'US Won’t Decide Our Policies' – Sweden On Palestinian State Recognition

[Purveyor]

Washington will not be the one to decide Sweden’s policies, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström said after the US criticized Stockholm’s plans to officially recognize Palestine as a sovereign state.

“It's not the US that decides our politics,” Wallström said, adding that the new Swedish authorities expected to “get criticism” after their announcement on Palestinian statehood.

However, the minister stressed that Stockholm “will continue the constructive dialogue with the US to explain our motives and reasons for this,” Aftonbladet newspaper reported.

In his first speech before the country's parliament on Friday, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven promised that Sweden will “recognize the states of Palestine.”

He added that the conflict with Israel “can only be solved with a two-state solution, negotiated in accordance with international law.”

more...

http://rt.com/news/193224-sweden-us-palestine-statehood/

[cheapdate]

1. Tip of the hat to Sweden.

[Rhinodawg]

2. As someone with Swedish relatives...

guess who NOW decides their policies?

you figure it out.

[Phlem]

5. I haven't the slightest but I feel compelled to ask, who?

[Chemisse]

3. It's good to see other countries chiming in on this situation.

The US has drowned out other voices/opinions on the IP issue for far too long.

[hughee99]

4. You mean they don't trust a country run by a man with a Nobel Peace Prize?

Well, I guess they did let the Norwegians pick the winner of that prize, so you can't really hold Sweden responsible for that.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

26. Why use that as a snide attack? he deserved the prize based on the reasoning for the award n/t

[mr blur]

27. Didn't he get it for not being George Bush? (nt)

[Bodhi BloodWave]

29. my understanding is that he got it

primarily for his efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and climate change, and his support for using established international bodies such as the United Nations et al.

Now i do understand the basis of the 'not bush' mentality to some degree since part of the reason was also that the committee considered him to have demonstrated a willingness to engage in diplomacy rather then though talk and such(which is the aspect i think many of his critics regarding the prize focus on).

I think he deserved it based on the above, but I also agree with Obama himself that there likely were more worthy candidates then himself(with all that said i honestly think he would have gotten the prize even if he had lost the bid for the presidency since what i consider to be the core of the reasoning were things he had been working on even before running ).

[Xolodno]

6. Good for them!

They know full well that the USA will just...as Romney so eloquently put it....kick the can down the road....in other words...do nothing.

Put some economic and political pressure on Israel....sooner or later...they will have to cry uncle.

[treestar]

7. Maybe they should explain their policies

rather than act like high school kids. If they don't like the US criticism, answer it or ignore it, but when did the US ever say we get to decide their policies?

[branford]

12. The RT article appears to indicate that the US has not commented substantively on Sweden's actions.

The Swedish Foreign Minister is indignantly reacting to hypothetical US criticism, and then ironically stating that the country nevertheless wants to engage in "constructive dialogue" with the US on the issue.

Regardless of one's opinion on Sweden's decision, the brand new government appears to simply be engaging in attention seeking behavior to pander to their base voters and actually gain some notice and influence with the US, who appears to be benignly ignoring the Swedish declaration that makes little to no substantive difference, good or bad, to resolving the Israeli / Palestinian issues.

[ZombieHorde]

18. From a larger Al-Jazeera article...

US displeasure

Seven EU members in eastern Europe and the Mediterranean have already recognised a Palestinian state, namely Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Romania.

Non-EU member Iceland is the only other western European nation to have done so.

Lofven's statement was warmly welcomed by the Palestinians but the US, Israel's ally, said it was a step too soon.

"We believe international recognition of a Palestinian state is premature," said the US state department's spokeswoman, Jen Psaki.

Reacting to the US remarks, new foreign minister and former EU commissioner Margot Wallstrom said criticism had been expected and that "it is not the US that determines our policies".

While in opposition, the Social Democrats and the Green Party, now governing together, had demanded Swedish recognition of Palestine.

But the former ruling centre-right coalition opposed such a move, arguing that a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians must be in place before recognition is possible.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/10/israel-sweden-palestine-recognise-recognises-20141059367478465.html

[branford]

20. I stand corrected (the RT article was very poorly written).

However, my point remains the same. The US issued a polite, mild and essentially dismissive rebuke of Sweden's actions that amounted to little more than nothing is terms of actually affecting the dynamics of the Israeli / Palestinian dispute. The American people overall care less about Sweden's government's opinion about anything than does the State Department.

Sweden's actions also still appear more designed for its domestic audience than actual foreign policy. The Foreign Minister's quick note that Sweden still wished to "continue constructive dialogue with the US" is a clear acknowledgement that they didn't want to push too hard in order to maintain some relevance and not be completely ignored by the parties with actual power and influence. Politically, the new Swedish government probably realized that if they made demands and a lot of real noise, then were ignored or worse, such humiliation and weakness would not play well at home in the long-term and during the next election. Such is the wonders of equivocation and populism in a democracy.

