Support of European trio augurs well for Palestine
PALESTINE’s quest for statehood began in November 1988, when the Palestine Liberation Organisation, then in exile, declared the establishment of the ‘state of Palestine’. And it was soon recognised by a number of countries, including Egypt, Jordan and India.
Currently, 143 nations have accorded such recognition, though there is no tangible, consensual territoriality to the state of Palestine. This goal remains the Holy Grail for the oldest inhabitants of the Holy Land, and this is a contested and unresolved claim between Arabs and Zionists. Citizens of the former British-mandated territory, identified as Palestinians, are now dispossessed and on the brink of mass starvation and deprivation, following the disproportionate war of reprisal unleashed by Israel after the dastardly October 7 Hamas terror attack.
The quest for statehood will receive a significant symbolic boost on May 28, when three European nations — Ireland, Norway and Spain — formally accord recognition to Palestine. Most of the countries that have accorded such recognition are part of the Global South, and not the US and other G7 nations.
Given that the Israel-Palestine matter is a complex and intensely contested political issue, few nations in Europe wanted to antagonise the US, and it was only Sweden that recognised Palestine despite being an EU member. The other seven European nations — Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greek Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia — did so just before joining the EU.
Thus, the addition of three major European nations, albeit symbolic, is significant and will strengthen the Palestinian quest at this critical and tragic juncture. The political symbolism of Ireland, Norway and Spain breaking away from the US/G7 position on recognising Palestine has the potential to be substantive, and this will be shaped by the domestic politics of certain countries, particularly the US, France, Germany and Israel.
Ireland, Norway and Spain are expected to be joined by a few other European nations, and Britain and Malta have indicated that they will do so when the conditions are ‘right’.
Ironically, the October 7 Hamas attack has served to focus global attention on the long-neglected issue of statehood for Palestine. In the last few months, as the scale of destruction in Gaza-Rafah and the number of total deaths have mounted (it is now over 36,000), Israel has become increasingly isolated, even though it continues to receive critical US support by way of weapons and funds.
Israel and its top political leadership are under the scanner of the ICC (International Criminal Court) and the ICJ (International Court of Justice), and the decision of the three European nations will only add to the discomfiture of Tel Aviv.
The European trio is to be commended for taking this political decision — and while this one initiative will not end the violence in Gaza-Rafah anytime soon — it may act as a catalyst to energise the constituencies that are seeking to prevail upon the US and, through it, Israel, to agree to a ceasefire followed by negotiations.
The historical context that has encouraged the three European nations to empathise with Palestine merits recall. Ireland, with its record as an oppressed colony and its experience of the British jackboot, has traditionally been a supporter of the Palestine cause. Since October 7, Irish political leaders have been the most vocal in calling out Israel for its many genocidal transgressions and have reiterated their support for any effort that would advance the two-state solution. They noted that it was the only means for the two nations (Israel and Palestine) to coexist peacefully and to put a stop to the “generational cycles of violence, retaliation and resentment”.
Having emerged from decades of dictatorship (1936-75), Spain is the new convert to the principles of liberal democracy and international law and has a long association with the Arab rulers. The 1991 Madrid Peace Conference supported by the US and Spain laid the foundation for ending the long-festering Arab-Israeli conflict. In the current context, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has asserted that his decision to recognise Palestine was born “out of moral conviction” since it is a ‘just cause’ and added that this was the ‘only way’ to achieve peace and security in the region.
Norway, with its history as a successful peace-maker in West Asia (1993 Oslo Accords), is supportive of a two-state solution in the long term. And it is evident that, currently, Oslo, Madrid and Dublin have coordinated their Palestine policy to nudge the rest of Europe to support the call for an immediate ceasefire through concrete political action.
Europe has a very nuanced position on the tangled Palestine issue. Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Paris. They issued a joint statement on Palestine. It noted: “The two heads of state called for a decisive and irreversible relaunch of a political process to concretely implement the two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security, both with Jerusalem as their capital, and the establishment of a viable, independent and sovereign state of Palestine based on the 1967 borders and reaffirmed their commitment to this solution, which is the only way to meet the legitimate aspirations of the Israeli and Palestinian people for lasting peace and security.”
China has emerged as an effective interlocutor in West Asia since its 2023 success in enabling an unexpected Saudi Arabia-Iran rapprochement, and this was the result of decades of quiet and sustained diplomacy devoid of any grandstanding. Beijing appointed its first special envoy for West Asia in 2002, and since then, Chinese diplomatic investment in the region has been unbroken. There is a cue here for India.
If the Palestine issue remains deadlocked in the UN Security Council because of a US veto, the BRICS summit being hosted by Russia in October this year could provide a forum for some innovative political rewiring. Case for Madrid 2.0 under BRICS auspices?
