More than three decades after the Palestinians declared statehood and long after most of the international community recognized that state, a growing number of Western countries are finally catching up with the rest of the world.

The recognition of Palestine, most recently by France, Britain, Canada, Australia, and several others, has been hailed as a game changer and dismissed as meaningless political theater. It is neither, though very much depends on what comes next.

Their explanations notwithstanding, these acts of recognition need to be understood first and foremost as a response by governments aligned with Israel to growing public pressure to change course as a result of the Gaza genocide and the unprecedented shift toward support for Palestinian rights. Concluding that business as usual was no longer a viable option, these governments opted for symbolic measures like sanctioning particularly vile Israeli officials, suspending negotiations on trade agreements yet to be concluded, and most recently diplomatic recognition of Palestinian statehood.