The European parliament stressed on Wednesday that “time has come for the EU members to recognise an independent state of Palestine on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

This call came in a statement for the Chair of the European Parliament’s Standing Delegation for Relations with Palestine, Neoklis Sylikiotis.

He made his call to mark International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. He also called for the suspension of the EU partnership with Israel until it becomes “seriously committed” to respecting human rights.

Sylikiotis added: “This day reminds all of us of our failure to achieve justice for the Palestinians, who have been suffering the loss and theft of their human rights since 1948.”

He stressed that solidarity with the Palestinian people means supporting their rights within the framework of international law, including the right to self-determination and right of return.

Since 1977 the UN General Assembly has designated 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people – the same day that the UN approved a resolution to partition Palestine in 1947.