The Greene County Democrat

Tag: President Emmanuel Macron

  • Newswire: More countries plan to recognize Palestine

    The United Kingdom said it would recognize a Palestinian state if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire in Gaza by September. Canada said it will recognize Palestine without condition, as more children die in Gaza.This comes after France said it will recognize Palestine as a state during the United Nations General Assembly in September in an attempt to end the war in Gaza, where children are starving, President Emmanuel Macron has said.

    “In keeping with its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the State of Palestine,” Macron wrote.
    “I will solemnly announce this at the United Nations General Assembly in September this year,” he added.France, the largest and arguably most influential country in Europe, is the first to recognize a Palestinian state, after European Union members Norway, Ireland, and Spain indicated they would do the same.

     

    The decision by Canada, France, and possibly the United Kingdom angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    Netanyahu has called out the leaders of France, the United Kingdom, and Canada, claiming they’re “emboldening Hamas to continue fighting forever.”


    Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada will recognize Palestine as a state in September at the United Nations General Assembly, following similar announcements from the United Kingdom and France.

    “The deepening suffering of civilians leaves no room for delay in coordinated international action to support peace, security, and the dignity of all human life,” Carney said in a statement Wednesday. 

    The UK says it will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza.
    “I have always said that we will recognize a Palestinian state as a contribution to a proper peace process at the moment of maximum impact for the two-state solution,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a press briefing after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

    On Wednesday (23 July), more than 50 former British diplomats and UN officials, including UNA Chair Ian Martin, former Chairs Lord David Hannay and Sir Jeremy Greenstock, and Trustee Andrew Gilmour, signed an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer urging the UK to recognise Palestinian statehood and uphold international law.

    The UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said he is appalled and sickened by the plight of civilians in Gaza, after the Israeli government rejected an international statement which warned suffering has “reached new depths”.

    On Tuesday, Lammy told the BBC that Israel’s response was “hugely disappointing” and described the situation in Gaza as “grotesque.”

    It comes after the UK and 27 other countries called for an immediate end to the war, and accused Israel of “drip feeding” aid to Gaza’s population.

    A total of 147 out of 193 United Nations member states already recognise the state of Palestine, meaning the UK would join an overwhelming majority of countries that already support this. 


    It would mean the UK observes Palestine’s right to statehood and self-determination alongside Israel, while opposing Israel’s occupation in areas defined under international law. 

    It may further add weight in moving toward a two-state solution where Palestine and Israel can co-exist in two separate states — something that Israel has been staunchly against.


    Local hospitals say that at least two more Palestinians were reported to have died from Israel’s forced starvation in the last 24 hours.

    That brings the total number of hunger-related fatalities since Israel’s war began to 159.

    As we reported earlier, infants have been particularly vulnerable, with shortages of infant formula leaving new mothers with few options for feeding their babies.

    Of those who died from starvation, at least 90 were children. UN officials have repeatedly called on Israel to allow an uninterrupted flow of aid supplies.

     

  • Newswire: African who saved child from fall gets French citizenship

     

    Mamoudou Gassama.jpg

    Mamoudou Gassama

    May 28, 2018 (GIN) – A migrant from Mali who scrambled up the side of a building to save a 4 year old child dangling from a fifth floor balcony was thanked this week by President Emmanuel Macron and offered citizenship.

    Mamoudou Gassama had been living without papers in France when the incident took place.

    “ You have become an example because millions of people have seen you,” Macron told the 22 year old young man. “It is only right that the nation be grateful,” adding that his immigration status would be “put in order.”

    During the meeting, Macron also proposed that Gassama, who received a medal and certificate for bravery, join the French fire service.

    A video of the daring rescue was viewed millions of times online after which Gassama was received by Macron at the presidential palace.

    The act of heroism was the top news item for most French websites and television channels. But it comes as French lawmakers debate a controversial bill that would speed up the deportation of economic migrants and failed asylum-seekers.

    Even President Macron mentioned the usual French policy towards migrants. “We can’t just give papers to everyone who comes from Mali, from Burkina,” Le Parisien reported Macron as telling Gassama. “We’ll grant them asylum if they’re in danger, but not for economic reasons.

    “But you did something exceptional. Even if you didn’t think about it, it’s an act of bravery and strength that has drawn everyone’s admiration.”

    The Socialist mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, was among the politicians who lined up to phone Gassama to thank him for his selfless act. “He explained to me that he had arrived from Mali a few months ago dreaming of building his life here,” she said.

    Gassama, who made the dangerous boat crossing to Italy before arriving in France last year, was impressively modest (“It’s the first time I’ve ever won an award”), but his experience underscores how hard it is for people like him to gain acceptance in French society.

    “Macron’s attitude sends the message that you can only become French if you do something so extraordinary that the vast majority of French people would never even attempt it,” wrote author Steven Poole, on the Guardian’s opinion page.