U.S. Can’t Close PLO Mission to U.N., Federal Judge Rules

The government can’t shut down the Palestine Liberation Organization’s observer mission to the United Nations, a federal judge ruled today.

The Anti-Terrorism Act passed by Congress does not supersede U.S. obligations under its 1947 Headquarters Agreement with the United Nations, U.S. District Judge Edmund Palmieri said.

“The language of the Headquarters Agreement, the longstanding practice under it, and the interpretation given it by the parties to it, leave no doubt that it places an obligation upon the United States to refrain from impairing the function of the PLO observer mission,” Palmieri wrote in a 37-page opinion.

He noted that the language and legislative history of the Anti-Terrorism Act, which branded the PLO a terrorist group, do not indicate Congress meant to abandon the country’s obligations under the Headquarters Agreement with the United Nations.

The Justice Department filed suit in March seeking to close the PLO mission, citing the Anti-Terrorism Act passed by Congress and signed by President Reagan last year.