Bahamas formally recognises Palestine as state

The Bahamas Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that the Cabinet of the Bahamas has decided to formally recognise Palestine as a state.

“The Government of The Bahamas believes that recognition of the State of Palestine strongly demonstrates The Bahamas’ commitment to the principles espoused in the Charter of the United Nations and to the right of self-determination of peoples as articulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),” the ministry said in a statement.

The Bahamas supports the legal right of the Palestinian people “to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development,” it added.

In response to the decision, the Palestinian Presidency hailed the Bahamas’s “contribution to the enshrinement of the right of the Palestinian people in self-determination on their land and in taking practical steps to support the implementation of the two-state solution.”

It also reiterated its call to all countries that have yet to recognise the State of Palestine to follow suit, and to stand for their obligations in recognising the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

The Bahamas’s decision comes just days before Palestine’s status as a full UN member state is voted on tomorrow.

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