The Mirage of Palestinian Statehood

Philip Cunliffe

While the Gaza Strip lies in rubble, the cause of Palestinian freedom seems on the verge of a global breakthrough. Three leading Western states—Canada, France and the United Kingdom—have all said that they will recognize Palestine as an independent state, as have 143 of the 193 UN member-states. This marks a significant departure for Western states’ regional policy, and a break with US leadership over the Arab-Israeli peace process. So how do we reconcile the devastation inflicted on the people of Gaza with the diplomatic forward strides made by Palestine in international affairs?

On the face of it, winning international recognition would seem to be a victory for Palestinian diplomacy—a strategic success won despite battlefield defeat at the hands of Israel. Many have criticized the Canadian, French, and British on these same grounds, arguing that recognition is effectively rewarding Hamas, granting them what they wanted despite the fact that they started the most recent war with their bloody incursion into Israel in October 2023.

Yet if terrorism renders subsequent recognition of statehood impossible, we would have to withdraw recognition from a host of formerly colonized states, including Algeria, Ireland, Kenya, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Israel itself. Israel won its independence from Britain in part through a classic mid-20th century anti-colonial campaign that involved guerrilla insurgency and significant acts of terrorism. This included the May 1946 bombing of the British headquarters at the time, the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, which killed 96 people, as well as the assassination of Swedish diplomat, Count Folke Bernadotte. ....SOURCE