Source: The New York Times
PARIS — An effort by France to give impetus to the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process through an international conference always faced long odds. But with an incoming American president who has vowed to support Israel no matter what, the project seemed even more quixotic.
As senior representatives from 70 countries gathered in Paris on Sunday and endorsed anew a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, what they had to offer was mostly symbolic.
Still, that symbol was clear: Though peace efforts seemed doomed, the leaders, representing every European nation, were signaling that they still saw them as critical — and putting President-elect Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on notice that the process could be ignored only at their peril.
“The two-state solution, which the international community has agreed on for many years, appears threatened,” President François Hollande of France said as he opened the afternoon session. “It is physically threatened on the ground by the acceleration of settlements, it is politically threatened by the progressive weakening of the peace camp, it is morally threatened by the distrust that has accumulated between the parties, and that has certainly been exploited by extremists.”
Categories: Europe, France, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, The Muslim Times