France–Palestine relations

French-Palestinian relations
Map indicating locations of France and Palestine

France
Palestine

France–Palestine relations refer to foreign relations between France and the State of Palestine.[1][2] France does not recognize Palestine as an independent country but supports a two-state solution.

History

France supports the creation of an independent Palestine.[3][4] France believes Jerusalem should be the shared capital of Israel and a future Palestinian state.[5] France's attempts to introduce resolutions in the United Nations calling for an independent Palestinian state were opposed by the United States.[6] A survey found 80% of French people support France recognizing Palestine.[7]

In 1967 following the Six-Day War, Charles De Gaulle controversially said that when Israel was created "there were those who feared that the Jews, who through long years of dispersion had remained what they had always been-an elitist people, self-assured and domineering-would once gathered in the site of their former grandeur, transform into a burn for conquest the tender longing of nineteen centuries".[8] It marked a change in France's stance as it started to develop its ties with the Arab world from a realistic perspective.[8] It held talks with the Palestinian Liberation Organization despite it carrying out terrorist attacks in France targeting Israel.[8]

France provided over €500 million to the Palestinian territory from 2008 to 2017.[3] In March 2023, France condemned Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Finance of Israel, for saying Palestine was a recent invention in Paris during the memorial service of Jacques Kupfer organized by Israel is forever.[9] He spoke from a podium with a map of Greater Israel containing the Palestinian territories and Jordan.[9]

In 2014, the French parliament passed a resolution urging their government to recognize Palestine as a state, with the intention of facilitating a definitive resolution to the conflict.[10] A United Nations Security Council resolution proposed in 2014, calling for the end of Israeli occupation and statehood by 2017, did not pass due to opposition and abstentions.[11][12][13][14]

Alain Gresh described Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance as being anti-Palestinian.[15] On 24 October 2023, France called for a ceasefire in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[16] Macron criticized the civilian death toll in the conflict.[17] He proposed using the Anti-IS coalition against Hamas which was rejected by the international community.[18] The war showed divisions along ethnic and religious lines in France, which home to more than six million Muslims and the largest Jewish population in Europe.[19][20] France launched a crackdown on pro-Palestinian groups and banned protests in favor of Palestine after the Hamas attacks.[21][22]

France has delivered several airdrops with humanitarian aid to Gaza in cooperation with Jordanian and Dutch air forces during the Israel-Hamas War.[23][24][25][26][27]

See also

References

  1. ^ Trimbur, Dominique (15 October 1998). "France, Western Europe and Palestine 1799-1917". Bulletin du Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem (3): 163–166. ISSN 2075-5287.
  2. ^ "France Archives". Question of Palestine. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b étrangères, Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires. "Peace Process". France Diplomacy - Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Israeli-Palestinian conflict". France ONU. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Why is France's Macron visiting Israel?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  6. ^ Bahout, Joseph (26 May 2015). "The French Initiative on Palestine: Posturing, or Trying to Break the Deadlock?". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Sondage - La France doit-elle reconnaître l'État de Palestine ?". www.lepoint.fr. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Rondot, Philippe (1987). "France and Palestine: From Charles de Gaulle to François Mitterrand". Journal of Palestine Studies. 16 (3): 87–100. doi:10.2307/2536791. ISSN 0377-919X.
  9. ^ a b Bourgery-Gonse, Théo (22 March 2023). "France late in condemning Israeli minister's anti-Palestine comments". www.euractiv.com. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  10. ^ "French parliament votes for recognition of Palestinian state". Uk. Reuters. Reuters. 2 December 2014. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  11. ^ Beaumont, Peter (31 December 2014). "US and Israeli intervention led UN to reject Palestinian resolution". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  12. ^ "UNSC rejects resolution on Palestinian state". Al Jazeera. 31 December 2014. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  13. ^ "UN Security Council rejects Palestinian resolution". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 31 December 2014. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  14. ^ "UN security council rejects Palestinian statehood bid". The Guardian. Associated Press. 31 December 2014. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  15. ^ Everett, Mariamne. "'It's clear Macron's party has a very strong anti-Palestinian position'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  16. ^ "France calls for 'humanitarian pause' in Israel-Palestine conflict". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  17. ^ Magid, Jacob (20 November 2023). "Speaking with Netanyahu, Macron says 'too many civilian losses' in Gaza". Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Macron's rift with diplomats deepens after missteps on Israel-Hamas war". POLITICO. 22 November 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  19. ^ Lons, Camille (19 October 2023). "Torn apart: How the Israel-Hamas war is dividing French society". ECFR. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  20. ^ "'The dangerous political instrumentalization of the Israel-Palestine conflict in France was reactivated by the Hamas attack'". Le Monde.fr. 16 October 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  21. ^ Demirhan, Meryem. "Palestine supporters in France, Germany struggle to be heard amid protest ban". In France and Germany, Palestinian supporters struggle to be heard. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  22. ^ "Police use teargas on banned pro-Palestinian rally in Paris as Macron calls for unity". France 24. 12 October 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  23. ^ "Jordanian King joins mission to airdrop aid to Gaza". Times of Israel. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  24. ^ "Jordanian King joins mission to airdop aid to Gazah". Middle East Monitor. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Jordan Air Drops Medical Aid in Battered Gaza". WSJ. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  26. ^ "Jordan, Israel announce airdrop of urgent medical aid to Gaza hospital". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  27. ^ Patil, Anushka (27 February 2024). "The airdrops delivered meals and supplies, the Jordanian military says". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
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