Palestinian Officials Slam U.S. for Shuttering Their D.C. Office

Officials from the Palestinian Liberation Organization are sharply criticizing the U.S. for its decision to shutter their office in Washington, D.C., and for the Trump administration’s larger effort to cripple Palestine’s ability to pursue cases against Israel at the International Criminal Court, according to a Monday report from The Washington Post. The decision will reportedly be formally announced later today by National Security Adviser John Bolton. Bolton will also reportedly threaten sanctions against the court if it continues investigations against the U.S. or Israel, according to an advance draft of Bolton’s speech obtained by the Post. This is far from the first time the Trump administration has sided with Israel, the Post added: Since Trump’s election, the U.S. has moved the capital to Jerusalem and slashed funding for the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has decried the decision to close the PLO office, labeling it a continuation of “collective punishment” from the White House; another official called it “crude and vicious blackmail.” Erkat added that “These people have decided to stand on the wrong side of history by protecting war criminals and destroying the two state solution [...] I told them if you are worried about courts, you should stop aiding and abetting crimes.”