On Monday, September 22, French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a speech from the podium of the United Nations in which he recognized, on behalf of France, the State of Palestine. Here is a translation of the full transcript.

"Madam President of the General Assembly, Mr. Secretary-General, heads of state and government, ladies and gentlemen.

We are here because the time has come. The time has come to free the 48 hostages held by Hamas. The time has come to stop the war, the bombings in Gaza, the massacres, and the fleeing populations. The time has come because the urgency is everywhere. The time for peace has come because we are only moments away from no longer being able to seize it. That is why we are here today. Some will say it is too late, others will say it is too soon. One thing is certain, we can no longer wait.

In 1947, this assembly decided to partition Mandatory Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, thus recognizing the right of each to self-determination. The international community thereby consecrated the State of Israel, fulfilling the destiny of this people, finally, after millennia of wandering and persecution, and who were able to establish there such a vibrant democracy. The promise of an Arab state, however, remains unfulfilled to this day. Since then, Israelis and Palestinians have each traveled a long road, mingled with hope and despair, in their own way. And we have journeyed with them, each of us, according to our own history and sensibility. But the truth is that we bear the collective responsibility for having so far failed to build a just and lasting peace in the Near East.

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