Putting more pressure on Israel to revive the stalled peace talks with Palestine, several European countries are reportedly considering recognizing Palestine as an independent state, following the step taken by Sweden which became the first major EU country to do so.
“We’re not going to wait forever,” the Wall Street Journal cited a senior European official as saying on Friday, November 7.
“Other European countries are poised to follow Sweden,” he added.
According to senior US and European officials cited by the American newspaper, more European countries are expected to recognize the Palestinian state, amid stalled peace talks between the two rivals.
Threats posed by the European countries to recognize Palestine come after Sweden’s official reorganization of Palestine as an independent state recently.
Sweden officially recognized the state of Palestine on October 30, becoming the first EU country in Western Europe to do so.
“Today the government takes the decision to recognize the state of Palestine,” Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said in a statement published in the Dagens Nyheter daily at the time.
“It is an important step that confirms the Palestinians’ right to self-determination,” she said, adding that “we hope that this will show the way for others.”
Sweden’s move was swiftly condemned by Israel whose foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman described it as “a miserable decision that strengthens the extremist elements and Palestinian rejectionism.”
Israel was created on May 15, 1948, on the rubbles of Palestine.
Later in the 1967 Middle East War, Israel occupied other Palestinian lands along with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Syria’s Golan Heights.
Israel returned Sinai Peninsula to Egypt under the 1979 Camp David peace accords.
The Palestinians insist that Israel ceases all settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem) to return to the peace talks.
European Support
Showing support for recognizing Palestine as a state, the European Union’s new foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said on Saturday, November 8, that establishing a state for Palestinians was a “must”.
“We need a Palestinian state,” she said during her visit to Gaza, adding that the world “would not stand for a fourth war.”
Calling for resuming the stalled peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis, Mogherini said: “The risk is that if we do not move forward on the political track, we will go back… again to violence.
“That’s why I see the urgency in moving forward,” she added during her first official visit to Al-Quds.
Calls to recognize Palestine’s statehood have been mounting across Europe especially after Sweden’s move.
Earlier this month, British lawmakers voted in favor of the recognition of Palestine as a state.
The vote was seen as a significant change in political landscape and a symbolic value for Palestinians in their pursuit of international recognition.
Moreover, hundreds of Israeli leftists have announced last month their support to Spain’s parliament plans to hold a vote on recognizing Palestine as a state.
The Spanish vote has gained support from Israeli figures including, the Foreign Ministry director-general Dr. Alon Liel, Peace Now founders Amiram Goldblum and Naftali Raz.
These prominent figures were leading the online petition to recognize Palestine as a state.
Source: OnIslam
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