PLO criticises approval of bill banning members from US

The secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation Executive Committee expressed his concern this morning regarding the approval of a bill prohibiting the entry of PLO members to the United States.

According to the New York Post, the “No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act”, introduced by Congressman Tom McClintock, would consider individuals associated with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the PLO or those involved in the 7 October attack to be ineligible to enter the US, even if seeking asylum. The bill, voted on yesterday by the US House of Representatives, received support in the lower chamber, passing with a vote of 422-2, with six members abstaining.

Hussein Al-Sheikh condemned the move as “dangerous” and took to X to criticise the bill. “The US House of Representatives’ approval of a bill to ban the entry of members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation into the United States of America is a dangerous decision towards the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” wrote the PLO official. “We consider it a decision that harms the rights of our Palestinian people and goes beyond the international position that recognises these rights and recognises the organisation as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”

He added that the decision requires clarification from the US administration.

The US House of Representatives’ approval of a bill to ban the entry of members of the Palestine Liberation Organization into the United States of America is a dangerous decision towards the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. We consider it a decision that… https://t.co/Zs2NTaNCxv

— حسين الشيخ Hussein AlSheikh (@HusseinSheikhpl) February 1, 2024

Congresswomen Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib were the only members of the House to vote against the bill. Tlaib, a staunch liberal critical of Israel, argued that it was “redundant” since entry for those involved in terrorism or belonging to recognised terrorist groups is already prohibited. “The unnecessary bill is just another [Republican] messaging bill being used to incite anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim hatred that makes communities like ours unsafe,” she added.

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