European countries have grown increasingly vocal in expressing frustration with Israel, since the collapse of the latest US-sponsored talks in April, for not resolving the issue peacefully for “two-State” solution with the Palestinian Authority.
The two sides have traded blame for the failure while the US has, unofficially, largely placed the blame on continued settlement activity and on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a further upset for Israel, the EU’s second-highest court ordered the removal of Hamas from a terrorist blacklist citing legal problems with the listing, though it added that the Islamist group’s assets would remain frozen for three months pending an almost certain appeal.
In October, Sweden officially recognised the State of Palestine making it the first major European Union member state to back Ramallah’s statehood bid in this way.
“It’s an important step that confirms the right of Palestinians to self-determination,” the country’s foreign minister, Margot Wallström, wrote in a newspaper article (Swedish link). “Sweden’s traditionally close ties with the State of Israel are now complemented by an equal relationship to the other party.”
The move led to a mini-diplomatic battle of words between Israel and Sweden, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman calling the move “unfortunate” and saying that the Swedish government “needs to understand that the Middle East is more complicated than self-assembly furniture from IKEA,” in a dig at the Swedish retail giant.
Sweden’s foreign minister retorted that she would “be happy to send [Liberman] a flat pack of IKEA furniture and he will also see that what you need to put that together is, first of all, a partner. And you also need to cooperate and you need a good manual and I think we have most of those elements.”
The parliaments in Britain, France and Ireland were in favour of the recognition of Palestine as a state and this demonstrated growing European impatience with the stalled peace process. The Palestinian Authority estimates that 134 countries have now recognized Palestine as a state, although the number is disputed and several recognitions by what are now European Union member states date to the Soviet era.
France, in particular, has put itself forward in efforts to internationalise the moribund peace process, suggesting an international conference and taking the lead in drafting a resolution at the UN.
European Parliament supports Palestine state:
Social Democrat, left-wing and Green members of the European Parliament had initially put forward motions for a symbolic vote on to call on the EU’s 28 members to recognize Palestine statehood now without conditions.
The European Parliament supports “in principle recognition of Palestinian statehood and the two state solution, and believes these should go hand in hand with the development of peace talks, which should be advanced”, it says in a resolution passed on 17th December.
The resolution was drawn up by five political groups and passed by Parliament as a whole, by 498 votes to 88, with 111 abstentions.
Parliament reiterates “its strong support for the two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states, with the secure State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security on the basis of the right of self-determination and full respect of international law”. MEPs also condemn in the strongest terms all acts of terrorism or violence.
The resolution reiterates that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, calls on the EU to become a genuine facilitator in the Middle East peace process and asks the EU’s foreign policy High Representative to facilitate a common EU position to this end.
To support EU diplomatic efforts in the Middle East peace process, it also decided to launch a “Parliamentarians for Peace” initiative to bring together MEPs and MPs from the Israeli and Palestinian parliaments.
Last week, Mogherini called for the creation of a Palestinian state within the five years of her term, and announced that the EU intends to play a more influential role in the Middle East than it has in the past.
“What’s important for me is not whether other countries, be they European or not, recognize Palestine,” she told the European press. “I’d be happy if, during my mandate, the Palestinian state existed.”
Diplomatic battle at the UN:
Jordan formally submitted to the United Nations Security Council on 17th December a draft resolution calling for peace between Israel and the Palestinians within one year and an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank by the end of 2017 after it had been agreed upon by 22 Arab states and the Palestinian Authority.
However it failed to get adopted on 30th December 2014 as the US voted against it. Of the 15 members of the Security Council, Russia, China, France, Argentina, Chad, Chile, Jordan and Luxembourg voted in favour, the US and Australia voted against and the UK, Lithuania, Nigeria, the Republic of Korea and Rwanda abstained.
US envoy Samantha Power said after the vote: “We voted against this resolution not because we are comfortable with the status quo. We voted against it because… peace must come from hard compromises that occur at the negotiating table.” Jordan’s UN ambassador, Dina Kawar, said the vote should not stop efforts to resolve the conflict.
Meanwhile, the General Assembly president said he has received a growing number of requests from heads of state and diplomats around the world this week to convene an emergency session to consider the humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The world, he said, was “fed up” with the inability of the United Nations, in particular the Security Council acting on the Assembly’s behalf, to “fulfil its principle and founding objective of averting war and maintaining international peace and security.”
After the UN rejected the Jordanian proposal, Palestine Authority has applied to the UN to become a party of the International Criminal Court which looks at cases of severe war crimes and crimes against humanity, such as genocide and crimes against humanity. The ICC move paves the way for the court to take jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in Palestinian lands and investigate the conduct of both Israeli and Palestinian leaders over more than a decade of bloody conflict. Neither Israel nor the United States are parties to the ICC.
The US State Department said on that the Palestinian application to join the International Criminal Court will have “implications” for US aid ($400 million) to the Palestinian Authority. US law dictates ending aid if Palestinians use court against Israel.
Conclusion:
What Europe should do is to engage all parties in negotiation. Europe should hold all parties accountable to their commitments on the ground. Europe should use all confidence-building measures and mechanisms to build trust and tolerance among parties
Europe appears to be well placed to carry out a policy based on law, equity, impartiality and inclusion in its engagement in the Middle East to reverse the growing cycle of tension and violence.
Another dimension of equity is the single standard of morality and law for all countries in the region. One law is for Israel and another for Palestine or Lebanon or Iran. This will not hold because it constitutes a double standard. US policy is perceived as double standard and to force a certain policy on Arabs or Iranians will only generate resistance and defiance.
Barrister Harun ur Rashid, Former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva
(Dhaka Courier)
