France Defends Decision to Recognize Palestine at the UN
On Friday, July 25, France defended its decision to soon recognize Palestine at the United Nations, asserting that it seeks to affirm that the “peace camp is correct.” This statement came in response to sharp criticisms from Israel and the United States, which accused France of engaging in Hamas’s agenda.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian stated on the same day that this decision does not reward Hamas but demonstrates that the Palestinian Islamic movement is “incorrect.” He emphasized via the platform X that Hamas has consistently rejected a two-state solution. By recognizing Palestine, France asserts that the movement is wrong and supports the peace camp against the war camp.
President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement on the evening of Thursday, July 24, regarding his intention to officially recognize Palestine in the UN General Assembly in New York in September sparked outrage in Israel, which condemned the decision as a “reward for terrorism,” referencing the unprecedented attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
France, a G7 member and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, will join at least 142 other countries that have recognized the Palestinian state, according to an AFP count.
Criticism
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Macron’s decision, stating, “Let us be clear: Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel. They seek a state instead of Israel.”
The United States, a close ally of Israel, also rejected this decision, labeling it as “reckless” and a move that “only serves Hamas propaganda and obstructs the peace process,” according to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee ironically remarked that Macron did not specify the location of the future Palestinian state, suggesting that “France will offer the French Riviera” as the site for it.
Macron faces criticism at home from both right-wing and far-right factions. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen stated that “recognizing a Palestinian state today means recognizing a Hamas state, and therefore a terrorist state.”
The Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) condemned Macron’s decision as an “ethical failure and a diplomatic and political error.” France harbors the largest Jewish community in Europe, numbering around 500,000 individuals (less than 1% of the population).
Emergency Meeting
This announcement appears to be a French attempt to instigate change amid stalled ceasefire talks following 21 months of war that have reduced Gaza to rubble and left its inhabitants starving.
As of the October 7 attack, which resulted in 1,219 deaths on the Israeli side, Israel has conducted military operations that have claimed the lives of at least 59,587 individuals in Gaza, according to data from the Gaza health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable.
Israel faces increasing international pressure to allow substantial humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory, with “a large segment of Gaza’s population starving,” as noted by World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Doctors Without Borders announced on Friday that a quarter of children under five, as well as pregnant and nursing women assessed in their clinics last week, are suffering from malnutrition. The organization condemned Israel for using hunger as a “weapon of war” in Gaza.
Leaders from the UK, France, and Germany are scheduled for emergency talks on Friday, July 25, planned before France’s announcement, to discuss how to “stop the massacres and provide the urgently needed food for the population.”
Divisions
While Ireland, Spain, Norway, and Slovenia have agreed to recognize Palestine in 2024, European nations remain divided on this issue. Berlin confirmed on Friday that it “does not intend to recognize a Palestinian state in the near future.”
