TRUMP MAY BAN ZIMBABWE FROM ATTENDING UN MEETING IN NEW YORK

United States President Donald Trump may stop Zimbabwe from going to the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York this month. Reports say that an internal United States State Department memo has been seen by the American media, and it shows that travel and other restrictions could be put in place against some delegations. The meeting will start on Tuesday, September 23, and will end on Monday, September 29. The theme for this year is “Better Together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights.” This is the 80th edition of the summit and leaders from many countries are expected to attend. But Zimbabwe is one of the countries that may be banned together with Iran, Sudan, and Brazil.

This comes after the White House refused to give visas to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation. They had planned to attend the same meeting. Many people see this as a shocking move because the United Nations meeting is supposed to be a place where all countries can be represented. The United States hosts the UN headquarters in New York but it has also used that power in the past to stop certain leaders from entering. In 1988, the United States blocked Yasser Arafat, who was the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, from travelling to New York. That was already a controversial move at the time. But now things are moving even further, because the United States is not just blocking one person but entire delegations.

The Palestinian case is very important this year. Many countries like the UK, France, Australia, and Canada are ready to recognise Palestine as a state if some conditions are met. This would be a huge moment for Palestine, maybe the most important since the Oslo accords. But with Trump refusing visas to Mahmoud Abbas and his team, it means Palestine will not be able to be represented in person at such a key event. Israel is said to be very happy about this, while many other countries are angry. People are saying this is a blanket ban, and such a ban has never been seen before in the history of the United Nations.

For Zimbabwe, this situation is worrying because it would mean the country’s delegation may also be blocked from going to New York. Zimbabwe has been under many sanctions already, and the leadership of ZANU PF has always faced travel restrictions. Now this could go even further. It shows how the ruling party continues to isolate Zimbabwe from the rest of the world. Instead of building peace, human rights, and development, our leaders continue to attract negative attention that hurts ordinary people. When the country is banned from big meetings like this, it means our voice is silenced, and we cannot even put forward our case on the global stage.

The move by Trump is not only about Zimbabwe but it is clear that our name is now grouped with countries like Iran and Sudan. This shows how far the ZANU PF government has damaged our reputation. It is shameful because our people deserve better. We deserve leaders who can be trusted to represent us, not leaders who bring us shame and restrictions.

Per Clausen, a Danish Member of the European Parliament, has already said that Europe should propose a temporary move of the UN meeting to Geneva. He said this should be done to protect the right of the Palestinians to be represented and also to send a clear message to Trump. This shows that many in the world are not happy with what the United States is doing. But for Zimbabwe, the lesson is very clear. As long as ZANU PF stays in power, our country will keep facing these kinds of humiliations.