Arab world euphoric, Israel fumes as Ireland, Spain, Norway recognise Palestine state
Saudi Arabia and fellow Arab countries have welcomed the decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognise an independent Palestinian state. The far right Zionist government in Israel has however reacted angrily on the move.
Saudi Arabia and fellow Arab countries have welcomed the decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognise an independent Palestinian state. The far right Zionist government in Israel has however reacted angrily on the move.
‘A historic and important day’
The latest development came Wednesday when leaders of Norway, Spain and Ireland in statements releases one after the other announced they were formally going to recognize Palestine as a state.
They also linked recognition of Palestine as an independent state with peace in the region.
“There cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition”, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said Wednesday.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also announced that the country’s council of ministers would recognize an independent Palestinian state on Tuesday May 28.
“Next Tuesday, May 28, Spain’s cabinet will approve the recognition of the Palestinian state,” he said, adding that his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu was putting the two state solution in “danger” with his policy of “pain and destruction” in the Gaza Strip.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said it was a move coordinated with Spain and Norway, marking “a historic and important day for Ireland and for Palestine.”
‘A Positive Decision’
Saudi Arabia welcomed the decision by Norway, Spain and Ireland to recognise Palestine as an independent state and called it positive and taken in right direction.
In a statement released by the foreign ministry, Saudi Arabia said it appreciated this decision “which confirms the international consensus on the inherent right of the Palestinian people to self-determination”.
Saudi Arabia also called on more countries to swiftly take the same stance, “which would contribute to finding a reliable and irreversible path to achieve a just and lasting peace that fulfills the rights of the Palestinian people.”
‘Important and essential step’
The Palestinian Authority which rules West Bank and Hamas which rules Gaza both welcomed the recognition of a Palestinian state by Ireland, Spain and Norway.
Jordan hailed the coordinated move as an “important and essential step towards Palestinian statehood.”
“We value this decision and consider it an important and essential step towards a two-state solution that embodies an independent, sovereign Palestinian state along the July 1967 borders,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told a press conference.
Qatar’s foreign ministry welcomed the announcement as an “important step in support of a two-state solution,” expressing hope that other countries would follow suit.
‘A pivotal and strategic step’
The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) also spoke out in support of the European countries’ move.
Haling the decision, GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said it represented “a pivotal and strategic step towards achieving the two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), headquartered in the Saudi city of Jeddah, also welcomed the move as an “important historic step”.
Several European Union countries have in the past weeks indicated that they plan to recognise Palestine as an independent state, arguing a two-state solution is essential for lasting peace in the region.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had early in May taken a tour of Europe and met the EU leaders with the same mission.
He had said in March that Spain and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Malta, had agreed to take their first steps toward Palestinian recognition, seeing a two-state solution as essential for lasting peace.
The efforts come as a mounting death toll in Gaza prompts calls globally for a ceasefire and lasting solution for peace in the region. More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since Oct 7 when the Israeli Occupation Forces began their brutal and genocidal war against the Palestinians.
Israel fumes
The decision termed pivotal, strategic and historic by Norway, Ireland and Spain has angered the Zionist government in Israel.
Hours after the announcement by the three countries, Israel recalled its envoys to Spain, Ireland and Norway.
“Today, I am sending a sharp message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not go over this in silence. I have just ordered the return of the Israeli ambassadors from Dublin and Oslo to Israel for further consultations in Jerusalem,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
"The Irish-Norwegian folly does not deter us; we are determined to achieve our goals: restoring security to our citizens, dismantling Hamas, and bringing the hostages home. There are no more just causes than these," Katz added.
Norway, which is not a member of the European Union but mirror its moves, has been an ardent supporter of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Palestine has a fundamental right to an independent state,” Gahr Store told a press conference.
The move comes as Israeli forces have led assaults on the northern and southern edges of the Gaza Strip in May, causing a new exodus of hundreds of thousands of people, and sharply restricted the flow of aid, raising the risk of famine.
The Scandinavian country “will therefore regard Palestine as an independent state with all the rights and obligations that entails,” Gahr Store said.
Norway’s recognition of a Palestine state comes more than 30 years after the first Oslo agreement was signed in 1993.
It also comes days after the UN General Assembly upgraded the status of Palestine at the world forum, and also urged the UN Security Council to make Palestine a full member of the United Nations.
“Since then the Palestinians have taken important steps toward a two-state solution,” the Norwegian government said.
It said that the World Bank determined that Palestine had met key criteria to function as a state in 2011, that national institutions have been built up to provide the population with important services.
“The war in Gaza and the constant expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank still mean that the situation in Palestine is more difficult than it has been in decades,” the Norwegian government said.
(With inputs from Arab News)
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