Biden’s ‘open door’ to the Palestinian Authority
David Pollock and Sander Gerber
April 26, 2021 23:37
Joe Biden and Mahmoud Abbas. (Reuters)
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The Biden administration is contemplating reopening the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) mission in Washington and restoring direct aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA), both previously shut down by the Trump administration. However, instead of diving headfirst into another diplomatic dead-end with the PA/PLO, President Joe Biden should attach real and substantial conditions to any reopening.
It is worth examining the fraught history of the PLO mission in Washington. The State Department shut down the “Palestine Information Office” in October 1987 in response to the PLO’s involvement with various acts of terror. Just two months after the closure, Congress passed the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987, which, among other things, declared the PLO to be a terrorist organization and prohibited t