Reuters — Around 300 people demonstrated outside the Israeli embassy in Paris on Sunday (January 15) in support of Israel over a conference held in the French capital which aims to help find a solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, gathered in Paris for a meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as “futile”. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians were represented.
“We are against the conference taking place today because it has no sense, if not, it reinforces the decision by UNESCO a while ago. Israel and the Palestinians will reach peace together and they don’t need anyone’s help because instead of helping it puts barriers and it’s unacceptable,” said Parisian Anne-Marie Boubli. She was referring to when the Palestinians won full membership of UNESCO in October 2011 in what was seen a major step forward for their efforts to achieve recognition as an independent state, despite intense opposition from both the Israeli government and the United States.
Paris has said the meeting will not impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians and that only direct negotiations can resolve the conflict.
A draft communique seen by Reuters reaffirms existing international resolutions, urges both sides to restate their commitment to the two-state solution and disavow officials who reject it. The communique asks the protagonists to “refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations”.
“There’s double-talk about France because I hear Francois Hollande often say that a resolution will come from a direct negotiation and today there’s a conference where neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians are attending, so I don’t understand what purpose it serves. Maybe there’s another agenda behind it, be it electoral or for Hollande’s future as he leaves the presidency, I don’t know. In any case, this conference is pointless and we’re here in solidarity with the state of Israel,” said demonstrator Zvi Haddad.
Home to Europe’s largest Muslim and Jewish communities, France has tried to breathe new life into the peace process over the past year. It believes that, with the uncertainty surrounding how the next U.S. administration will handle the issue, it is important to push the sides back to talks rather than allowing a fragile status quo to fester.
