Manuel Fernando Araújo / Lusa
Luís Montenegro
Siege tightens as the world loses patience with Israel and hunger in Gaza. Government will listen to president and parties and “consider” – will only do it because “the winds are changing”? What does it mean to recognize Palestine as a state?
The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, announced on Thursday that he will hear the President of the Republic and the political parties with parliamentary representation with a view to “considering the recognition of the Palestinian State” at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
“The government has decided to promote the release of its excellence the President of the Republic and political parties with representation in the Assembly of the Republic, with a view to considering the recognition of the Palestinian State, in a procedure that can be completed on the high level week of the 80th United Nations Assembly, to take place in New York next September,” the prime minister announced in a statement.
Portugal “to analyze”, says Marcelo
The President of the Republic stressed the government’s “very prudent and very sensible” process about the recognition of Palestine, adding that Portugal is analyzing the “aggravation of the situation” in the Gaza Strip.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated that, regarding the recognition of the state of Palestine, The country is in a “phase in which it analyzes what happened and the aggravation of the lived situation”starting from this to “follow a certain way” if the “circumstances are filled”.
“This is the point of the situation and there has been a very prudent and very sensible process from the government and always lived together with European partners and other partners, so that it can be said that there is neither being oblivious to what is happening in the world, nor being hasty in the decisions that are made,” he added.
The President of the Republic assured that he has accompanied the consideration made by the Prime Minister in this matter, emphasizing that “There is one foreign policy”.
“There is no foreign policy of the president, an foreign policy of parliament, an foreign government policy, there is an foreign policy, it is Portugal’s policy,” he added.
“It comes late”
The BE Coordinator was the first to react and considered that the Government “Come Late” in the recognition of the state of Palestine and now does so because “winds are changing” with the position of other countries, asking for sanctions against Israel.
“The recognition of the State of Palestine is a duty of the Portuguese State before international law, international agreements, before international law and is already a matter of justice. The position that two states are recognized, but then only one of them exists, which is Israel, and that the state of Palestine is not recognized is a recognized is a unsustainable position”, He defended, in statements to Lusa, Mariana Mortágua.
The only deputy of the BE criticized that the government will come “late in this recognition”, arguing that two years have been attending “one of the Palestinian people”.
“The government comes late in this recognition that has to be done immediately. This is the position that the Left Bloc has been defending and that is what we will tell the government to the Prime Minister, when alected on this matter,” he said. However, for Mortágua, in addition to the recognition of Palestine, “It is necessary to apply sanctions to Israel”which accuses of committing “Crimes of War“, of “hungry childrenAnd “perform a process of ethnic cleaning of the Palestinian people, that is, a genocide ”.
For the BE leader, the government now makes this recognition “because the winds are changingnow it does because there are now more Western countries that are recognizing the state of Palestine. ”
“It is now because the size of genocide and death has become unbearable, it has become undeniable and this makes several countries change their position,” he said.
Mariana Mortágua lamented that Portugal determines “their positions of principle on human rights and international law not according to what they defend”, but “according to the winds of change and according to what other governments from other countries think.”
“The Portuguese government has, about this matter, the most coward and most hypocritical position That we can imagine, in which in theory defends international law and human rights, in practice it is complicit with genocide, not recognizing this genocide, nor recognizing the state that is being attacked. And the government maintains this argument, ”he ordered.
Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel reacted to the left barbs that the recognition is already late: “The left was eight years to recognize and did nothing,” he said.
On Tuesday, Rangel, considering the joint statement signed by 15 countriesAt the end of the conference on the solution of the two states, “a new step towards the realization” of this solution, widely considered the only one to achieve peace.
After France, the United Kingdom also confessed to recognizing the state of Palestine as early as September, if Israel does not comply with certain conditions, namely decree a ceasefire, not attach to West Bank and commit to a long-term peace process that reaches a solution of two states, Israel and Palestine.
It is recalled that both countries are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, that is, the weight of their decisions is greater. As they align with China and Russia, would leave the United States as the only Permanent Member of the Board with veto power that continues to oppose recognition.
What does it mean to recognize a state
After all, how could you recognize Palestine how could a state influence and “push” for peace efforts?
A state must have a permanent population, defined territory, a functional government and the ability to conduct international relations, according to the 1933 International Treaty signed at the Montevideo Convention. THE Palestine fulfills these criteriahave been ensuring international jurists.
At the core of a possible Palestinian state would be three territories occupied by Israel since 1967 – West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. The Palestinian authority, sanctioned by the US this Thursday, is the recognized representative of the Palestinian population.
The recognition would establish formal diplomatic ties between Palestine and the recognizing states and would give self -determination to the Palestinians. And, above all, it sends a very strong symbolic message: it would require changes in Israeli laws that currently undermine this right of self -determination, says Zinaida Miller, an expert in international law.
And in practice, the recognizers would be forced not to violate Palestinian sovereignty, which would oblige them to Reassess your agreements with Israelwhich would quite possibly affect trade, security and diplomatic relations – namely, would oblige recognizers to avoid activities and relationships with Israeli colonates or governments that support colonates occupation.
Currently, 147 of the 193 UN Member States already recognize Palestine as a state.
In spite of everything, as long as the USA have its opposition to full adhesion, the Palestinian Statute in the UN will remain unchanged.
Tomás Guimarães //