As the United States, Canada, Australia, the only two real military powers in Europe, Britain and France, much of the Sunni Arab world, Iran, Turkey and others bombing ISIS in Syria and Iraq, the civil war still raging in Syria, negotiations concerning Iran's nuclear program going nowhere fast, with Egypt very hostile to Hamas, and US popular and Congressional opinion firmly pro-Israel, no less with elections looming, I would imagine that much of the word simply hopes for the semblance of quiet between the Israelis and Palestinians, with no one willing to invest political capital at this time for ever more elusive peace.

[ZombieHorde]

21. Sweden is the ninth country to recognize Palestine.

I wonder if this is part of a long term strategy to end the conflict. I wonder how it will all play out.

[branford]

24. I don't see how such a strategy really works.

First, with all due respect to the indicated countries, they are hardly political, economic, cultural, military or other types of world powers, nor do they have particular influence in Israel, the Palestinian territories, United States, or the wider Arab and Muslim world. The government of Sweden is certainly free to conduct their foreign policy as they choose, but their actions amount to little more than some moral support to the Palestinians, and as I already suggested, are probably designed for short-term appeal to their domestic audience while avoiding any problems with the USA.

More importantly, most countries and government have already recognized a de facto "Palestine," including the Israelis and the USA. Not only do they routinely negotiate various matters with the Palestinian Authority, the recognized government of the West Bank and (purortedly) Gaza, the elected government in Israel does not recognize the territories as Israeli, except for East Jerusalem, which they annexed decades ago. Even the recent cease fire in Gaza without the removal of Hamas is evidence of such de facto recognition.

The relevant issues to be decided, however, are exact borders, water rights, security matters, refugees, etc. Every country and the Security Council can recognize the "State of Palestine" today, and these matters will still have to be resolved and will face the same difficulties as before. Note how the Swedish declaration avoids these thorny topics.

[ZombieHorde]

25. Those are good points.

I was speculating that countries like Sweden may want to start a domino effect, which would pressure Israel toward peace. Obviously, some countries, such as the US and Israel are uncomfortable with Sweden's recognition of Palestine. Labels are very powerful.

[branford]

28. Recognition of the State of Palestine does not necessarily equal peace.

As I indicated, the difficult issues well apart from recognition would still have to be resolved, and the Israelis and Palestinians themselves must be accept and abide by any agreements. That is precisely why true peace is so elusive.

[ZombieHorde]

30. Of course, but pressure can help.

Would be interesting if Palestine became a member of the UN.

[ZombieHorde]

19. They did, but the RT article didn't cover the story very well.

Al-Jazeera does better, in my opinion.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/10/israel-sweden-palestine-recognise-recognises-20141059367478465.html

The bit about the US is at the end of the article.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. I suppose that now Sweden is considered unAmerican and part of the Axis of Evil.

[branford]

14. I think the reaction in most of America is, ">>yawn,<< pass the remote control . . ."

Except for the small minority of Americans who are personally invested or extremely interested in the Israeli / Palestinian dispute (who encompass some here on DU), and who long-ago chose sides, the actions of Sweden are not even newsworthy. The vast majority of Americans would actually have to care what the government of Sweden thinks about anything before they care to consider them un-American or otherwise.

[liberal_at_heart]

9. Good for them.

[malaise]

10. Thank you Sweden

Sovereignty has meaning.

[Fred Sanders]

11. Sanctions on Sweden will surely follow after the media buildup misinforming folks about the

vile socialist system these Viking wannabes are building in the frozen north.

Nationalize their energy industry and that would be guaranteed.

[Enthusiast]

13. Sweden is Un-American.

[toby jo]

15. Good. I wonder what the global tally is on this issue?

[Violet_Crumble]

23. Here go you....

Of the 193 member states of the United Nations, 134 (69.4%) have recognized the State of Palestine as of 27 September 2013. Their total population is over 5.5 billion people, equaling 80 percent of the world's population.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_the_State_of_Palestine#Diplomatic_recognition

[Mister Nightowl]

16. Let's take a cue fron Sweden...

...and stop letting the gov't of Israel decide OUR policies!

[SidDithers]

17. But Assange thinks Sweden is a US puppet state...

who'll turn him over to the US if he ever goes to Sweden to face the rape allegations.




Sid

[treestar]

22. Oh that's right!

Maybe now that they are standing up to the big bad US, Julian can understand them and go face his charges/interrogation/whatever!

[Dawson Leery]

31. One nation (American in the past 70 years)

should never have so much power as to dictate to the rest of the world terms of existence.