Recognising Palestine

Welcome to IWPR’s Frontline Update, your go-to source to hear from journalists and local voices at the front lines of conflict.

 THE BIG PICTURE  

As the UN general assembly prepares to meet in New York, a swathe of countries have announced their intention to recognise the state of Palestine.

Australia, Canada, Portugal, Belgium and the UK look likely to join the ranks of the many nations that formally acknowledge Palestinian statehood.

Yet as the war in Gaza continues to rage, the impact this may have on the ground remains unclear.

 VOICES FROM THE FRONTLINE 

“Such initiatives are certainly welcomed for their moral support to the Palestinians during the scourge they are going through; but is this the quintessential issue that Palestine needs or is missing?” asked Palestinian legal scholar Anas Kassim in a piece for IWPR this week.

“A country is under no legal obligation to recognise a newly established state or government, and the lack of recognition thereof does not adversely undermine its status,” he wrote. “On the other hand, states are invariably under a legal and definitive obligation to stop genocidal acts when committed by a state against a civilian population, regardless of whether or not such civilian population belongs to a recognised country.”

Agon Maliqi, a non-resident Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council, analysed Kosovo’s experience of recognition, noting how international law had long treated self-determination struggles inconsistently.

“Outcomes have always hinged on geopolitics and power balances, fuelling grievances over double standards,” he wrote, adding that many on the left “contrast the West’s embrace of Kosovo’s plight with its silence on other cases of human rights violations – especially Palestine”.

IWPR board member and former Dutch diplomat Frans Makken – whose senior roles in Africa, Asia and the Middle East included Dutch Representative to the Palestinian Authority - argued that Israel had enjoyed decades of impunity.

“The growing international moves to recognise Palestinian independence need to be seen in that context,” he wrote.

“Indeed, recognition may not help any starving person in Gaza now. It would merely show Israel that a vast majority of the countries in the world still regard a two-state solution as a sine qua non for lasting peace.”

Writing from Israel, journalist Noga Tarnopolosky tracked how Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had for decades equated the idea of a Palestinian state “with terror, doom and ruination,” making it his life’s mission to thwart its sovereignty.

“Arguably, it is Netanyahu who brought terror, doom and ruination to Israel,” she wrote. “The county's social fabric is in tatters, its sense of security is ravaged, its reputation in the world is devastated.”

 WHY IT MATTERS 

The fresh moves to recognise Palestine are undoubtedly diplomatically significant, not least because France and the UK are also permanent members of the UN Security Council. But full recognition would depend on the unlikely prospect of the US not exerting its veto.

The moves illustrate broad frustration with Israeli intransigence and disillusionment with repeated attempts to not only broker a ceasefire in Gaza but also alter the course of the occupation in the West Bank.

 THE BOTTOM LINE 

The recognition of Palestine shows a commitment to Palestinian rights - but takes place in a diplomatic space largely divorced from events on the ground.

As geopolitical power games continue to play out at the UN general assembly in New York, it is imperative to listen to local voices to understand their real impact.