The recognition of several European countries to the Palestinian State opens the debate on historical support to Israel, and the solution of the two states
When the high -level meeting of more than 150 world leaders in the United Nations is held, from September 22 to 30, one of the most prominent political moments will be the announcement by at least 10 Western countries of the recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state.
The 10 countries – some of which already recognized before the UN meeting – are the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Malta, Belgium, Spain, Ireland and Norway -, which shows that traditional support to Israel is gradually decreasing in the western world.
According to the CNN television network, The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs has “rejected” the recent recognition requests from European countriesdescribing them as “reward to Hamas” that they undermine the efforts to reach a high fire, while the president of the United States, Donald Trump, has strongly criticized the requests of recognition.
Even so, the United States, an unconditional defender of Israel, will exercise its veto in the Security Council against any attempt to recognize a Palestinian State as “United Nations Plenary Member of the United Nations.”
Until now, the state of Palestine has been recognized as a sovereign nation by 147 of the 193 Member States, that is, just over 76 % of all members of the UN. It is already “Non -member observer” of the UN General Assembly since November 2012.
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, told The New York Times: «We told all these countries (European) that if they did this recognition, everything would be false, not even real. If they do, they will create problems. There will be an answer ».
The Trump Administration, perhaps as a countermelted, has revoked the US visas to all Palestinian delegates who were going to intervene in the 80 General Assembly (AG), the UM high instance and which formally began on Tuesday, September 9.
As a result, the possibility of transferring at least one session of the AG to Geneva was raised, as was done when the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasser Arafat, was denied the US visa in 1974, or that the Palestinian delegates participated remotely.
When he was asked for updated information, the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters the first week of September: “We are in contact with the State Department to try to obtain some clarification and, obviously (Y) we expect, a revocation of the decision based on its obligations under the agreement (between the United States and the UN headquarters.”
Alon Ben Meir, a retired professor of international relations, on the last time at the Center for Global Affairs of the University of New York (NYU), told IPS that the important role of European countries cannot be underestimated in supporting Palestinian independence.
His support, he said, must transcend symbolism and focus on the essentials of what is needed to promote the Palestinian cause. The measures to be taken include:
- Provide direct financial support to Palestinian institutions and infrastructure, guaranteeing accountability at the same time.
- Establish bilateral commercial agreements With the Palestinians to boost their economy, regardless of Israel.
- Promote the improvement of observer status and the participation of Palestine in international organizations, while providing legal forums to achieve acceptance and international rights.
- Raise the diplomatic level of the representation offices of the Palestinian Consulate in its capitals.
- Fto fall a diplomacy campaign public in their respective capitals to get support for the creation of a Palestinian State.
Offer training and support for Palestinian internal security forces in coordination with Israel to maintain order and stability, said Ben Meir, who has taught courses on international negotiation and studies on the Middle East.
James Jennings, president of Conscience International and defender for a long time of the human rights of the Palestinians, told IPS that the group of European countries that intend to recognize Palestine and demand the creation of a Palestinian State in New York during this month, unfortunately, they will not change the situation on the land.
In his opinion, they arrive with decades of delay and are not in a position to empower the Palestinians to establish their status.
«The sincerity of the plan can also doubt. The measure can be synchronized to distract the attention of the vote of the UN General Assembly and the almost certain failure to obtain recognition of the Security Council. After all, some of these same countries have been putting together Israel with the bombs that, in the last two years, have regularly killed Palestinian women and children unarmed in Gaza, ”he analyzed.
Palestine is not yet a nation, despite its broad diplomatic recognition. He must first achieve genuine sovereignty. History shows that true independence must be conquered, it is not granted, he said.
«The western banks of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip are occupied territories. At this time, Palestine is just an idea, a group of people with a bolt and limited political and administrative apparatus. The strong group identity of the Palestinians is its main asset, which means that, whatever happens, the people of Palestine are in their land to stay, ”said Jennings, who is also executive director of the academic organization of the United States for Peace.
The Palestine Nation has the support of a growing number of people in the United States and Western Europe, but The question is how to put into practice the idea.
The solution of two states has been discussed for a long time, but now observers close to international politics consider it dead.
The facts on the field, with almost six decades of oppressive military occupation and the high number of Israeli settlers who now live within the so -called 1967 green line, make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, establish a Palestinian state, considered Jennings.
Palestine world recognition is growing. The joint position of European nations can help focus attention on the problem of Palestine Apatridia, but does not replace the active struggle against Israel’s domain over the West Bank and Gaza. Its greatest value can be to focus attention on the lack of collective will of the international community to impose a solution.
«Until now, Israel has even refused to define its own borders. The Knesset (Parliament), under the Likud (the extremist party of Prime Minister Benjamin Betanyahu), is willing to seize and nationalize the entire Palestinian territory, which means that there cannot be two states, but only one: Israel, ”said Jennings
He recalled that “the United States ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, supports this position and proclaims that God gave Palestine to the Jews.”
Therefore, it is unlikely that external pressure on Israel by this group of countries works without the leadership of the main valid number of Israel, United States, Jennings concluded.
Expanding that position, Ben Mier said that, although that recognition is significant, it remains symbolic unless all the actors involved adopt many critical measures to mitigate the following four reasons that explain the failures in the progress of the perspective of establishing that State.
First, Israel has done everything in his hand, especially now with the support of the Trump administration, to prevent that from happening.
Second, the Palestinian authority has done little to establish a legitimate representative government and a political apparatus that responds to the needs of the population, despite the fact that 147 countries have already recognized it.
Third, Arab states, although they have publicly shown their support, have provided some financial aid, but have not made any effort arranged over the years to make the idea come true.
And, fourth, countries that have recognized the status of Palestinian State have not taken significant measures to guarantee its implementation.
“To realize the path to the status of the Palestinian state, the actors involved will have to take transcendental measures and maintain the course, despite the fact that Israel will resist vehemently and press the United States to use its influence to prevent such a result,” concluded Ben Meir.
*Journalism in Venezuela is exercised in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments arranged for the punishment of the word, especially the laws “against hatred”, “against fascism” and “against blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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