The European Parliament has voted to recognise the state of Palestine "in principle", describing it as key to the advancement of peace talks in the region.
The motion that was passed on Wednesday represented a compromise among the European Parliament's main parties. It read:
"[We] support in principle recognition of Palestinian statehood and the two-state solution, and believes these should go hand in hand with the development of peace talks, which should be advanced."
Social Democrat, left-wing and Green members of the European Parliament had initially put forward motions for a symbolic vote on Wednesday to call on the EU's 28 members to recognise Palestine statehood now without conditions.
This follows Sweden's decision in October to recognise Palestine and non-binding votes since then by parliaments in Britain, France and Ireland in favour of their recognition that demonstrated growing European impatience with the stalled peace process.
But the centre-right European People's Party, the largest group in parliament, and the fourth largest group, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, said recognition should only form part of a negotiated agreement with Israel.
Kerry: Unresolved Israel-Palestinian conflict fuels IS recruitment
Secretary of State says resumption of peace talks ‘imperative’ because the conflict is ‘a cause of recruitment and of street anger and agitation.’AFP
Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday called for a resumption of the Israel-Palestinian peace process, saying the talks were vital in the fight against extremism.
“It is imperative that we find a way to get back to the negotiations,” Kerry said at a State Department ceremony marking the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha
Kerry has just returned from a tour of Europe and Egypt, where on Sunday he attended a conference on the reconstruction of Gaza, and where he told Israel and the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table.
We need “to find a way to create two states that can live together side by side, two peoples, with both of their aspirations being respected,” Kerry added.
“I still believe that’s possible, and I still believe we need to work towards it.”
He said the unresolved Israel-Palestinian conflict was fueling recruitment for the Islamic State jihadist group.
“There wasn’t a leader I met with in the region who didn’t raise with me spontaneously the need to try to get peace between Israel and the Palestinians, because it was a cause of recruitment and of street anger and agitation,” Kerry said.
“People need to understand the connection of that. And it has something to do with humiliation and denial and absence of dignity,” he added.
Kerry was the architect of the resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process between July 2013 and April.
Eid al-Adha, also known as the “Festival of Sacrifice,” celebrates the end of the Hajj pilgrimage.
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