Paulo Raimundo, speaking to the press during a show of solidarity with Palestine at the Festa do Avante in Quinta da Atalaia, Seixal, asserted that Portugal has a “duty” to recognize the State of Palestine.
“It is not conditional recognition, as the Portuguese State has no capacity or need to impose interference. The future of Palestine is decided by the Palestinians. How Palestine is organized and who represents it are decisions made by the Palestinians themselves,” he stated.
Following a meeting on Friday with the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Assembly of the Republic, concerning this subject—part of a series of meetings that Paulo Rangel is conducting with all parliamentary parties—Paulo Raimundo cautioned that the Portuguese government’s intention “seems to be” a conditional recognition of Palestine.
“The only condition that should be imposed today is for Israel, with the help of the European Union (EU) and the United States, to end the ongoing genocide,” he insisted.
The PCP Secretary-General further argued that the government should recognize Palestine immediately, “without justifications of coordinating with others,” emphasizing that Portugal “is a sovereign country and doesn’t need to coordinate with anyone.”
“It doesn’t need the EU’s agreement; it needs to give voice to the will of the people, particularly the youth, who demand clearly and justly the State of Palestine,” he argued.
When asked about the government’s claim of needing to coordinate with other countries within the framework of the United Nations (UN) for the recognition of the State of Palestine, Paulo Raimundo responded that the executive “has always found excuses to avoid recognition.”
“Initially, it was because it couldn’t be done unilaterally, it had to be within the EU framework. However, a significant number, the majority of EU peoples and states have recognized the State of Palestine. And then, as the government lost that excuse, now it’s passing the buck to the United Nations,” he criticized.
Raimundo acknowledged the potential for a coordinated recognition of Palestine among UN member states but noted that the UN already has “more than enough resolutions passed on the recognition of the State of Palestine” and on the two-state solution.
“It even includes the definition of borders, the definition of the capital. This is all defined already. Therefore, it is unnecessary to reinvent the wheel. If the Portuguese government were truly interested in using the United Nations for this recognition, they would do what is required: recognize the State of Palestine tomorrow,” he said, adding that “this can’t be delayed any longer.”
He admitted that the recognition of Palestine “does not solve all problems” nor will it solve “the ongoing genocide,” referring to Israel’s war against Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip.
He argued that Portugal should contribute to “further isolate that criminal, Zionist regime, which is committing, before the eyes of everyone, an atrocious crime against a people.”
Israel attacked Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States, following the massacre of about 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of more than two hundred people by the Islamists on October 7, 2023.
The Israeli retaliation has already claimed over 65 thousand lives in Gaza, according to Hamas.
