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- UN votes to let Palestinian president address General Assembly by video after US visa denial
LUXEMBOURG: Recognizing a Palestinian state will help keep alive the peace process in the Middle East, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden said as his country prepares to take the step next week.
Of the UN’s 193 member states, 147 already recognize a Palestinian state, but none of the Group of Seven major economies did so until now.
The Luxembourg Grand Duchy is among a raft of nations including Australia, Belgium, Canada, France and the UK that plan to join their ranks at a UN summit in New York on Sept. 22.
“I would like the Israeli and Palestinian peoples to keep hope alive that one day they will be able to live in peace,” Frieden said in an interview.
The recognition will be “a key moment in this process ... an important step in a long march toward peace and stability in the region,” said the 62-year-old center-right leader, who will be in New York to represent his country.
Last week, the General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a text supporting a future Palestinian state, albeit without Hamas.
“We will see on Monday what the Arab countries have to say. The fact that they condemn Hamas is new. Hamas must go and Arab countries must help us to achieve this,” Frieden said.
The US has also opposed recognition and denied US visas to the Palestinian delegation to the UN.
The UN General Assembly on Friday voted to allow President Mahmoud Abbas to address its annual meeting of world leaders by video.
The motion passed by a vote of 145-5, with six abstentions.
“The state of Palestine may submit a pre-recorded statement of its president, which will be played in the General Assembly Hall,” said the resolution.
“Everything we do is not against the Israeli people but is intended to stop the atrocities we are seeing in Gaza,” said Frieden.
Luxembourg, one of the EU’s founding members, supports proposed EU sanctions against Israel including curbing trade ties, he added.
“If they don’t listen to us, unfortunately we will have to move toward sanctions,” he said of Netanyahu’s government.