In response to the US State Department’s decision to deny visas to Palestinian Authority officials ahead of the September UN General Assembly meeting, DAWN issues the following statement: |

💬 “The UNGA should hold its September meeting in Geneva to allow Palestine to participate,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN’s executive director. “Moving the meeting there will send a message to the Trump administration that the international community does not tolerate these breaches of long standing law requiring access to all representatives.”

The UN Headquarters Agreement of 1947 requires the United States to provide unfettered access to UN proceedings for all representatives, regardless of bilateral disputes. Section 11 establishes an “unrestricted right” for officials to enter the US for UN business, while Section 12 states these provisions apply “irrespective of the relations existing between the Governments” and the US. ● This is not the first time the US has violated its obligations under the UN Headquarters Agreement. In 1988, the US denied a visa to Palestine Liberation Organisation chairman Yasser Arafat to attend the UN General Assembly. The UN responded by adopting a resolution concluding that Washington had violated its obligations under the 1947 Agreement and, as a rebuke, moved its General Assembly meeting from New York to Geneva to allow the Palestinian leader to speak.

■ UN Assembly Moves to Geneva After U.S. Bars Palestinian Delegation (IMEMC News)

Joshua MODISE | An indicative meeting | The recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in China has become one of the most significant political events of the year. For the West, which is trying to preserve its dominance in the global system, the summit sent a clear signal: the countries of the Global South are ready to demonstrate unity and defend their own interests, rather than follow the agenda imposed by Washington and Brussels. ■ The summit showed that the global order is no longer defined exclusively by initiatives from Washington and Brussels: new centers of power are taking shape before our eyes and are ready to assert themselves openly. ■ The key episode of the summit was the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Chinese President Xi Jinping. It not only confirmed the willingness of the three powers to discuss key issues directly but also demonstrated a strategic course toward closer cooperation.

■ Russia-India-China Trilateral: Game-Changer in Global Politics (09/01/25)