European Community Recognizes Palestinian Right to Self-Determination
Venice Declaration marks Europe's break with US policy, calling for PLO involvement in peace process and Palestinian self-determination.
VENICE - The European Community today issued a groundbreaking declaration recognizing the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and calling for PLO involvement in peace negotiations, marking Europe’s most significant break with American Middle East policy.
The Venice Declaration, approved by all nine EC member states, goes beyond US positions by explicitly calling for Palestinian self-determination and stating that the PLO must be “associated with” peace negotiations.
“The Palestinian people must be able to exercise their right to self-determination,” the declaration states, adding that Israeli settlements in occupied territories are “illegal under international law” and constitute a “serious obstacle to peace.”
French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who championed the declaration, explained: “Europe cannot remain silent while millions of Palestinians live without homeland or hope. Camp David’s autonomy concept is insufficient.”
The declaration triggered fierce reactions:
Israel condemned it as “one-sided and dangerous.” Prime Minister Menachem Begin accused Europe of “bowing to oil blackmail and terrorism.” Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir called it “a Munich-like appeasement of the PLO.”
PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat welcomed the declaration as “an important step toward recognizing Palestinian rights,” though he noted it fell short of explicitly endorsing a Palestinian state.
United States expressed disappointment. State Department spokesman John Trattner said: “We believe Camp David provides the only realistic framework for peace. Bringing the PLO into negotiations prematurely would be counterproductive.”
The declaration reflects European frustrations with:
- Stalled autonomy talks from Camp David
- Continued Israeli settlement expansion
- Palestinian exclusion from their own future
- Regional instability affecting oil supplies
British Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington argued: “We cannot ignore 3 million Palestinians. Peace requires addressing their legitimate rights, not just state-to-state agreements.”
The Venice Declaration’s significance lies not in immediate impact—Israel rejects it and America ignores it—but in legitimizing concepts previously taboo in Western diplomacy: Palestinian self-determination and PLO participation.
“Europe has recognized what America refuses to see,” said Palestinian intellectual Walid Khalidi. “There can be no peace without addressing Palestinian nationhood.”
While the declaration lacks enforcement mechanisms, it signals growing international impatience with the status quo and may presage broader diplomatic shifts as Palestinian issues become impossible to ignore.