“True to the historic commitment of my country to the Middle East, to peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, this is why I declare today, France recognises the state of Palestine.” So stated President Emmanuel Macron to more than 140 leaders in attendance at the United Nations General Assembly on September 22. He further declared that “we must do everything in our power to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution”.
On September 21, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Portugal had similarly recognised Palestinian statehood. The intention was clear: to resuscitate the moribund two-state solution, long confined to diplomacy’s morticians. For UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, the decision had been prompted, to a large degree, by, “The Israeli government’s relentless and increasing bombardment of Gaza, the offensive of recent weeks” and continued starvation and devastation.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had high hopes for his country’s gesture. “Canada recognises the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel.”
A joint statement from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong reiterated the country’s “longstanding commitment to a two-state solution, which has always been the only path to enduring peace and security for the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.”
While most countries in Africa, Asia and South America recognise a Palestinian state, Western states, for the most part, have gone slow on the issue, holding to the long-standing assumption that Palestinians should patiently wait their turn once Israel gave consent. The attacks of October 7, 2023 by Hamas on Israel, and the retributive, vengeful war of annihilation being waged in Gaza, turned matters. Recognising Palestine became a matter of considered calculation, a potential incentive to convince Israel about the merits of a ceasefire and a return to talks that would lead to conditions of tolerable co-existence. But conditions would also be imposed on Palestinian statehood. The habits of former colonial powers resurfaced: a Palestinian state would be declared, but only on their terms.
Central to the new rollcall of states recognising Palestine are various undertakings, some of them more realistic than others. The Palestinian Authority, for instance, has given assurances that elections will be held in a timely fashion, and reforms made to a worn and corrupt administration in the West Bank. The assurance given by the Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, on ensuring the disarming of the militants and the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip is something he is in no position to give, seeing that any such decision will lie with Hamas.
Abbas, in his video address (his travel visa to the US had been revoked), again performed the necessary rites of sorrow and condemnation involving the “killing and detention of civilians, including Hamas’ actions on October 7, 2023.” He warned that “peaceful, popular resistance of this brutal occupation” would continue till it was defeated. He advertised the fact that local elections and elections for institutions, federations and unions had been conducted, with tepid acknowledgement of “a specialised committee to develop the justice sector in Palestine.” As for holding “democratic general elections,” that was a matter for Israel, blamed for obstructing and preventing them from taking place in East Jerusalem.
The antics of recognition have done nothing to halt the methodical destruction of Gaza City, nor restore regular channels of humanitarian aid. In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds to the idea that Palestinian statehood must never be allowed to eventuate. “It will not happen,” he thundered, arguing that recognising such an entity was a gift to terrorism. “A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.” In keeping with previous isolated states in history – apartheid South Africa, Nazi Germany and fascist Italy – he hopes that Israel can develop an economy with “autarkic characteristics” and become a “super Sparta”.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid is less sure. While condemning unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state as undue reward for terroristic acts, he is convinced that sober and sensible diplomacy could have averted the issue. “The government that brought upon us the worst security disaster in our history is now also bringing upon us the most severe diplomatic crisis,” he opined in a seething post on X.
Unfortunately for the Palestinian cause, what is left in Gaza City is being levelled even as the diplomats and politicians congratulate themselves in New York. Israel’s odious ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, is partially right in calling the recent clutch of declarations “empty” in character. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich captures the sneering mood: “The days when Britain and other countries would determine our future are over, the mandate is over, and the only answer to the anti-Israeli move is sovereignty over the homeland in Judea and Samaria and removing the foolish idea of a Palestinian state from the agenda forever.”
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You cannot teach murderers and thieves to be sweet and reasonable. The zionist concept of steady intrusive invasive destruction of British run Palestine, from before 1919 but more intensely from Balfour declaration days onwards, has completely distorted legality, honesty, reason. Invaders rarely admit, confess, even worry much. From May 1948, evils started that have not concluded. Demessing is messy, perhaps impossible.
In our tepid condemnation of Israel implicit in the hedged-about and conditional recognition of Palestine we, and our mates, seek to impose a bunch of conditions such as no Hamas involvement, free and fair elections etc etc. I wonder by what right do we think we can impose conditions on a country before we recognise it? Have such conditions been placed on other countries before we recognised them. Remember that Netanyahu funded and supported Hamas when it suited him to divide Palestinian governance, and that Hamas was elected. How tf are elections to take place in Palestine under illegal occupation, siege and starvation by Israel? Oh, that’s right Israel are going to leave and allow these miracles to happen because they listen to the rest of the world. Ha ha.
