involved in Israeli-Palestinian talks, and invited both parties to come to Washington at certain occasions in order to push forward the peace process. This way, the Clinton administration brokered the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire agreement of October 1996, and in October 1998, Clinton brokered an agreement on Israeli further redeployment in the West bank.
The Clinton administration also assisted materially to the formation of the Palestinian Authority by hosting the first donor conference for that purpose, held in Washington DC on October 1, 1993. In October 1993, Congress passed the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1993, which authorized the US government to monitor PLO compliance with international law.
Following the Oslo Agreement and the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
in 1994, the PLO office was upgraded and renamed as the PLO Mission to the United States.
The US government took an active part in lending technical assistance in building the institutions of the Palestinian Authority. On March 30, 1994, President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
ordered the allocation of $ 4,000,000 for the construction of the Palestinian police, and on March 16, 1995 ordered additional $ 5,000,000 to be allocated towards the same purpose. In July 1995, US Congress passed the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1995, which authorized the President to withhold funds from the Palestinian Authority in cases of what it viewed as incompliance with commitments made to the Israeli government under the Oslo Agreement. In December 1998, President Bill Clinton became the first US President to visit the Palestinian Authority.
US attitudes towards the Palestinian Authority changed following the inauguration of President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. President Bush refrained from meeting Arafat, and refrained from referring to him as "President Arafat", as Palestinian officials insisted, but only as "Chairman Arafat". During the first year of his administration, Bush maintained relations with the Palestinian Authority on the technical level only. Following another round of violence in the Palestinian territories, in June 2002 Bush expressed support for a Palestinian state following a process of negotiations. On June 3, 2003, Bush met for the first time Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas at a multilateral conference at Sharm el-Sheikh, a format of meeting designed to avoid a direct meeting with Arafat, now viewed negatively by Bush and the Israeli leadership. On July 25, 2003, Abbas visited the White House for the first time. At that meeting, the two leaders established the Palestine Economic Development Group, a high level joint American-Palestinian committee to overlook economic ties.
Following Arafat's death in November 2004, the new Palestinian president Abbas became a regular visitor to the White House. Bush now referred to him in official communications as "President" instead of "Chairman", as was done with Arafat. Abbas visited the White House while receiving the honors of a head of state on six different occasions:
- May 26, 2005
- October 20, 2005
- November 26, 2007
- April 24, 2008
- September 25, 2008
- December 19, 2008.
During the visit of May 26, 2005, Bush stated his support for the parameters of the Palestinian state:
Any final status agreement must be reached between the two parties, and changes to the 1949 Armistice Lines must be mutually agreed to. A viable two-state solution must ensure contiguity on the West Bank, and a state of scattered territories will not work. There must also be meaningful linkages between the West Bank and Gaza. This is the position of the United States today; it will be the position of the United States at the time of final status negotiations.
In relation to internal structure of the Palestinian Authority, Bush supported the Israeli demand for holding new presidential elections in January 2005 and parliamentary elections in January 2006. In January 2008 President George W. Bush visited the Palestinian Authority.
Relations improved following the inauguration of President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. From the beginning of his administration, Obama pledged his support for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Abbas visited the White House on May 28, 2009 and June 9 and September, 2010. As of September 2011, Abbas was only three times a visitor at the White House, less than the parallel period under the Bush administration, as a result of Obama's fears of antagonizing pro-Israeli Congress members.
In July 2010 the Palestinian mission was upgraded and renamed PLO General Delegation to the United States.
In December 2010, the US government and the Palestinian Authority launched a joint project in information technologies capacity building.
Throughout 2011, relations worsened as a result of the Palestinian initiative of seeking unilaterally UN membership, as the US government supported the Israeli opposition to that move and return to negotiations.
Tension in US-Palestinian relationship
The Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reported that in October 2011, a group of about 30 Palestinian protestors "accosted an American diplomatic delegation visiting the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
," in response to the possible cutting of aid by the US to the Palestinian Authority.
PLO heads of mission
The PLO office in Washington DC was headed by the following:- Hatem Hussieni 1978-1982
- Hasan Abdel RahmanHasan Abdel RahmanHasan Abdel Rahman is a former Palestinian National Authority Ambassador to the United States of America and current PNA Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco...
1982-1991 - Anees Barghouti 1991-1993
- Hassan Abdel Rahman, 2nd time 1993-2005
- Afif SafiehAfif SafiehAfif Safieh is a Palestinian diplomat. He was most recently the Palestinian ambassador to the Russian Federation.Safieh was born in Jerusalem in 1950 to a Christian family. As a child, he attended school in Jerusalem's College Des Frères. In 1972, he obtained a degree in Political Science and...
2005-2008 - Nabil Abu Zneid (Charge D’Affaires) 2008-2009
- Maen Rashid AreikatMaen Rashid AreikatMaen Rashid Areikat is a Palestinian diplomat and present chief of the PLO Delegation in Washington DC.He was born in Jericho and obtained a B.Sc...
2009–present
Further reading
- Mohamed Rabie, U.S.-PLO Dialogue: Secret Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1995)