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Sweden recognizes Palestine, joins ranks of 134 other UN member states
Wikimedia
Countries which have recognized Palestine.
Sweden’s Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven, announced Sweden’s recognition of Palestine on Oct. 30, making Sweden the first major European nation to do so and sparking controversy among the involved nations, according to NPR.
As of Oct. 30, 135 state members of the UN, or 69.9 percent of the council, have recognized the sovereignty of Palestine. Most of these nations lie in Asia, South America, and Africa.
“It’s important for the growing popular demand for Palestinian rights internationally,” said Ramzy Baroud, Managing Editor of the Middle East Eye and founder of the Palestine Chronicle, in a phone interview. “I think Sweden is basically reflecting an existing feeling in Europe and elsewhere. It’s a welcome change in what seems to be a static state of affairs, but it has to be followed by serious action on the part of these governments.”
Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, indicated his displeasure at this new development. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website describes Sweden’s announcement as an “unfortunate decision” that will “delay an agreement […], cause much damage and bring no benefit.”
Lieberman also made hostile remarks regarding Sweden’s government. “The Swedish government must understand that relations in the Middle East are more complex than Ikea’s flat-pack pieces of furniture,” he said. “[They] would do well to act with greater sensitivity and responsibility.”
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom defended Sweden’s actions in turn, according to the Associated Press, by responding that Sweden merely operated by taking measures from “part of the diplomatic toolkit.”
“Sweden’s action is a good example of where they stand on a lot of foreign policy issues, where they see this as a human rights issue,” History and Modern International Affairs teacher Damon Halback said. “They’re looking at what’s going on in the Gaza Strip specifically, and perhaps with the expansion of settlements in the west bank specifically, and seeing Israel as an aggressor.”
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict began during the middle and end of World War II. After the Holocaust, Jews migrated to what they considered ancestral land in the Middle East.
After the war, Britain, which currently controlled this land after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, announced that they would withdraw from the province. The United Nations, and the UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) was founded on May 15, 1947.
The initial plan proposed by the UNSCOP was to divide Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. On May 14, 1948, the United Nations created the state of Israel. Differences in culture and religion between the native Palestinians and the migrant Jews, in addition to tensions over control of the land, have caused the strife and warfare which persists to this day.
Sweden’s King, Carl Gustav XVI, congratulated Palestine on its day of declaring independence on Nov. 15, just a few weeks after the aforementioned decision to recognize Palestine’s sovereignty, according to Al-Jazeera. The letter sent to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas enumerated “best wishes for your health and happiness and for the prosperity of the people of the State of Palestine.”
Nikhil Manglik (10) believes that Sweden’s actions are a step in the right direction.
“They lend credence to the Palestinian cause and will hopefully lead to a lowering of animosity between Israel and Palestine,” he said. “I believe that the western world has an obligation to recognize their right to the land.”
Misha Tseitslin (10) advocates for a one state solution to the issue at hand.
“Recognizing Palestine as an alternative to Israel is unacceptable,” he said. “I think we should strive for a one-state solution rather than a two-state solution, so I think that, rather than recognizing Palestine or Israel, they should be jointly recognized in a manner that recognizes both of their sovereignties.”
According to the Arab American Institute, the largest Palestinian population in the US is located in California.
This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on Nov. 19, 2014.
Elisabeth Siegel (12) is the editor-in-chief of the Winged Post. This is her fourth year in Journalism, and she especially loves production nights and...
Derek Yen is a senior and the Opinion Editor of Winged Post. Derek served as the STEM Editor of Aquila and Winged Post during his junior year and as a...