With many years of obstacles and delays, the recognition by a large majority of the United Nations General Assembly on November 29, 2012, of Palestine as a non-state observer of the UN is a huge victory for the Palestinian people and for the PLO diplomatically.
The European Left welcomes this recognition, which gives the Palestinian and Israeli people new tools to promote a just solution in the conflict.
It is noteworthy that after the resistance to recognition by nearly all of the EU member states (and the EU itself) for a considerable number of years – most of the EU member states chose to support the recognition in the UN.  This is a small step in the right direction after years of inaction in the search for peace.
We deplore that the response of the Israeli government to the recognition has again been to increase the punitive measures, heightening the conflict.
Immediately after the recognition in the UN, the Israeli Government announced the building of 3,000 new settlement units and to withhold more than 100 million USD of Palestinian import and export taxes collected by the Israeli authorities.
It is of huge importance that the EU member states follow up on their decision to back the recognition of Palestine by acting against continuing Israeli breaches of international conventions.  First of all it is crucial to resist the expansion of illegal settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
We urge the following steps among others:

• The preferential EU-Israeli Trade Agreement must be immediately suspended as long as Israel violates international conventions and human rights.
• The EU and the EU member states must increase their aid to Palestine as long as Israel withholds taxes belonging to Palestine.
• Palestine should be recognised as an independent state by the EU and the EU member states. 
•  We support the Palestinians in their struggle for full recognition as a UN member state – on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as the capital, and the return of the Palestinian refugees based on the UN resolution 192.
• Israel must end its siege on Gaza.

EL Executive Board meeting,
Berlin, 11.-12.01.2013