Next Century Foundation Research Officer Juliette Feller delivers an oral intervention to the United Nations Human Rights Council 54th session. Juliette addresses the United Nations on Palestine.

Transcript:

Palestine established itself as a sovereign state in their declaration of independence in 1988. At the Next Century Foundation, we believe that more widespread recognition of the State of Palestine is necessary to strengthen Palestine’s authority and sovereignty within and beyond its borders. We hope that more global support will lead to more leveled interactions between the State of Israel and Palestine and facilitate a peace process between the two countries.

We therefore regret that the State of Palestine remains largely unrecognised in Europe. Currently, the Kingdom of Sweden is the only European Union country which recognises the Palestinian Authority (as the State of Palestine). We urge the European states to show their support by publicly recognising the State of Palestine.

In particular, we ask the Swiss Confederation to consider their position. With Switzerland’s historic role as a sovereign diplomatic actor that provides humanitarian aid across the world, its recognition of Palestine would set an example for other nations and show that it is the necessary step forward. Especially for a country that has historically remained neutral in global politics, a continued respect for Swiss values of neutrality must involve the recognition of both the State of Israel and the State of Palestine. With official Swiss support for the authority of Palestine, we hope that other European nations will follow suit, and recognise that Palestinian sovereignty is a matter of global interest.