France can do and should do more than recognition of the Palestinian state Israel’s conflict and the two

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France is preparing to recognize the Palestinian state within a few months. If it continues, Paris will become a twelfth member of the European Union to officially accept the existence of the Palestinian state. Last year, Slovenia, Ireland and Spain did this, which made the total number of European Union countries realize Palestine to 11 out of 27.

The French recognition will be an important step in the right direction, especially if the borders of Palestine for 1967 and East Jerusalem are affirmed as its capital, regarding the provisions of international law and international consensus.

This may move other European countries to do the same, including Luxembourg and Portugal and can put great pressure on others, especially the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Belgium.

However, France is at risk of converting its recognition of Palestine into another empty gesture to save the face amid increasing opposition between the Europeans to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the genocide in Gaza.

During the Macron era, France was far from meeting its legal and political obligations towards Palestine, and turned into Israel’s horrific crimes and violations. In this context, the French advertisement can be considered a very few diplomatic step, very late.

Until recently, the Western powers have been largely conditional on the recognition of Palestine on the outcome of the peace negotiations, which in reality means giving Israel the right to veto the Palestinian state. This is because Israel does not want to produce negotiations-whether it was one of the two countries along the 1967 borders or one country in which the Palestinians and the Israelis enjoy equal rights.

Israeli law opposes the recognition of Palestine and fulfilling the Palestinian right to self -determination, but the Western powers continued to act as if it was not.

Israel gave this financial lever to Palestine despite the fact that its state was based on United Nations Resolution 181, which called for the establishment of two states, and its membership at the United Nations was conditional on the implementation of decisions 181 and 194 – the last related to the right to return to Palestinian refugees. The successive Israeli governments systematically violated all of the two decisions, as well as many others without facing any consequences of their Western allies.

Now that the Israeli government has recently made clear that its plan is the ethnic cleansing and the annexation of both Palestine, it seems that some Western countries are reconsidering their position and chose to recognize the Palestinian state.

Although recognition is important, it cannot be the only step that a country like France must take to implement the Palestinian right to self -determination. France is a former colonial force in the Middle East, and it is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a leading member of the European Union, and is one of the most important trade partners in Israel and an important donor to Palestine.

As such, it has a moral and legal commitment to doing more. Acknowledging itself will not stop continuous ethnic cleansing and annexation. These operations continue unabated because countries like France fail to act and hold Israel accountable.

For example, France was one of the first European countries to grant the actual immunity to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him in November. Paris has opened airspace on several occasions of Netanyahu to travel on its way to the United States in violation of its obligations under the Rome Law, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court.

Despite the increasing to ban weapons on Israel, France continued to sell weapons to the Israeli army during the ongoing collective genocide. French citizens do not face any repercussions to engage in settlement colonialism in the occupied West Bank or serve in the Israeli occupation forces, which have been repeatedly accused of committing horrific war crimes.

Likewise, France continues to bear the collection of donations for the unlawful Israeli settlements, while many French companies contributed to the continuous annexation process for the occupied Palestinian territories.

France has given a special role in Jerusalem with regard to protecting the benefits of the current situation from Christian denominations. However, no concrete measures were taken to stop the continuous Israeli attempts to impose illegal taxes on churches and assume church property.

If France is really interested in being a mediator of peace in the Middle East, it must do more than just recognize the Palestinian state. It must act according to its obligations under the United Nations Charter and the stock system in Rome. It should put real pressure on Israel to end its occupation and colonialism for the Palestinian territories and take measures against French citizens and the participating companies. It must reflect its decision to grant immunity to Israeli officials required by the International Criminal Court.

At the level of the European Union, France must join Spain and Ireland in demanding a review of the European Union agreement agreement in light of Israel’s blatant violation of Article 2, which states that relations must be based on respect for human rights.

It goes without saying that the Israeli government opposes any recognition of Palestine and will benefit from its available tools to prevent it. Pressure can be applied by mobilizing the local opposition, coordination with close Israeli allies, such as the United States, and taking measures against diplomats in Jerusalem – among other tactics.

This will force France to face the moment of truth: Is it ready to defend its principles, or will it surrender to Israeli extortion? Will he lead the road in Europe about respecting international obligations, or will it be allowed to be estimated for Palestine with an empty gesture?

As the administration of US President Donald Trump supports ethnic cleansing as an official policy and the European Union in its lowest political point in Palestine, France has the opportunity to make a difference. It can join other European Union members, such as Spain and Ireland, which is pushed alongside the global south for an international bases as Palestine is no longer an exception from the base. It can rise to the level of its slogan for “Liberté, égalité, frarthernité” by supporting the Palestinian people’s pursuit of freedom, equality and brotherhood.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the editorial island.