Bernie Sanders's foreign policy advisor meets with Palestinian official

According to a PLO statement, "the two parties discussed the Trump administration's hostile approach in the region and its destructive policies."

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi met with Matt Duss, foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders, according to a statement released by the Department of Public Diplomacy and Policy of the Palestine Liberation Organization on Monday.
According to the statement, "the two parties discussed the Trump administration's hostile approach in the region and its destructive policies that undermine the prospects of peace and the Palestinian people's inalienable rights to freedom."
Moreover, the two also considered what the release describes as the "Trump administration's vindictive actions against the Palestinian people and leadership, including as reflected recently in the rejection of Dr. Ashrawi's visa application."
On May 13, Ashrawi, who is a PLO Executive Committee member, took to social media to share the fact that her request for a US visa had been denied.
"It is official! My US visa application has been rejected. No reason given. Choose any of the following: I'm over 70 & a grandmother; I've been an activist for Palestine since the late 1960's; I've always been an ardent supporter of nonviolent resistance," she wrote on Twitter.
According to the PLO, "Duss expressed Senator Sanders' dismay and objection of this petty step."
Following her claims, the US Embassy told The Jerusalem Post that "visa records are confidential under US law; therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases."
"US law does not authorize the refusal of visas based solely on political statements or views if those statements or views would be lawful in the United States. Visas may be denied only on grounds set out in US law," the embassy added.
Earlier on Monday, Ashrawi also met with the French Consul-General in Jerusalem Pierre Cochard. According to the PLO statement, during the meeting, she called on France to reject any involvement in the upcoming US peace summit in Bahrain.
"The right-wing US and Israeli administrations are bypassing international law and signed agreements by applying punitive financial measures that aim at undermining the Palestinian cause but all those botched efforts are bound to fail," she said.
The "Peace to Prosperity" economic workshop is scheduled to take place on June 25 and 26. The Trump administration has cast the conference as an overture to its plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.


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