later this month, the Paris region will sign a co-operation agreement with the Palestinian district of East Jerusalem.
It will be only the second such deal between France’s most populous region and a Middle Eastern city; the first such deal was struck with Beirut.
The Paris region’s vice president for international affairs, Roberto Romero, claimed, however, that the initiative had not been driven by pro-Palestinian politics.
“The region already has many co-operation partnerships with Israel, in research and technology, for example. We’ve had none with the Palestinian Authority. This is merely a way to help the population. Our goal isn’t to bring political support to the Palestinian Authority,” said Mr Romero, who is a member of the Socialist party.
