Portugal MPs urge Palestine recognition

Israeli soldiers scuffle with two Palestinian protesters, one of them holding a portrait of Ziad Abu Ein, during a demonstration yesterday against the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank village of Maasarah, near Bethlehem.

AFP/Lisbon

Portugal’s parliament yesterday adopted a resolution calling on the government to recognise the Palestinian state, following a growing number of similar votes around Europe.

Parliament’s motion, filed jointly by the ruling centre-right majority and the opposition Socialist party, proposed “recognising, in co-ordination with the European Union, the state of Palestine as independent and sovereign”.

However, Portugal’s Foreign Minister Rui Machete said after the vote the government “will choose the moment best suited” to recognise the Palestinian state. 

But he said the government was “sensitive to parliament’s call”, that “Israelis and Palestinians live together on a long-term basis in a peaceful way”.

Portuguese lawmakers who backed the measure believe “only talks can guarantee security and peace in the region”.

Initiatives like Portugal’s form part of a trend in Europe towards recognition, until recently seen as the goal of negotiations, but now seen as a means of exerting pressure on Israel to relaunch the moribund peace process.

France’s upper house voted on Thursday to urge its government to recognise Palestine, which came hard on the heels of a similar motion in the Irish parliament on Wednesday. 

Lawmakers in Britain and Spain have already passed their own resolutions and Sweden has gone even further, officially recognising Palestine as a state, in a move that prompted a furious Israel to recall its ambassador.

The French Senate vote drew a swift and angry response from Israel, which said it “hinders the possibility to advance towards peace and sends a wrong message to the Palestinians, who do not wish to negotiate”

Palestinians are seeking to achieve statehood in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank with East Jerusalem as the capital.

With little progress on reaching a settlement, they have been lobbying foreign powers for international recognition.

The Palestinian Authority estimates that 135 countries have now recognised Palestine as a state, although that number is disputed.

The Palestinians, who since 2012 have observer status at the United Nations, are currently carrying out a vast international campaign and want to submit to the UN Security Council a text demanding the end of the Israeli occupation in November 2016.

In 2011 the Palestinians were admitted as a member state of Unesco, the UN education and scientific body, a move with prompted the United States to suspend its payments to the international organisation.

Israel yesterday condemned Switzerland’s plan to host a conference on respect for international human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, charging it was a deviation from the country’s traditional neutrality.

Switzerland has announced a December 17 conference in Geneva, in response to a recommendation from the UN General Assembly at the request of Palestinian authorities.

But the Israeli foreign minister said it was “gravely” concerned by Switzerland’s decision to host the meeting.

The foreign ministry said Israel “will not take part in the conference” and called on other countries to boycott the meeting.

Swiss President Didier Burkhalter has said he expected “very large participation” in the conference.

“Our objective is to advance the cause of international humanitarian law,” Burkhalter said.

“Even if Israel and the United States boycott the meeting, the international community must speak on the issue. There is no denigration of Israel planned,” he said.