Political relations between Palestine and the United States have been complex and strained since the 1960s. While the U.S. does not recognize the State of Palestine, it does recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the legitimate representative entity for the Palestinian people; following the Oslo Accords, it recognized the Palestinian National Authority as the legitimate Palestinian government of the Palestinian territories.
Due to its non-recognition of Palestine, the U.S. does not maintain any official diplomatic offices in the Palestinian territories nor does it provide consular services to Palestinians, and the Palestinians have had no diplomatic representation in the U.S. since the closure of the PLO mission in Washington, D.C., in October 2018 but is represented in the United States through its mission to the United Nations in New York City which serves as Palestine's de facto embassy. The U.S. designated a "Palestinian Affairs Unit" within its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem for the purpose of handling relations with the PNA, but Palestine is presently maintaining a public policy of non-cooperation with the office and with the U.S. in general. In June 2022, the "Palestinian Affairs Unit" (PAU) was renamed the "United States Office of Palestinian Affairs" and will report directly to Washington "on substantive matters".
Since around 2011, the PLO's diplomatic effort has focused on the campaign known as Palestine 194, which aims to gain full membership for Palestine in the United Nations (UN). Officially, Palestine seeks international recognition based on the pre-1967 borders of Israel, with East Jerusalem as its capital city.
History The US presence in Palestine began as early as the 19th century. In 1844, the US State Department opened a consulate in Jerusalem, which became the primary point of contact with the local population. In the 19th century, many Americans traveled to the Holy Land for religious or cultural reasons, including Mark Twain. In the 1880s, an American Colony was established in Jerusalem, led by the religious utopian Horatio Spafford.
The PLO, established in 1964, did not receive official recognition from the U.S. government. However, an unofficial PLO Information Office opened in New York in 1964. Sadat Hassan, Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations ran the office until it closed in 1968.
On 1 May 1978, the PLO was allowed to open the Palestine Information Office (PIO) in Washington, D.C. The PIO was registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent. The 100th United States Congress adopted the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987, which declared the PLO a terrorist organization, with a consequential ban on assisting it in any way,U.S. Code TITLE 22 - CHAPTER 61 - § 5201. Findings; determinations, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Retrieved 5 December 2006.22 USC CHAPTER 61 – ANTI-TERRORISM – PLO , Office of the Law Revision Counsel (United States). Retrieved 5 December 2006. and the government ordered the closure of the PIO. The PIO appealed to the courts, but their objections were rejected.
In 1988 a presidential waiver was issued to allow contact with the organization. A PLO office was reopened in 1989 as the Palestine Affairs Center.The Palestinian Diaspora: Formation of Identities and Politics of Homeland, By Helena Lindholm Schulz, Juliane Hammer, Routledge, 2003 p. 81 The PLO Mission office in Washington, D.C. was opened in 1994. Following the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994 under the Oslo Agreement, the PLO office was renamed the PLO Mission to the United States.
On 20 July 2010, the United States Department of State agreed to upgrade the status of the PLO Mission in the United States to "General Delegation of the PLO". The PLO Mission Office was ordered closed in October 2018.
Foreign policy of the U.S. government Nixon and Ford administrations (1969–1977) Before the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the U.S. government considered the PLO and Fatah under Yasser Arafat's leadership as a terrorist organization, and did not support PLO aspirations at the UN. U.S. diplomats in the Middle East were explicitly ordered by the State Department never to make any contacts with Arafat or any representative on his behalf. However, despite the negative view of the PLO, State Department officials began to view the Palestinian factor as crucial enough to be taken into consideration when brokering an Israeli-Jordanian agreement on the West Bank. In contrast to the negative diplomatic view of the PLO, the intelligence community did not refrain from clandestine contacts with that entity, and as early as October 1970, a senior Fatah representative delivered the CIA message about willingness by Arafat to recognize the State of Israel in exchange for US support of a Palestinian state. This trend of clandestine contacts produced some tangible results following the Yom Kippur War. On 3 November 1973, a secret meeting was held in Morocco between deputy director of the CIA Vernon A. Walters and Khaled al-Hassan, number two in the PLO at the time, and the two discussed the possibility of integrating the PLO into the peace process. Even though no tangible agreement was reached at that meeting, it led to the restraint of Fatah attacks on U.S. targets.
From 1974 onward, some circles in the US Department of State were considering accepting the PLO as a partner in the Middle East peace process. In June 1974, U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Herman Eilts assessed that Arafat was looking for ways to integrate the PLO into the peace process. U.S. President Gerald Ford even alluded to that possibility in October 1974. In November 1974, Ford made a non-committal statement on U.S. position towards the PLO saying: The Israelis have said they will never negotiate with the PLO. We are not a party for any negotiations. I think we have to let the decision as to who will negotiate to be the responsibility of the parties involved.
