Full recognition of Palestine is an important precondition for peace!

The European Left Party (EL) welcomes President Mahmoud Abbas move to present the formal application of the Palestinian people for statehood to the UN- Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Friday, the 23rd September. We appreciate that this step did take considerable courage as it was made in spite of considerable diplomatic pressure by the US-Administration, the Israeli Government and unfortunately also by a number of European countries.

We are convinced that full membership of a Palestinian State in the United Nations can be a crucial first step to overcome the diplomatic asymmetry in the relations between the State of Israel on the one side and the Palestinian people, only represented by an Agency, on the other. An internationally recognized Palestinian State is not an obstacle for peace, on (in) the contrary it could be an invaluable partner for peace. One has to remember that the State of Israel was approved without previous negotiation or agreement with the Palestinian People as it is now argued after 20 years of failure of such negotiations, and that with the Palestinian State recognized by the UN in its borders of 1967 and East Jerusalem as capital it is not possible to go on with the settlements, human right violations or crimes against humankind by the State of Israel.

The EL urges the UN-Secretary-General to process the Palestinian's application without delay. We demand that the member states of the European Union jointly support the Palestinian initiative and don't waste their efforts with devising a substitute offer of second class membership. A joint European position to recognize the Palestinian's right to  a state would on the one side be an important signal towards the overwhelming majority in the UN-General-Assembly which support the Palestinians and would on the other side make it harder for the US-government to put in a veto. The EL supports the Palestinian people's wish for equality, freedom and justice wholeheartedly and joins Abbas in his believe the no one "with a shred of conscience" can reject the Palestinian application for a full membership in the United Nations.