France's National Asembly. (Photo: Agu V./flickr/cc)
Dec 02, 2014
French lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to recognize Palestine.
The non-binding resolution was approved by the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, 339 to 151.
The "resolution is concerned with reinforcing our country's diplomatic action, prevailing over hate speech everywhere and contributing to the establishment of peace in the Middle East," the text reads.
"The recognition of the Palestinian state must be accompanied by a beneficial and immediate return toward negotiation," it states.
Reporting by Agence France-Presse adds:
France is spearheading a drive at the United Nations to unfreeze the moribund peace process and the Palestinian envoy to the U.N. said earlier Tuesday a draft resolution could be submitted to the Security Council by mid-December.
Reutersadds:
"We don't want a symbolic recognition that will only lead to a virtual state," Europe Minister Harlem Desir told lawmakers in reaction to the vote. "We want a Palestinian state that is real so we want to give a chance to negotiations."
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously said France's recognition of Palestine would be a "grave mistake," and Israel's ambassador to France, Yossi Gal, told the Associated Press last week regarding France's vote: "I really hope that everybody will come back to their senses and see how bad this resolution is for everybody concerned."
In addition to following Sweden's official recognition of Palestinian statehood this year, France's measure comes after a flurry of similar symbolic votes in the UK, Spain and Ireland.
Noted scholar Noam Chomsky has said that these recent votes in Europe add pressure to resolving the conflict and show that these populations "want to distance themselves from the actions that Israel is taking, which are very explicitly criminal actions."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
French lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to recognize Palestine.
The non-binding resolution was approved by the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, 339 to 151.
The "resolution is concerned with reinforcing our country's diplomatic action, prevailing over hate speech everywhere and contributing to the establishment of peace in the Middle East," the text reads.
"The recognition of the Palestinian state must be accompanied by a beneficial and immediate return toward negotiation," it states.
Reporting by Agence France-Presse adds:
France is spearheading a drive at the United Nations to unfreeze the moribund peace process and the Palestinian envoy to the U.N. said earlier Tuesday a draft resolution could be submitted to the Security Council by mid-December.
Reutersadds:
"We don't want a symbolic recognition that will only lead to a virtual state," Europe Minister Harlem Desir told lawmakers in reaction to the vote. "We want a Palestinian state that is real so we want to give a chance to negotiations."
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously said France's recognition of Palestine would be a "grave mistake," and Israel's ambassador to France, Yossi Gal, told the Associated Press last week regarding France's vote: "I really hope that everybody will come back to their senses and see how bad this resolution is for everybody concerned."
In addition to following Sweden's official recognition of Palestinian statehood this year, France's measure comes after a flurry of similar symbolic votes in the UK, Spain and Ireland.
Noted scholar Noam Chomsky has said that these recent votes in Europe add pressure to resolving the conflict and show that these populations "want to distance themselves from the actions that Israel is taking, which are very explicitly criminal actions."
French lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to recognize Palestine.
The non-binding resolution was approved by the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, 339 to 151.
The "resolution is concerned with reinforcing our country's diplomatic action, prevailing over hate speech everywhere and contributing to the establishment of peace in the Middle East," the text reads.
"The recognition of the Palestinian state must be accompanied by a beneficial and immediate return toward negotiation," it states.
Reporting by Agence France-Presse adds:
France is spearheading a drive at the United Nations to unfreeze the moribund peace process and the Palestinian envoy to the U.N. said earlier Tuesday a draft resolution could be submitted to the Security Council by mid-December.
Reutersadds:
"We don't want a symbolic recognition that will only lead to a virtual state," Europe Minister Harlem Desir told lawmakers in reaction to the vote. "We want a Palestinian state that is real so we want to give a chance to negotiations."
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously said France's recognition of Palestine would be a "grave mistake," and Israel's ambassador to France, Yossi Gal, told the Associated Press last week regarding France's vote: "I really hope that everybody will come back to their senses and see how bad this resolution is for everybody concerned."
In addition to following Sweden's official recognition of Palestinian statehood this year, France's measure comes after a flurry of similar symbolic votes in the UK, Spain and Ireland.
Noted scholar Noam Chomsky has said that these recent votes in Europe add pressure to resolving the conflict and show that these populations "want to distance themselves from the actions that Israel is taking, which are very explicitly criminal actions."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.