French MPs Vote in Favor of Recognizing Palestine

Local Editor

French lawmakers voted on Tuesday in favor of recognizing Palestine as a state, following similar moves in Britain and Spain.
The highly symbolic vote in the lower house National Assembly is not binding on French government policy but is likely to spark fury in the Zionist entity, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned it would be a "grave mistake."

MPs voted 339 to 151 in favor of a motion that invites Paris to recognize the state of Palestine "as an instrument to gain a definitive resolution of the conflict."
With little progress on reaching a settlement, they have been lobbying foreign powers for international recognition.

During a debate on the issue Friday, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius stressed that Paris would recognize Palestine if diplomatic efforts failed again and urged a resolution to the Middle East conflict within two years.

France is spearheading a drive at the United Nations to unfreeze the talks and the Palestinian envoy to the UN said earlier Tuesday a draft resolution could be submitted to the Security Council by mid-December.

This European initiative was expected to be discussed in Brussels when US Secretary of State John Kerry holds talks with European ministers during a NATO meeting.
"If these efforts fail. If this last attempt at a negotiated settlement does not work, then France will have to do its duty and recognize the state of Palestine without delay and we are ready to do that," Fabius told MPs on Friday.

The French vote came hot on the heels of a near unanimous vote in favor of recognizing Palestine in the British and Spanish parliaments, as Europeans seek alternative ways to push forward efforts towards talks.

Sweden's government went even further, officially recognizing Palestine as a state in a move that prompted "Israel" to recall its ambassador.
At a pan-European level, the European Parliament is expected to hold a vote later this month on recognizing Palestine and EU foreign policy supremo Federica Mogherini is also pushing for the creation of a Palestine state.

"Governments and parliaments are taking action. That momentum will grow," said United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon last month.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team