Israel is furious. EU lawmakers voted in
a resolution to recognize Palestine as a
state. It's non-binding, but 498
for and 88 against. It's part of a
sweeping European drive towards
recognition. The EU Parliament's move
comes after politicians in the UK,
Spain, Ireland, Portugal, and France
gave their symbolic backing to the
Palestinians recently. Sweden was one of
the first major European countries to
officially recognize Palestine. What's
more, the European Court of Justice
removed Hamas from a blacklist of terror
organizations, but added it would keep a
ban on funding to the group for at least
three months.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called
the vote a staggering example of
European hypocrisy, but Paul Hersen from
the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
took a softer approach.
Uh the truth of the matter is is that we
don't have a difference of opinion on
substance, but we do have a very real
difference of opinion on on process with
with some of the players. uh in that we
we we believe that they are making
conflict resolution uh far more
difficult by encouraging the
Palestinians not to return to the
negotiating table, but other than that
uh we don't have a substantive
difference with the with the what we're
seeing in Europe. Palestinian officials
say they will push ahead with a bid for
statehood at the UN despite a warning
the US would block the move. Well,
joining us in the now is British MP
George Galloway from London. Thanks for
being with us. Uh tell us European
diplomats said Palestinian officials
were disappointed by the wording of the
motion. They wanted the parliament to
recognize today. They wanted this to go
through. How fair is their
disappointment?
Uh I think it's fair. Uh indeed I myself
was disappointed in the wording of the
British Parliament resolution, but it's
nonetheless a positive sign in both
cases that they were in the British case
decisively voted through and in the
European Parliament case uh fairly uh
straightforward victory for the
Palestinian side. In the British
Parliament, the supporters of Israel
could scarcely muster two dozen votes
against And as you pointed out, there's
a wave of these recognition motions now
going through. In the Irish Parliament,
it was unanimous. Not a single member of
the Irish Parliament voted against it.
And I, as half an Irishman, I'm
particularly proud of that. Uh, but it's
one country after another, one decision
after another. This is the zeitgeist.
And uh Netanyahu is right to be unhappy
because the tide is going out for his
brand of extremist uh politics. His
apartheite system is beginning to creek
and crack and soon I think it will fall
apart at the seams. There's no doubt
that this symbolic gesture is a positive
one. But what's the point of non-binding
votes? How does it affect the peace
process?
Well, it makes the weather uh you see if
Israel believes that it can continue to
rely uh on international butressing
support, financial, trading, military,
diplomatic, media support, then there is
no incentive whatsoever. I had to laugh
at the Israeli spokesman a moment ago on
your show saying that it was
discouraging the Palestinians from
returning to the negotiating table. I
didn't know actually whether to laugh or
cry. These negotiations have been going
on for 20 years since the Oslo agreement
was signed. Not a cime of Palestine is
free. On the contrary, new settlements
are being announced and being built uh
almost every week. Uh the people who are
refusing to negotiate or deliver that
which they've already negotiated are of
course Netanyahu's Israel. So thought it
could go on. Mr. Galloway, Israel will
never admit to that. So what's a
realistic way out of this? We know that
Israel won't go for that. Even if they
pretend, as you're suggesting, to want
peace, to want a two-state solution.
Everyone knows the truth is that they're
not going to go for it.
Well, a surgeon cannot be expected to
operate on his own foot. Somebody else
has to carry out the operation. And the
somebody else in this case are those
countries around the world, including
Europe, but principally the United
States, who have effectively given
Israel a blank check to do whatever it
likes whenever it likes, will have to
tear up that check. And these indicative
votes, these non-binding resolutions are
all signs that the blank check is no
more. It's been torn up. And this has to
objectively push Israel into a position
uh that they will have to make some kind
of deal. And if they don't make it soon,
the deal they will eventually make will
be worse than the deal that they could
make. Now I always use as my comparator
as someone who was deeply involved in
the struggle against aparite in South
Africa. The clerk did not reach an
agreement with Mandela because he
suddenly liked the look of Mandela or
because he was a a a person who
genuinely believed in justice and
therefore peace. He did it because he
had no alternative. He could see looming
a point in time at which white capital
and the rights and privileges of white
people would be severely compromised if
apartheite was not brought to an end. In
that case the internal resistance of the
people of South Africa were the anvil
and the hammer uh was international
solidarity ostracism of aparite boycott
divestment sanctions all the things that
we're now trying to deploy in the case
of Israel Palestine. So Netanyahu, if he
can't change, will have to be changed
and Israel will have to understand that
its days as an apartheite state are
coming to an end. And they'd be better
to negotiate in good order to make an
agreement that at least gives them some
of what they would like rather than wait
to a moment even less fortuitous than
the moment we have now. All right. Just
briefly, Mr. Galloway, I want to ask you
this. Is it possible going to be
possible to rip up that check as you say
with the current policy we're seeing
coming out of Washington?
I think so. Uh Barack Obama has shown
today a boldness uh on Cuba which no one
expected at least of all me as someone
been involved in it for decades. I think
that Obama's now thinking about his
legacy. uh he doesn't have much to show
for six years as the United States first
black president and a man who went to
Cairo soon after his first election and
announced a new era for the United
States relations with the Muslim world
and in the Middle East. So I think that
the Israelis are worried that Obama's
boldness in Cuba will soon be replicated
with a boldness towards the Middle East.
That's a very optimistic statement.
George Galloway, British MP with us in
the now from London. Thanks so much.
Thank you.