A Long-Awaited Recognition

At the United Nations this week, history has edged forward. Britain, Australia, Canada, and Portugal followed by France have recognized the State of Palestine. This is a seismic shift. Western powers had so far resisted such a move, insisting recognition should only emerge from a negotiated settlement. But such a negotiation never came about, yielding only stalemate and suffering. Now, with Gaza in ruins after nearly two years of war and a solution slipping further out of reach, recognition marks a profound – albeit symbolic – shift in global diplomacy.

But for Palestinians, this moment is more than symbolic. It is an affirmation of their existence, their right to self-determination, and their decades-long struggle for dignity. In Gaza, where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed and entire neighborhoods flattened, recognition has been embraced as a moral victory, a reminder that the world still sees their humanity.“Despite all the pain, death, and massacres, we cling to anything that brings even the smallest bit of hope,” a displaced Palestinian woman told reporters. That hope is fragile, but it matters.

Israel has reacted with predictable fury. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed never to allow a Palestinian state and instead pledged to accelerate settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. Far-right ministers in his government go further, openly calling for annexation. These hardline positions underline why recognition matters. If Palestinians are told endlessly that their nationhood will forever depend on Israel's consent, then they are condemned to live without rights, without security, and without peace.

Of course, recognition alone will not end the war. It will not bring back the thousands of lives lost since. It will not resolve the deep divisions within Palestinian politics or answer the question of who might govern Gaza after the guns fall silent. Yet it does change the diplomatic calculus. By acknowledging Palestinian statehood, major Western powers are signaling that the international community can no longer be hostage to Israeli intransigence or American hesitation.

The United States has criticized the moves as“performative.” But there is nothing performative about giving a people brutalized by occupation and war the recognition they deserve. If anything, it is Washington's own failure to move beyond tired formulas that has left the Middle East in its darkest chapter in decades.

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