Spain MPs to vote on recognition of Palestine

~The non-binding resolution which will be discussed on Tuesday was presented by the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, and the ruling Partido Popular added an amendment to it.

The resolution would call on the Spanish government to ''support the recognition of Palestine as a state subject to international law.''

This comes as Britain and Ireland have already passed similar non-binding motions. On October 30, Sweden went a step further and officially recognized the state of Palestine, drawing stringent criticism from Israel and the United States.

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom dismissed the criticism leveled at the Scandinavian country by the US, saying, “It’s not the US that decides our politics.”

The French National Assembly will also vote on a proposal to urge the government to recognize Palestine as a state on November 28.

On November 29, 2012, the 193-member United Nations General Assembly voted to upgrade Palestine’s status to non-member observer state.

The observer state status grants Palestinians access to UN agencies and the International Criminal Court, where they can file formal complaints against the Israeli regime.

Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds (Jerusalem), and the Gaza Strip and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israel, however, has so far refused and is unwilling to discuss the issue of al-Quds.