French Recognition of Palestine Has Been a Long Time Coming
On Monday, France joined nine other countries in recognizing Palestinian statehood. But the long delay in making this move is a litany of missed opportunities.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in France celebrate the recognition of Palestinian statehood. (Courtesy of Phineas Rueckert)
The names rang out from a microphone set up on the corner of the Place de la Bastille in Paris — the site of the former prison. Name. Age. “Assassinated by Israel.” With each name, the crowd repeated the phrase.
At a protest action organized in early September by French human rights groups, it took activists three days to get through the names of the estimated 18,000 children killed in Gaza.
The protest was one of several aimed at putting continued pressure on the French government to take action to stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza, recognized as such by a United Nations commission of inquiry earlier this month. On Monday, these activists had at least one of their wishes granted.
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