On Oct. 3, the newly elected prime minister of Sweden announced that his country plans to recognize the State of Palestine, making it the first West European country to do so. With its leading role in European politics and reputation for neutrality and fairness in international affairs, Sweden’s decision may encourage other countries to follow suit.

Sweden is believed to be the fourth European Union (EU) member state to make this decision, after Hungary, Poland and Slovakia (which recognized Palestine before joining the EU). Over 130 countries have already recognized the State of Palestine, mostly in Asia, Africa and South America. However, most European and North American countries have yet to take the step, but Sweden’s move may move others to do the same.

During his inaugural address before the Parliament, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said, “The conflict between Israel and Palestine can only be solved with a two-state solution, negotiated in accordance with international law.” Adding that, “A two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to peaceful coexistence. Sweden will therefore recognize the State of Palestine.”

The new center-left coalition government in Sweden is led by the Swedish Social Democratic Party, which won a plurality (31 percent) of the votes in the Swedish Riksdag elections held on Sept. 14, 2014.

Sweden’s previous center-right government had already voted, two years ago, at the United Nations, to recognize Palestine, indicating bipartisan support for the idea. On Nov. 29, 2012, together with another 137 nations, Sweden voted for the UN General Assembly Resolution according Palestine Observer State status in the United Nations. It did not join the handful of states, such as the United States and Canada, which voted against it. Nor did it abstain as many European countries did then. However, the former center-right government did not follow its UN vote with the de jure recognition of the State of Palestine outside the UN context.

The US government remains the staunchest supporter of Israel, together with other powers such as Canada, Czech Republic, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, and Panama, which were the only countries voting against Palestinian statehood in the November 2012 UN vote. Even within this small group of hardcore supporters of Israel, there are popular movements for support of statehood.

Especially significant is the recent moderation of US official positions, as indicated in recent statements by the administration, notwithstanding the routine reaction of the State Department when it dismissed the Swedish vote last week as “premature” — quite humorous considering that the UN overwhelmingly voted some 67 years ago for an Arab state in Palestine, together with a Jewish state. While the US wasted no time in recognizing Israel when it was unilaterally declared in May 1948, it has since refrained from voting for its Palestinian counterpart. As such, the US may be considered “too late” in fulfilling its obligation, rather than Sweden being premature in doing so.

The Swedish vote can also be seen in light of international recognition of the need to end the impasse in Palestine. Israel appears to be stonewalling and refusing any compromise initiatives, including those proposed by the United States, its main and sometimes only ally. The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has been vilified by extremist Israeli politicians for daring to persist and persevere in pursuing peace negotiations in the face of Israeli intransigence. Israel’s government and right-wing politicians appear to cling to delusional notions about maintaining the status quo indefinitely.

In the meantime, Palestinian suffering under the occupation keeps mounting. The world watched in revulsion Israeli politicians’ vision for the future, as they unleashed Israel’s murderous arsenal against defenseless Gaza in one of the bloodiest and most unequal battles on earth.

Horrified by prospects of continuing slaughter of innocents, together with official failure to persuade Israel to accept a Palestinian state now and abandon its hot pursuit of an apartheid existence, international movements have gained strength at the popular level, with occasional spillovers in official circles, both at the United Nations and the national level.

The BDS Movement (Boycott, Divest and Sanction) is one of the strongest and fastest growing campaigns to express the new international mood. BDS success can be seen in recent successful boycotts of Israel’s products, universities, as well as cultural and sports events. In Sweden, for example, it led a campaign exposing the Swedish carmaker, Volvo, which is implicated in helping Israel maintain its occupation of Palestinian lands.

Prof. Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, recommended to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that Volvo, as well as “the many other businesses that are profiting from the Israeli settlement enterprise — should be boycotted until they bring their operations into line with international human rights and humanitarian law and standards.”

European parliamentarians have also shown their support for the State of Palestine, even when their governments were reluctant to do so. For example, in 2011, the Spanish Parliament voted to recognize it. It will be interesting to watch when the British Parliament returns next week (Oct. 13). A vote will be held on whether to recognize the State of Palestine. The debate has been called for by the chair of the Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East and is being supported by powerful MPs. The debate will hear from MPs calling on the British government to recognize Palestine. It is not clear which way the vote will go, especially considering the close ties between the UK and the US, which remains cool to the idea of recognition outside the context of peace negotiations despite the fact that those talks have been moribund for a while.

Regardless of the UK vote, the movement in support of the State of Palestine is expected to grow, until the remaining holdouts are convinced to join the rest of the world in fulfilling a duty that is already 67 years too late. Sweden’s decision is one important step in that direction.

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