The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) office in Washington, DC. AFP
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) office in Washington, DC. AFP
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) office in Washington, DC. AFP
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) office in Washington, DC. AFP

US confirms closure of Palestinian mission in Washington


  • English
  • Arabic

The US State Department confirmed Monday it was ordering the closure of the Washington mission of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, a move the Palestinians denounced as a “dangerous escalation”.

"We have permitted the PLO office to conduct operations that support the objective of achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between Israelis and the Palestinians since the expiration of a previous waiver in November 2017," said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

"However, the PLO has not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel."

The decision was another play from US President Donald Trump aimed at pressuring the Palestinians to negotiate with him and his Middle East advisers on a much-vaunted peace plan that the American leader has termed the “ultimate deal”.

But the Palestinians have cut all contacts with Washington, citing a series of decisions made by Mr Trump that they say favour Israel, most importantly the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem announced in December that gave US recognition to the contested city as Israel’s united capital.

The State Department accused the leadership of condemning “a US peace plan they have not yet seen and refused to engage with the U.S. government with respect to peace efforts and otherwise”. The Palestinians have said they would reject any US peace proposal after the embassy move. They seek East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, as the capital of any future Palestinian state.

Palestinian officials criticised the decision as another betrayal that effectively ends Washington’s role as an impartial mediator in the decades-long conflict. Officials in Ramallah said the decision came after they stepped up their campaign against Israel at the International Criminal Court, where they have sought a war crimes investigation into Israeli policies.

"We have been notified by a US official of their decision to close the Palestinian mission to the US," Palestine Liberation Organisation secretary-general Saeb Erekat said in a statement.

"This is yet another affirmation of the Trump administration's policy to collectively punish the Palestinian people, including by cutting financial support for humanitarian services including health and education."

US National Security Adviser John Bolton was expected to defend the decision in a speech on Monday and reiterate the Trump administration’s strong commitment to Israel.

The PLO was once considered a terrorist organisation by the US and Israel until 1991. But since the Oslo Accords, signed in 1993 and sealed with a White House lawn handshake between PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the body has served as the Palestinian representation at the negotiating table in any peace talks.

Under US law adopted by Congress in 1980s, the PLO mission was barred from establishing an office in Washington DC. Former President Bill Clinton waived that law in 1994, allowing the office to open with a six-month renewal period signed off by the sitting US President. In a status upgrade in 2011, former President Barack Obama allowed the PLO mission to fly the flag over its office located on Wisconsin Avenue.

The Trump administration had threatened to close the mission in November and the head of the Palestinian mission in Washington, Husam Zumlot, had for months been rendered a forlorn figure in the Capitol until he was recalled in December.

Mr Zumlot told reporters in Ramallah that the decision was taken by the US to “protect Israel from war crimes, crimes against humanity that Israel is committing in the occupied Palestinian territories”.

_________

Read more:

Donald Trump axes $25 million funding for East Jerusalem hospitals

Politicians failing Palestine, says envoy ahead of Nakba

Israel kills dozens in Gaza as US moves embassy to Jerusalem 

_________

The Palestinians have embarked on what has been termed a “diplomatic intifada,” asking the war crimes court to probe Israel for a range of international human rights violations, including killing hundreds of civilians in the 2014 Gaza War and continued illegal settlement building in the West Bank.

Since the embassy move, the Trump administration has failed to condemn the continued construction of illegal Israeli outposts in the West Bank, the territory the Palestinians want as part of any future state, and it has cut all funding to the United Nations agency for Palestinians refugees, causing the worst crisis in its existence.

Observers said the decision would fail to bring the Palestinians to negotiate with Mr Trump and his advisers, son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt.

Ghaith Al Omari, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the decision is “not irrelevant” but “will not achieve its stated objective of bringing the Palestinians to negotiations”.

Mr Al Omari, a former adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team, told The National that the decision “is a further symbolic escalation in Palestinian-American relations, and that is not irrelevant.”

“Practically speaking however, not much will change. On the one hand, Palestinian-US relations have been frozen and the PLO representative had left Washington since the decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem last December.”

Others, including former US State Department and White House official Robert Danin called the move “disingenuous”.

Matthew Brodsky, a senior fellow with the Security Studies group, a think tank close to the Trump administration, said the closure is a “price for the Palestinian leadership's obstructionism” in negotiating with Washington.

"They have made clear their intentions to avoid any process led by the Trump administration…there's no reason the Trump administration should keep their office open in Washington," he told The National.

The Palestinians have said they will not buckle to Mr Trump's pressure and will continue to push on with their bid for an ICC investigation against Israel. The war crimes court launched a preliminary probe in 2015 into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and the Palestinian territories, in the wake of the 2014 Gaza war, in which the Israeli military killed more than 2,200 Palestinians. But it is yet to open the door on a full-blown investigation that may see charges brought against Israeli officials.

The Uefa Awards winners

Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)

Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League

Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)

Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)

Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona

Three-day coronation

Royal purification

The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.

The crown

Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.

The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.

The audience

On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.

The procession

The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.

Meet the people

On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPowertrain%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle%20electric%20motor%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E201hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E310Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E53kWh%20lithium-ion%20battery%20pack%20(GS%20base%20model)%3B%2070kWh%20battery%20pack%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETouring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E350km%20(GS)%3B%20480km%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh129%2C900%20(GS)%3B%20Dh149%2C000%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What drives subscription retailing?

Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.

The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.

The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.

The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.

UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.

That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.

Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million