Itongadol.- Other parliaments are expected to take up the measure in the near future.
Belgium is the next country in line likely to make some type of move toward recognizing “Palestine,” though it is not yet clear what form that recognition will take.
There are currently three different resolutions by opposition parties regarding the wording of a resolution, but no date has yet been set in parliament for a debate.
According to reports in the Belgian press on Wednesday, the ruling coalition is trying to formulate their own resolution aimed at conditioning governmental recognition on certain conditions that will enable the government to determine the right timing for recognition.
For example, one version of the resolution is that the parliament would call on the the government to recognize a Palestinian state “at a time when it deems appropriate,” and enumerates the conditions that the government needs to take into consideration: the position of the EU and effective control by the Palestinian Authority of all the territory of the “Palestinian state.”
The Belgian move follows Tuesday\’s vote in the French parliament in favor of a non-binding resolution supporting recognition of a Palestinian state. The British, Spanish and upper house of the Irish parliament have passed similar resolutions.
The wave of parliamentary measures on this matter began after Sweden’s left of center government decided in October to be the first major western European state to recognize Palestine. On Tuesday, the government of Prime Minister Stefan Lofven fell less than three months after coming to office, and new elections will take place there on March 22.