UN Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield Meets with Palestinians in Ramallah

The American Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield was in Ramallah on Wednesday to convey the Biden administration’s views on peacemaking and human rights.

In a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other senior officials, the envoy reiterated Washington’s “strong support for a two-state solution and its belief that Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve equal measures of freedom, prosperity, security and dignity,” according to a statement from her office.

Thomas-Greenfield “also emphasized the importance of respecting human rights and avoiding actions that undermine the prospects of a two-state solution, such as settlement activity, evictions, incitement to violence and payments to individuals imprisoned for terrorism,” the U.S. readout added.

It was not immediately clear why she had to travel so far to say things that have been said so many times before, but presumably there were some things omitted from the press release.

Thomas-Greenfield also held a discussion with Palestinian civil society leaders, her office said, noting that they did not include any of the six human rights organizations blacklisted by Israel for ties to the terrorist PFLP.

The White House had requested clarification of the basis for the ban, and Israel promised to furnish evidence of their terrorist ties, but there has been no further statement publicly as to whether Israel’s case was accepted in Washington.