However, due to U.S. support of the Israeli government Washington agreed in 1975 to demand PLO explicit recognition of the State of Israel as a precondition to any dealing with its representatives. Referring to this, Ford said in November 1975: the Palestinians do not recognize the State of Israel. And under those circumstances, it is impossible to bring the Palestinians and the Israelis together to negotiate. So, unless there is some change in their attitude, I think you can see a very serious roadblock exists.
As the PLO did not make such recognition explicitly at that time, the U.S. government refrained from any official relations and the PLO was not allowed to maintain any offices in the U.S., except for the PLO Mission to the United Nations, which was immune from U.S. law.
Carter administration (1977–1981) A certain change of attitude took place under President Jimmy Carter. Carter was the first U.S. president to advocate the creation of a Palestinian state, which he did in March 1977: There has to be a homeland provided for the Palestinian refugees who have suffered for many, many years. In addition to Carter's pro-Palestinian positions, the PLO leadership attempted to reach an agreement with the US government. In January 1978, Arafat delivered a secret message to Carter, stating he would settle for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in exchange for US support of that objective. The administration's relatively positive position on the PLO also allowed that organization to establish on 1 May 1978, the Palestine Information Office in Washington, D.C. However, no real progress on the Palestinian issue was made under Carter, as he was preoccupied with reaching an Israeli-Egyptian agreement, and contacts with PLO were detrimental to that agreement.
Reagan administration (1981–1989) A harsher stance towards the PLO was taken by President Ronald Reagan. The Republican party platform approved in 1980 stated that: Republicans reject any call for the involvement of the PLO as not in keeping with the long-term interests of either Israel or the Palestinian Arabs. The imputation of legitimacy to organizations not yet willing to acknowledge the fundamental right to existence of the State of Israel is wrong. [- - -] We believe the establishment of a Palestinian State on the West Bank would be destabilizing and harmful to the peace process.
Reagan continuously opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state or negotiating with the PLO. In September he proposed Palestinian autonomy under Jordanian supervision. Even though the plan did not call for any PLO participation, some PLO circles viewed this as a possible sign that the Reagan administration might consider accommodation with the PLO at a later date.
An attempt to close down the Palestine Information Office was made following the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act in December 1987. This act proclaimed the PLO a terrorist organization and prohibited all of its activities except for disseminating information. Reagan then stated: I have no intention of establishing diplomatic relations with the PLO.
The U.S. government attempted to close the Palestine Information Office on grounds that it was involved in terrorist activities, but various courts in the United States ruled against this line of action, but allowed stricter supervision of the office's activities.
Also, Reagan downplayed the outbreak of the Intifada, viewing it an import into the Palestinian territories rather than an expression of the Palestinian popular rebellion.
The Palestine Liberation Organization published the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in November 1988, and accepted United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, recognized Israel's right to exist, and renounced terrorism, the US conditions for an open dialogue between the PLO and the U.S. government. Reagan issued a presidential waiver to the Anti-Terrorism Act to allow contact with the PLO.
George H. W. Bush administration (1989–1993) The dialogue continued under President George H. W. Bush, but was suspended in June 1990 following PLO refusal to condemn an attempted attack on the Israeli coastline by the Palestinian Liberation Front.
In addition, relations strained after PLO leader Arafat supported Iraq's Saddam Hussein, even after Iraq invaded Kuwait and during the 1991 Gulf War. When asked at a press conference immediately after the Gulf War about a possible dialog with the PLO, Bush stated: To me, they've lost credibility. They've lost credibility with this office right here. And the reason they have is that they behaved very badly to those of their own fundamental faith.
However, the Bush administration made efforts throughout 1991 to convene a general Middle East peace conference. In a news conference in early August, Bush stated: In the Middle East, we're close to convening a conference this October that will launch direct talks among Israel, the Palestinians, and the Arab States. I welcome Prime Minister Shamir's statement that he supports our proposal, and I call upon Israel and the Palestinians to clear away remaining obstacles and seize this truly historic opportunity for peace.
Bush's efforts culminated in the Madrid Peace Conference in October 1991, which for the first time accepted an official Palestinian delegation, even though without open PLO participation.
Clinton administration (1993–2001)
President Bill Clinton altered the official U.S. position towards the PLO. He supported the goal of a Palestinian state, but refrained from expressing this in public until the closing months of his administration.