France Recognizes Palestine as State
The French government has voted to recognize Palestine, becoming the fifth Western European nation to do so after Israel's invasion of Gaza during the summer.
Al Jazeera reports that the measure to recognize Palestinian statehood passed 339-151. The vote is non-binding, which means that France will not be nominated ambassadors or constructing embassies and consulates anytime soon.
However, the decision to recognize Palestine as a state may impact France's relationship with Israel. It could also increase domestic political pressure on the French government to more actively lobby for a permanent end to the violence that has wracked the region since Israel's creation in 1948, according to al Jazeera.
Reuters notes that roughly 60 percent of the French population is in favor an independent Palestinian state.
Al Jazeera says that Israel responded to the measure by saying that such actions would ultimately make peace in the region harder to attain. Palestinian authorities welcomed the result of the vote and expressed their gratitude for the showing of international support.
In the vein of French involvement in the peace process, al Jazeera notes that French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told parliamentarians that France would like to host an international effort to solve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. He also said that he believed such an agreement would be possible in two years.
Reuters reports that Great Britain and Germany have also expressed interest in such negotiations. All three nations are working on a draft resolution of terms that they hope both sides would find agreeable enough to finally create some semblance of a lasting peace.
Other Western European nations whose representatives have voted to recognize Palestine as a state include Great Britain, Ireland, Spain, and Sweden.
Tensions in the region remain high as Palestinians carry out lone wolf terror attacks on civilians and soldiers. Israelis have retaliated with hate crimes against Arabs.
