At long last, the world seems to have awakened to the gross injustices done to the Palestinian people and the atrocities committed on them by the Zionists and its progeny, the illegitimate state of Israel, over the past half a century. Notwithstanding the intransigence of the Israeli leadership to reach a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians, some of the leading western powers, with the conspicuous exception of the United States, have spearheaded a move to recognize Palestine as a state and seek a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

It all originated quite some time ago with the UNESCO's decision to admit Palestine as member despite fierce opposition by the United States which stopped funding the UN body and quit its deliberations as a protest. But over the years, spurred by Israel's continued defiance of international opinion and denial to the Palestinians of their legitimate rights, the move has taken the form of a demand for recognition of the Palestine state. Several European parliaments have since passed motions urging their governments to recognize the Palestinian state. France, Britain, Spain, Portugal and Ireland have all passed resolutions to that effect. Sweden has gone further than them and has officially recognized Palestine as a state.

The most significant development is that the European Parliament has overwhelmingly backed the recognition of the Palestinian state 'in principle'. The EU lawmakers approved the motion by 498 votes to 88 with 111 abstentions. The motion, said to be a watered down version of the original one, 'supports in principle recognition of Palestinian statehood and the two –state solution, and believes these should go hand in hand with the development of peace talks, which should be advanced.'

Another significant development has been that a European court has ordered the EU to drop the Hamas from its terrorism black list.

Earlier, in a separate statement the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini reaffirmed Europe's position that that the Palestinians have a right to their own state, and went a step ahead by declaring that Jerusalem be the joint capital of Palestine and Israel.

The United States has been increasingly isolated on the issue and has been trying to plead with the European states that their action would escalate tension in the area.

The latest development in the matter is that Jordan has formally submitted to the United Nations Security Council a Palestinian- drafted motion calling for peace between Israel and the Palestinians within one year and an end to Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories by the end of 2017. France, Britain and Germany were also said to be drafting a resolution, which according to the French foreign minister, would propose concluding peace talks in two years. The Palestinians have been seeking statehood both in the Israeli occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as their capital and restoration of 1967 borders.

According to reports Israel may agree to the two-state solution but it does not accept the 1967 borders as the basis of for final negotiations. Israel will therefore most likely have the resolution blocked through the United States using its veto powers.

It is high time that all the Muslim countries stand solidly with the Palestinians in support of the resolution to make the best of the support of the European countries on the issue.

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