I.P.O. Information Service

Vienna, 21 August 2018/RE/26982c-is

A citizens’ initiative of around 1,000 Austrians last week submitted a formal petition to the Austrian Parliament for the recognition of the State of Palestine by Austria. According to the provisions for "Parliamentary Citizens’ Initiatives" (Parlamentarische Bürgerinitiative), the Austrian Parliament has posted the petition on its official web site.

The petitioners ask the Parliament to take the necessary steps for the diplomatic recognition of Palestine by the Republic of Austria at the earliest possible date, and to exert its influence vis-à-vis the Austrian government in that regard. They refer to the fact that 137 UN member states, including 9 European Union members, have already recognized Palestine as a state. The petitioners further emphasize that, in United Nations UN General Assembly resolution 181 of 1947, a two-state solution was envisaged as basis for just and lasting peace in Palestine. This has been consistently emphasized by the international community ever since. Sustainable peace can only be achieved if both parties – Israel and Palestine – are treated on an equal level. Accordingly, the petitioners argue, Austria – which has recognized the State of Israel as early as 1956 – should now the join the vast majority of UN member states and enter into diplomatic relations with the State of Palestine.

Among the original signatories of the petition are the President of the International Progress Organization, Dr. Hans Köchler; the Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, Director of the Berlin State Opera; Dr. Franz Fischler, former member of the European Commission; and Dr. Manfred Nowak, Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights.

The petition was initiated by the International Fellowship of Reconciliation AUSTRIA and is also supported by several non-governmental organizations including Pax Christi Austria.

• Text of petition (German)

• International Committee for Palestinian Human Rights

END/International Progress Organization/News Release/I.P.O. supports petition for recognition of the State of Palestine/2018-08-21/P/RE/26982c-is