Campaign for the Recognition of the State of Palestine
75 years after the adoption of UN Resolution 181 on the Partition of Palestine and the establishment of the State of Israel, the Palestinian people remain under the yoke of the Israeli occupation, held hostage to Israel’s willingness to negotiate their future, with no end in sight. For over 15 years, the Gaza Strip has been under siege and in the throes of a humanitarian crisis, East Jerusalem and Palestinian villages on its periphery have been under illegal annexation since 1967, and Israel’s encroachment on Palestinian lands in the West Bank continues unabated, with over 300 illegal settlements currently present, threatening the viability of a future State of Palestine and in flagrant violation of the 4th Geneva Convention and international customary law.
The Campaign for the recognition of the State of Palestine brings together European, Israeli, and Palestinian civil society and trade union organisations to push for the recognition of the State of Palestine as the 194th full member of the United Nations (UN). It is time to recognise the State of Palestine as a sovereign and autonomous state, and stop human rights violations and displacement of Palestinians in the region.
With the support of organisations from the EU, Israel, Palestine and the diaspora, we call upon Europe to recognize the urgency and lead a diplomatic initiative that aims to achieve a just and sustainable resolution of this long-standing conflict. The commitment undertaken by Europe in the Venice Declaration of June 1980, which recognizes the Palestinian people’s right to fully exercise self-determination, must be implemented without further delay.
The campaign for the Recognition of Palestine is based on these principles:
- If we support International Law and the principles of the United Nations Charter, if we assume our obligations written in the European Convention on Human Rights and if we wish to be coherent with our democratic values, all of us, states and citizens, are obliged and responsible to stand up against the annexation of the Palestinian territories, calling on the Israeli government to respect international law and existing United Nations resolutions.
- Palestinian people have the same right of self-determination as the Israeli people. The Israeli state was declared on 14/5/1948 and recognized as UN member on 11/05/1949; it is now time to recognize the Palestinian state with full sovereignty.
- This is the only solution in place to stop all forms of violence and discrimination, and opening a new historical phase of peace, cooperation, and coexistence that is based on mutual recognition and respect for the two peoples, Israeli and Palestinian.
We already count with the support of several national and international civil society organisations (CSOs), non-governmental organisations and government representatives.
