The recognition of Palestine as a State by Spain, Ireland and Norway has been received with unequal support by the international community: from the unconditional support of the Arab countries, to the American rejection, to the distancing of powers like France or China.
Madrid, Oslo and Dublin announced this recognition this Wednesday – which will be formalized on May 28 and which has already been adopted by more than 140 of the 193 member countries of the UN -, in a coordinated decision with which they hope to contribute to the peace and stability in the Middle East.
Arab gratitude and satisfaction
Beyond the thanks and evident satisfaction shown by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Islamist organization Hamas, the Arab League, made up of 22 States, also showed its gratitude to the three States.
“I greet and thank the three countries for this step that puts them on the right side of the history of this conflict,” said Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abulgheit in a statement in which he congratulated Palestine “for this positive step.”
“I invite the States that have not yet done so to follow the example of the three countries” that took a step of “principles and courage,” added the head of the pan-Arab organization.
Abbas: Recognition “contributes to peace”
The president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas, said this Wednesday that Ireland’s announcement to recognize the Palestinian State next Tuesday is a decision that “contributes to peace and justice,” as well as to the right of “self-determination” of the Palestinian people.
In a telephone conversation, Abbas thanked the Irish Prime Minister, Simon Harris, for “his brave position” after revealing this Wednesday that on May 28, together with Spain and Norway, they will take the step of recognizing the Palestinian State.
“This is a ray of hope for more European countries to join the initiative and that this can also help us to make Palestine a full member of the UN,” the ANP leader told Harris, according to the news agency. Wafa news.
Clear rejection of Israel and the United States
Israel decided to call its ambassadors in Madrid, Dublin and Oslo in open rejection of this initiative and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that the “evil (of the Palestinians) cannot be given a country.”
Other members of the Israeli Executive were equally forceful, such as the Israeli Finance Minister, the far-right settler Bezalel Smotrich, who proposed creating an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank by each country that unilaterally recognizes the Palestinian State.
The United States, Israel’s main partner, also showed its opposition and a spokesperson for the National Security Council told CNN that although “the president (Joe Biden) is a firm supporter of a two-state solution and has been throughout his race,” he believes that “a Palestinian state should be realized through direct negotiations between the parties, not through unilateral recognition.”
On April 19, the United States vetoed a resolution in the Security Council that opened the door to Palestine’s entry as a full member of the UN, of which it is now only an observer state.
The resolution presented by Algeria on behalf of the Arab Group of the United Nations garnered 12 favorable votes, the abstentions of the United Kingdom and Switzerland and the vote against the United States, which underlined the isolation of the United States vis-à-vis the majority of the community. international in this sense.
The US does not understand how recognition helps peace
The United States said this Wednesday that it does not understand how the decision of Spain, Ireland and Norway to formally recognize Palestine as an independent state on the 28th can contribute to peace and stability in the Middle East, as those nations argue.
Asked by EFE in a press conference, the White House National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, said “not having heard the logic” of how this step improves the situation and considered that these countries will have to be asked “how they link their unilateral action of recognition with the current advances in the peace process.”
“I haven’t heard the logic of how it contributes. What I can tell you is that we believe that the only way to achieve a two-state solution that satisfies both Israelis and Palestinians is through direct negotiations between the parties. That is where we have focused our efforts and that is what we have oriented our work toward,” Sullivan emphasized.
Distancing from France, Italy or China
Many European countries such as France, Belgium or Italy have distanced themselves from the step taken by their partners in Spain, Norway and Ireland and, although they have insisted on their support for the two-state solution – one Israeli and the other Palestinian -, they have placed emphasis in that it is not the time for recognition but rather for reaching a truce.
For France, the recognition of Palestine “is not a taboo”, but it must be done “at the right time” so that “it is decisive”, its Foreign Minister, Stéphane Séjourné, stated this Wednesday.
“Our position is clear: the recognition of Palestine is not a taboo for France,” said Sejourné, who met in Paris today with his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, but stressed that this recognition “must be useful, that is, allow a decisive advance in the political field. Therefore, it must be done at the right time, so that there is a before and after.”
Along these lines, the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo, rejected this Wednesday the immediate recognition of the Palestinian State because “the priority” is to free the Israeli hostages in the hands of Hamas and achieve a ceasefire.
Italy’s Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, said this Tuesday that his country “is in favor of the birth of a Palestinian State,” but he clarified that “steps that only serve to create tension are useless.”
Work for “the solution of two peoples and two States”
“We must work for the solution of two peoples and two States,” said the head of Italian diplomacy. However, he stressed that such a measure cannot be carried out hastily: “Steps that only serve to create tension are useless,” he declared to the local press, after Spain, Ireland and Norway announced this Wednesday that they will recognize the Palestinian state.
The Government of Slovenia has shown its support and has even announced that it will soon join the recognition of the Palestinian State.
Outside Europe, China – which recognized the Palestinian State in 1988 – has reacted to the announcement by ensuring that the priority is to “reach an immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.
Foreign spokesman Wang Wenbin simply noted that “China believes that the priority is to effectively implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 2728 and guarantee an immediate ceasefire, end the war and end the crisis.” unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”
BY: Nadeem Faisal Baiga
