We, the leaders of La Paix Maintenant and JCall, have long called for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel since the creation of our movements. Indeed, Palestinians have the right to their own state, just as the Jews obtained theirs in 1948.
We founded La Paix Maintenant in 1980 to support the Israeli movement Shalom Akhshav (Peace Now), which has opposed the occupation and colonization of the West Bank and Gaza since its founding in Israel. We have supported every peace initiative that has aimed to have Israel withdraw from these regions through an agreement, so that a Palestinian state could be created alongside Israel within secure and recognized borders. In 2010, we launched JCall, the Call for Reason by European Jewish citizens unfailingly committed to Israel’s future and security, because we were aware of the danger for Israel lies in the occupation and the continuing pursuit of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and in the Arab districts of East Jerusalem.
Until now, our efforts were not aimed at immediately creating a Palestinian state, but at supporting all plans and initiatives that would lead to its creation. These efforts have always been based on a number of principles that reflect realities on the ground and address the legitimate aspirations of both peoples: the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, with land swaps to minimize the number of Israelis who would need to be relocated and to ensure territorial continuity for Palestinians in the West Bank and a connection to Gaza : demilitarization of the Palestinian state, sharing of Jerusalem, with the attachment of Arab neighborhoods to the Palestinian state; renunciation of the right of return to Israel for the Arab refugees of 1948 and their descendants, which would bring a definitive end to this century-old conflict and ensure that the future Palestinian state is not used as a springboard for future claims over the entire territory of Mandatory Palestine; and finally, mutual recognition of the two states and their legitimacy.
We supported the Oslo Accords, which were intended to lead to the creation of a Palestinian state by granting the Palestinian Authority gradual autonomy over the major cities of the West Bank and then over other territories. But the Oslo process was a failure. What was meant to be temporary became permanent; the occupation regime of Area C which represents nearly 60% of the West Bank and is under Israeli administrative responsability has led to its accelerated colonization and the undermining of the viability of a future Palestinian state. The status quo, which was already crumbling, lies in tatters since the October 7 attacks and massacres perpetrated by Hamas in Israel, and the deadly war that followed in Gaza. Today, the Israeli government is multiplying its settlement projects in the West Bank, where settler violence is worsening without military intervention. And the war in Gaza continues, without the Israeli government having defined a strategy for managing the territory once the fighting ends. After more than 19 months of conflict, Hamas has still not been completely defeated, most of the hostages have only been freed through negotiations, and the number of Palestinian civilian casualties is unjustifiable and deeply distressing to us all.
Faced with this situation, we believe it is necessary to take a new step. We can no longer be satisfied with statements of principle about the two-state solution, which remains the only reasonable path to ending this conflict. It is because we are committed to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state open to the world; because we reject Israel’s ongoing occupation and domination of another people; because we wish for that people to also have a free and independent state alongside Israel, that we call for its recognition. Such recognition is by no means, as some claim, a gift to Hamas which opposes the very existence of Israel and advocates for an Islamic state from the river to the sea. Rather, it is the only possibility that would allow the two peoples to one day live in security within their respective states.
We support the proposed initiative to include this recognition by France within a broader regional peace plan that would involve: a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages; the reconstruction of Gaza with support from Arab and Western countries; and the establishment of a civilian administration in Gaza including Palestinians without Hamas’s involvement, its demilitarization, and the recognition of Israel by Arab countries that have not yet done so.
Recognition by France of the State of Palestine which would likely be followed by other European countries would reinforce Palestine’s status as a state on the international stage and allow it, when the time comes, to engage in state-to-state negotiations with Israel, notably on borders. The recognition of the State of Palestine can no longer be indefinitely postponed. The time to recognize it is now.
David Chemla, Giorgio Gomel, Alexandre Journo, Meïr Waintrater, Alain Rozenkier
