BY I24NEWS 

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO VOTE ON PALESTINE 

PA announces decision to delay statehood bid at the United Nations Security Council

The European Parliament is set to vote Thursday on a resolution to recognize a Palestinian state, following the official recognition by the Swedish government and symbolic votes in the UK, Ireland, and Spain.

The motion, initiated by the Unified European Left Party (GUE) and Socialists and Democrats Group (S&D) in the EU assembly, calls for "all EU member states … to recognize the state of Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as the capital."

While the Greens are likely to support the left-wing bloc's draft, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe's (Alde) initial draft only calls for EU countries “to find a common EU position on this regard”.

A decision by the European Parliament to recognize a state of Palestine would be sure increase pressure on European member states to follow Stockholm's lead, but will not be binding on EU member countries.

France is also eyeing such a non-binding resolution in a vote early December, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called "irresponsible" and a "grave mistake."

"Do they have nothing better to do at a time of beheadings across the Middle East, including that of a French citizen?" he told i24news on Sunday in Jerusalem, in reference to French citizen Herve Gourdel who was executed by his jihadist captors in Algeria in September.

PA to hold off on Security Council statehood bid

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad Malki announced on Monday that the PA has decided to postpone its statehood bid at the United Nations Security Council, which was supposed to take place at the end of this month, citing the world's preoccupation with Iran as the reason for its decision.

Malki told the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency that the decision to postpone the statehood bid came following US pressure and threats and also acknowledged that the PA has failed to win the support of nine Security Council members for the proposed resolution.

'Occupation is morally unjustifiable'

Meanwhile, over 700 Israeli artists, former diplomats, and professionals sent a petition to MEPs asking them to support the motion.

They warn that the current “stalemate” will “lead to further confrontations” amid rising tensions in Jerusalem.

The signatories include former Israeli ambassadors, military officers, and Members of Knesset.

One of the signatories, former Israeli attorney general Michael Ben-Yair, wrote in a piece published Friday in the EUobserver that the "regime of occupation is not only morally unjustifiable, but it also undermines Israel’s security and endangers its existence."

“Political Zionism sought to find a solution to the persecution of Jewish people by establishing a state to renew Jewish political life… [and] sought to actualize its national-historical affiliation with the land of Israel — not at the expense of another nation,” Ben-Yair wrote.

"With the excuse that we need the West Bank for security reasons, we have turned it into a colonial state."

European frustration

A senior EU diplomat told the EUobserverwebsite the pro-recognition movement reflects “frustration” that Israel is ignoring Europe on settlement expansion.

EU states were also considering sanctions-type moves, such as recalling ambassadors, the official said, adding that European pressure was unlikely to have much effect.

“We’re waiting to see if the Americans decide to re-engage [in peace talks]”, the EU diplomat said.

“That means we might be waiting [for US leader Barack Obama] until late 2015 or early 2016. The big question is what do we do if the Americans don’t re-engage? Do we just continue to keep paying the bill?”

The EU is Palestine’s largest aid donor and Israel’s main trade partner.

“Addressing the underlying cause of the conflict – the blockade and occupation – would clearly mean that European taxpayers’ money was better spent, and emergency assistance would be unnecessary,” Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the UN relief and works program (UNRWA) told the EurActiv website in September

“This situation is not just unsustainable,” Pieter Cleppe, the director of Open Europe Brussels, told EurActiv. “It’s a total waste of money. Using European taxpayers’ money to build houses which are then levelled by the Israeli army – which is itself subsidized by European tax breaks – is clearly not the way that Europe should be spending its precious tax euros at a time of economic meltdown.”