US shuts down Palestine delegation

The US government yesterday took a further step in its change of policy in the Middle East by closing the office of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Washington. The executive justified the decision with the argument that the Palestinians do not want to directly negotiate a peace agreement with Israel. In fact, Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have long been stalled, especially following the US decision to transfer its embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a city that both sides claim as their capital. The closure will leave Palestinians without a formal presence in the US capital, which Palestinian negotiator Saeb Eerekat described as a “dangerous escalation that shows that the United States intends to dismantle the international system to protect the land and people of Palestine against the crimes of Israel and its attacks, thus threatening the peace and security of the region.“