Socialist party of France demands France's recognition of Palestinian state

The Socialist Party of France wants France to recognise the state of Palestine in an attempt to end the Israeli occupation, according to parliamentary sources.

The same source added that the French Socialist Party’s MPs are preparing a draft resolution calling on the government to recognise the state of Palestine, a decision that will be voted on during the next few weeks.

According to a draft of the resolution published by the AFP, “The National Assembly calls on the French government to recognise the state of Palestine in order to push for a final settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict”.

In the event of a consensus, the resolution will be re-evaluated by the French Parliament. If the French National Assembly approves the resolution it would be the second greatest symbolic gesture of this kind after the British House of Common’s recognition of Palestine.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced in mid-October that France would recognise the state of Palestine “in time” with the hope that this “would prove useful to the peace process”.

According to the resolution, the French socialist party, “Recognises the many dangers that are weighing down on the possibility of a two-state solution, especially the expansion of illegal Israel settlements, which make it difficult to establish a viable and sovereign Palestinian state”.

“The two-sate solution, which is supported by both France and the European Union, supports the recognition of a Palestinian by default”, Fabius added.

According to the Palestinian Authority, 134 countries currently recognise the state of Palestine, including Sweden who approved this decision on 30 October 2014.