The New York Declaration of 12 September set out a roadmap for the future of Palestine, they now have as near to unanimous support as they will ever get.
They need now to get on with it: https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/09/1165835
Hamas did not attack in the usual sense on Oct ….Israel set the whole disgusting situation up, by removing guards and through the Hannibal Directive as admitted by some Israeli politicians. The latest plan began in 2018 and culminated to Oct2023 so that Israel with money and weapons from USA under the guise of “self defence” could bomb, burn, Bury babies and children…380,000 under 5. The Genocide heightened when hospitals, Dr’s, journalists and the foul behaviour of IDF troops snipered, raped, starved and slaughtered Palestinians in Gaza and lately the West Bank to continue their plan for a “Greater Israel” that will encompass Lebanon, Syria etc.
The Zionists Netanyahu created Hamas to get rid of PLO. The zionists are a vile ideology that Jews and Rabbis around the world are decrying and standing against.
#StopGenocide
Agree with most of what Abbie has added.
From reports coming out of New York the recognition of Palestine by the UN General Assembly is far from being just symbolic.
Much behind the scenes lobbying is being conducted, principally by France, Canada the UK and the Arab states and to a lesser extent countries like Australia with the prime objective being to bring Trump to a ceasefire position as regards Gaza – if they can sway Trump away from Netanyahu it would pave the way for a stop to the conflict, the provision of humanitarian aid and reeling in the IDF and ultimately a sustainable peace .
It is pretty well accepted by most parties that Hamas is a spent force and will have no future role in running Gaza.
Let’s hope that common sense will prevail in the next few days.
While October 7 is repeated time and again as the beginnings of the need to eradicated Israel/Palestine of those pesky Palestinians, we ignore the 100 plus years of either ignoring or trammelling Palestinians as their lands were taken.
Palestinians were not asked what they thought was so good about the Balfour agreement of 1917, Palestinians were not engaged in dialogue to redraw the map for sharing their lands with the incoming refugees from Europe, Palestinians were not included in the establishment of the UN declaration establishing the state of Israel in 1948.
It is a bit like the concept of Terra Nullius, used to rationalise the colonisation of Australia, and on discovering the there were actually people occupying the newly settled lands, just shove them aside, criminalise them, destroy them…. but don’t even try to negotiate with them.
Each time Palestinians have tried to make a stance, have tried to gain some recognition they have been called TERRORISTS.
When the death toll comparing the toll of October 7 and Palestinian deaths in retribution is 50 to one, and not considered to be enough, it begs the question of who the terrorists really are.
@ Abbie
Food for thought.
The Israeli govt might surely have cancelled the music festival as a precaution and protected its own. But perhaps that would have been a bridge too far implying an acknowledgment of what had to be tactically denied and requiring a disingenuous denial of Hamas’ capabilities in order to fabricate a pretext for invasion and full-scale war.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-intel-on-hamas-attack-plan-was-there-but-idf-simply-refused-to-believe-it-probe-finds/
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/israeli-officials-repeatedly-dismissed-warning-signs-before-hamas-attack-report-claims
But at what arbitrary point do humanitarian issues suddenly become critical enough to warrant the General Assembly’s formal recognition of Palestinian statehood? It all seems wilfully tardy and effete, if not hypocritical (e.g. the sale of arms to Israel by the UK: https://caat.org.uk/data/countries/israel/). As for Albanese and his cliched 2-state bleatings, I cannot forgive his failure to clarify the political distinction between Zionism and Judaism in timely fashion for the Australian community – apparently in deference to the Jewish lobby – thus permitting the shameless political abuse of antisemitic tropes to stifle dissent and the limit the right to peaceful protest against the Netanyahu government’s genocidal war against the Gazan people.
Yet what hope is there for them if the world cannot protest?
In an attempt to bring Israel to the table and bring about an immediate cease fire and release of hostages in Gaza, Indonesia (the most populace Muslim nation) has pledged 20,000 peacekeeping troops to be available to the United Nations – similar offers have been made by Arab nations in the region as part of the two-state roadmap.
So far Israel will not discuss a ceasefire as their objectives remain elsewhere. It seems that Trump is the wildcard in this and only his influence can divert Netanyahu away for continued destruction and genocide in Gaza.
This week in New York will be pivotal on whether there will ever be a Palestinian homeland.