Watch: ‘Now Is The Time’ – Ambassador Urges Abela To Recognise Palestine As A State
Palestine’s ambassador to Malta has urged Prime Minister Robert Abela to make good on a promise he had made back in March 2024 and formally recognise Palestine as a state.
In a new interview with Lovin Malta’s Tim Diacono, Fadi Hanania said that he doesn’t see any better time than the present for this to happen and called for a special parliamentary sitting to discuss the recognition of a Palestinian state.
“Malta recognises the two-state solution, so if you recognise one state – the state of Israel – why don’t you also recognise the state of Palestine?” he questioned.
“The Prime Minister has said many times that he will recognise a Palestinian state but we believe, Mr Prime Minister, that this is the right time.”
“It will give our people more and more steps forward in order to have more and more hopes for their future.”
Spain, Norway and Ireland all recently formally recognised Palestine as a state, based on borders established before the war in 1967 and with Jerusalem as the capital of both Israel and Palestine.
Hanania noted that Maltese formal recognition has been a long time coming.
All the way back in 28th November 1988, Malta’s ambassador to the UN declared that Malta recognises the right of the Palestinian people to have their own state. The letter stated that Malta “reaffirmed” its decision, meaning the original decision was taken even earlier than that.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) has had a Maltese office since 1973, Hanania is officially recognised as the ambassador of the state of Palestine and he submits his diplomatic credentials to the President of Malta like all other ambassadors.
Malta voted in favour of a Palestinian state at the UN in 2014 and used its recent tenure at the UNSC last April to call for a UN session that would recognise a Palestinian state. Malta voted in favour of this resolution but it was unsurprisingly vetoed by the United States.
“For us, it is granted that Malta has already recognised Palestine as a state,” Hanania said, as he urged the government to make it official.
“We urge the Prime Minister to take this historic step and reaffirm the recognition of a Palestinian state. I don’t see any better time than now. Now is the time and we hope the Prime Minister will do it as soon as possible.”
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