Spate of Western recognitions of Palestinian state

Britain’s belated recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people to statehood in their own country has come 77 years too late. In the 1917 Balfour declaration, Britain pledged to facilitate the emergence of a homeland for foreign Jews while native Palestinians were referred to as “non-Jewish communities.” At that time, the Jewish community in Palestine was 3 per cent while Palestinians accounted for 97 per cent.

Palestine was and is the most egregious example of colonial Britain’s policy of divide and rule which became divide and leave during the dissolution of colonial empires. The result in Palestine was the creation of Israel in 78 per cent of the country in 1948 and the expulsion from their homes of half the Palestinian population of 1.3 million. In 1967 Israel conquered the remaining 22 per cent: East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. This left Palestinians under Israeli occupation or in exile and stateless.

The first struggle for Independence from Britain was in North America. It began on December 16th, 1773, with the “Boston tea party” when locals boarded three ships in Boston harbour and dumped 342 chests of tea into the sea to protest taxation without representation and monopolies awarded the British East India Company. This event escalated into the 1775-1783 war for liberation by Britain’s 13 colonies. Colonials north of the US border remained loyal to Britain and proclaimed the Canadian Confederation in 1887.

British India was partitioned into India and Pakistan in August 1947 while Cyprus was divided in 1974 between the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot majority republic and the Turkish-occupied Turkish Cypriot north recognised only by Ankara. In all four cases Britain played one community off against the other to divide and punish people for rejecting British rule.

Along with Britain, former colonial powers France, Portugal, and Belgium as well as Australia, Canada, Luxembourg, and Malta are set to recognise Palestine which has already been recognised by 147 countries. During last week’s visit to Britain, US President Donald Trump expressed his opposition to the extension of recognition. He claimed this would hamper his efforts to secure the release of 48 Israeli captives held by Hamas and halt Israel’s war on Gaza which has killed 65,000 Palestinians and rendered homeless 90 per cent of the 2.3 million Gazans. Freedom for the hostages had priority in Trump’s mind as they are Israelis. He is not motivated by the plight of Palestinians who are being targeted by Israel in a never-ending war to erase them.

The spate of Western recognitions of Palestine coincides with the accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza levelled by a UN-backed independent international commission. The commission listed four of the five elements of genocide which Israel is perpetrating. Israeli leaders have repeatedly declared their intention to eliminate the Palestinian people; Israel has killed, caused serious mental and physical harm to Palestinians; is inflicting conditions of life to cause their physical destruction; and is obstructing births within the community by denying pregnant women safe sites where to give birth. The only element Israel is not practising is transferring Palestinian children to non-Palestinians.

Israel and its loyal ally the United States have rejected the charge of genocide. However, the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the European Parliament, and a host of governments support the genocide charge laid in South Africa’s complaint to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The governments which did not support the charge are Germany, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Paraguay, Britain, and the US. Countries ready to support if the charge if genocide is established by the ICJ are Canada, France, and Norway. Sweden has asked its European Union partners to increase pressure on Israel to halt its onslaught on Gaza and “prevent genocide from happening” by suspending the trade part of Israel’s European association agreement and sanctioning extremist ministers.

Europe is too divided to exert pressure on Israel and even if Europe was united, it does not wield enough influence with Israel to get it to curb its excesses. The US is the only global actor which can deal with Israel although the pro-Israel front is weakening. In 2022, before the October 7th Hamas attack, 42 per cent of US adults had an unfavourable view of Israel, today that figure is 53 per cent.

About 50 per cent of US respondents said Israel’s actions in Gaza have gone too far, up from 40 per cent in November 2023. Support for military aid to Israel has declined to 20 per cent while aid for Palestinians is seen as a priority. However, only 30 per cent support the establishment of a Palestinian state, with support stronger among Democrats.

US Senator Bernie Sanders, independent Vermont, has called Israel’s war on Gaza genocide” and urged the US to end Washington’s “complicity” in the slaughter of the Palestinian people. He is the first in the upper house to take such a stand, but he is a progressive and Jewish and cannot be accused of “antisemitism” for taking issue with Israel. Vermont member of the House of Representatives, Becca Balint, who is also Jewish, also charged Israel with genocide in Gaza.

Times are changing. Support for Israel is waning but not fast enough to save lives in Gaza.