STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden’s new left-leaning government on Thursday recognized a Palestinian state — a move that comes during increased tensions between Arabs and Jews over Israel’s plans to build about 1,000 housing units in east Jerusalem.
The EU member became the third Western European nation, after Malta and Cyprus, to do so, reflecting growing international impatience with Israel’s nearly half-century control of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said Sweden made the move because Palestine had fulfilled the international law criteria required for such recognition.
“There is a territory, a people and government,” she told reporters in Stockholm.
Israel was quick to condemn Sweden’s announcement, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman describing it as “a miserable decision that strengthens the extremist elements and Palestinian rejectionism.”
“It’s a shame that the government of Sweden chose to take a declarative step that only causes harm,” he added.
Israel says Palestinians can gain independence only through peace negotiations, and that recognition of Palestine at the U.N. or by individual countries undermines the negotiating process. Palestinians say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t serious about the peace negotiations.
The latest round of U.S.-brokered talks collapsed in April. American officials have hinted that Israel’s tough negotiating stance hurt the talks, and Netanyahu has continued to settle Israelis in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
More than 550,000 Israelis now live in the two areas, greatly complicating hopes of partitioning the area under a future peace deal. The two territories and the Gaza Strip are claimed by Palestinians for a future state.
While the U.S. and European powers have so far refrained from recognizing Palestinian independence, they have become increasingly critical of Israeli settlement construction. The 28-nation European Union has urged that negotiations to achieve a two-state solution resume as soon as possible.
British lawmakers earlier this month voted in favor of recognizing Palestine as a state.
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Well done, Sweden. If only our our government would follow suit.
I can dream, can’t I?
Looks more like spinning a psychological projection than a condemnation. Avi may as well have prefaced his statements with “Oh, Happy Day.”
If others follow Sweden’s lead, a functional two-state reality may be forced on those who do not want that to happen. With regards to the Palestinians, only time will tell, but I firmly believe Israel is on the wrong side of history. There is so much more the be gained by acccepting today’s reality than clinging to thousands year-old history. That goes for the Palestinians, as well as the Israelis. What has the millenia of fighting each other produced for you? Another thousand years of exactly the same thing? Be done with it, and accept life in the 21st Century.Your world will be a much better place.
This is just a sign of things to come. Last week the UK parliament reflected growing public anger with Israels continued illegal treatment of Palestinians:
What is being done in the occupied territories by Israel is immoral and illegal. The rot of apartheid is now spreading into Israel proper with Palestinians now having to ride segregated transportation (<a href=Welcome Aboard Israel's Apartheid Bus - Opinion - Haaretz.com">Apartheid Bus)
The conditions Israel has created within Gaza are not unlike the conditions of the Warsaw ghetto under the Nazis.
The West Bank can be seen as either an apartheid bantustan or a ghetto.
Here’s what the Quaker human rights agency says:
A ghetto in Europe 1940
http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/public/cms/70/92/454/752/YNg3t2_web.jpg
The ghetto in Hebron 2014
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/180452_500706020923_3383158_n.jpg?oh=42c61addcce33ff3cbb36cf21635715a&oe=54EF52EF&__gda__=1424809168_a5a4b9707a79d884527e59c6e726aca7
The United States came late to the battle against the racism and despicable behavior of Rhodesia and apartheid South Africa. But we did come to our senses against those inhumanities. The day is coming when the US will officially condemn Israel’s even uglier treatment of Palestinians.