France will back Palestinian state status at UN
A Moroccan protestor waves a large Palestinian flag during a demonstration in Casablanca on Nov. 25, 2012.
France signaled Tuesday it would vote in favor of Palestine being recognized as a non-member state at the UN General Assembly this week.
The upcoming vote will make the highly symbolic decision about whether to recognize Palestine as a "state," albeit one without membership at the United Nations.
"This Thursday or Friday, when the question is asked, France will vote yes," said Laurent Fabius, France’s foreign minister, according to Reuters.
He added, the yes vote was "out of a concern for coherency."
The Associated Press points out France is the first "major European country" to support recognition of Palestinian statehood.
In addition, it seems the UK is prepared to back Palestinian statehood, but only if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas does not apply for membership to the international criminal court or the international court of justice. This means Palestine could not charge Israel for war crimes in the these two international courts.
However, according to Haaretz, "the Palestinians refused to add a clause to the draft that would prevent them from filing criminal charges against Israeli officials at the International Criminal Court [ICC] in The Hague."
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