Recognition of Palestine Is Not Enough
Israeli Knesset member Aida Touma-Suleiman argues that in order for the growing recognition of the state of Palestine to be meaningful, it must be accompanied by sanctions for Israel’s permanent illegal occupation.
Recognition of a Palestinian state may offer Western governments a way to absolve themselves in the face of mounting public pressure from Palestine solidarity movements. It’s not enough. (Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images)
In recent months, as the genocidal killing of Gazans continues, an increasing number of countries have announced their intention to recognize a Palestinian state, joining the 147 that already have. Most of these come from among Israel’s Western allies, with the formalization of recognition due to take place at a United Nations (UN) summit to revive the two-state solution, cochaired by Saudi Arabia and France. As part of this effort, the UN General Assembly endorsed this initiative, in a resounding show of support with a supermajority of 142 countries in favor and only ten opposed. (Even one of Israel’s strongest allies, Germany, voted in favor of this initiative, although it said it would not recognize a Palestinian state at this stage.) The initiative could provide strong leverage for the basic demands of the Palestinian people to live free of Israeli occupation in their own independent state.
This recognition would have been a momentous occasion had it not come amid a war of annihilation waged against Gaza, and in tandem with a military-settler offensive against the Palestinian people in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Right now, the most urgent demand is to mount as much international pressure as possible to immediately stop the assault on Gaza, save its remaining residents from killing or ethnic cleansing, and prevent the permanent reoccupation of the entire territory for years to come.
Two Tracks
The world is moving on two parallel tracks: on one side, a wave of popular solidarity with the Palestinian cause and against the genocide, including increased discussion of real sanctions against Israel. On the other side, Israel’s unprecedented brutality against the Palestinian people, supported unconditionally by the United States.
The most recent example entailed a US violation of the terms of conditions for hosting the UN in its own country, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s announced a visa ban of eighty Palestinian Authority officials, including President Mahmoud Abbas, ahead of the UN conference.
One of the problems with these two tracks is that they move at different paces: the translation of public pressure into actual policies that could curb Israel’s ability to wreak havoc has moved far slower than the terrifying pace of Israel’s war crimes. Israel’s Western allies seem to be caught between these two tracks, which has resulted in a schizophrenic policy toward Palestinians. The very countries now declaring their intention to recognize Palestine in the coming days have been, and continue to be, enablers of the genocide against the same people whose right to self-determination they are belatedly acknowledging.
Some countries have continued to profit through continued trade, whereas others have taken a more direct and active role in abetting Israel’s crimes in Gaza: from UK aircraft carrying out reconnaissance flights over Gaza to gather intelligence for Israel’s war machine, to German tank engines that have also been used to flatten the cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis.
These details help place the forthcoming recognition of Palestine into context. Anyone who believes this marks the peak of diplomatic efforts is mistaken. Recognition is not the end of the road but its beginning. It must be accompanied by concrete actions that guarantee the survival of the Palestinian people as well as their right to self-determination.
A Diversion?
Recognition of a Palestinian state may offer Western governments a way to absolve themselves in the face of mounting public pressure from Palestine solidarity movements. Polls, protests, and mountains of anecdotal evidence suggest that the public is disgusted by what Israel is doing to the Palestinians, and by the indifference and complicity of their own governments and very often of their own media. They are mobilized to pressure their governments, and it is to them we look to ensure that recognition, while important, does not replace the urgent need to end the war, prevent ethnic cleansing, and stop settler violence in the West Bank.
Without immediate interventions, the creeping process of annexation will proceed unchecked, and the already slim prospect of establishing a Palestinian state will further fade. Recognition of Palestine must be a platform to turn the tide on the two-state solution rather than serving as an atonement certificate for states complicit in its very death.
Palestinians have a legitimate fear that those states that are recognizing their right to self-determination will end up not only making of it a symbolic gesture, but that this gesture will be accompanied by greater demands on the Palestinians under occupation than on their Israeli occupier — that recognition will become yet another cudgel with which to undermine Palestinian rights and well-being rather than challenge Israeli criminality.
This is not a baseless fear: in statements made by Western leaders when announcing recognition, several conditions were attached (some in the UN Resolution itself), including limiting participation in Palestinian elections to those factions endorsing the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) platform and for Palestinians to agree that their state would be demilitarized, when Palestinians are unable to defend themselves against genocide.
Palestinians must get their political house in order, but such demands cannot be a distraction while Palestinians are enduring extermination, ethnic cleansing, and settlement expansion.
Recognition Is an Important First Step
In spite of these concerns, recognition of Palestine must be supported — it is something that my party, Hadash, has long called for. It is one way of consolidating a global consensus against the Israeli-American “Greater Israel” project and in favor of Palestinian self-determination, and is a necessary political task in these terrible times.
But to be meaningful, recognition must be accompanied by sanctions for the permanent illegal occupation of the state that is being recognized. The International Court of Justice, in its opinion last year, set out the illegality of the occupation itself and some of the measures states must take to not be complicit, ranging from restrictions in trade to military cooperation.
States such as Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia have already moved to position themselves in compliance with international law. And there is a sense that these states are only the first: even Germany has recently announced an apparent weapons embargo, which would be significant if properly implemented. The European Union as a whole, however, continues to fail Palestinians in its inability to pass an arms embargo.
The reason this is so important is not to reaffirm a unipolar order in its twilight, but because the West remains Israel’s hinterland: where Israel conducts the majority of its trade, parks many of its financial assets in Western banks, participates in international sports, and travels to frequently and visa-free. The West also claims to adhere to a rules-based and values-based system, and it is therefore the West that will determine how quickly the gap is closed between the two tracks of the destruction of Palestinians and holding Israel accountable.
Solidarity in the streets must translate into action in the halls of power, even if this is happening too late for so many Palestinians. Recognition is an important step, but it too must be translated into action.