A majority of countries around the world have unilaterally recognized a Palestinian state, while the Palestinians have officially restarted the process of becoming a full member state of the UN.
By the Palestinian Authority's own count, some 137 countries out of 193 UN states have expressed recognition of a Palestinian state. This is not the case for most countries in Western Europe, North America, Australia, Japan and South Korea.
Visiting Jordan, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Tuesday that he was determined, according to several Spanish daily newspapers, to speed up the process for Spain to recognize a Palestinian state by the summer.
China, India, Türkiye... In 1988, the first recognitions
On November 15, 1988, a few months after the start of the first Intifada (Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation), the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Yasser Arafat proclaimed himself, in Algiers, "the establishment of the Palestinian State", with Jerusalem as its capital, from the platform of the Palestinian National Council (CNP) in exile. A few minutes later, Algeria officially recognized an “independent Palestinian state”.
A week later, forty countries, including China, India, Turkey and most Arab countries, have already taken the same step. Almost all the countries of the African continent and the Soviet bloc will follow.
Mainly in 2010 and 2011, it will be the turn of most countries in Central America and Latin America.
2012: Palestinians set foot in the UN
The Palestinians are also launching a diplomatic offensive at the level of international institutions. By a historic vote in November 2012, they became a United Nations observer state, which, in the absence of full membership status with voting rights, gives them access to UN agencies and international treaties. .
With this new status, the Palestinians will join the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2015, which will allow the opening of investigations into military operations in the Palestinian territories. The United States and Israel denounce this decision.
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) opened the way by admitting the Palestinians as one of its full members in October 2011. Israel and the United States will leave the organization in 2018, the latter will return in 2023.
In Europe, Sweden is a pioneer
Sweden, which has a large Palestinian community, became the first EU country to recognize a “State of Palestine” in 2014, with the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus having done so. before joining the EU.
Stockholm's decision, taken at a time when efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict appeared to be at a complete impasse, led to years of stormy relations with Israel.
What about France?
Spain is not the only European country considering following in Sweden's footsteps. On March 22, Pedro Sanchez made a joint declaration, with his Irish, Maltese and Slovenian counterparts, in which they said they were “ready to recognize Palestine” if “the circumstances are right”.
French President Emmanuel Macron also took a step forward in February, saying that unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state “is not a taboo for France”.