Spain, Ireland and Norway announced yesterday that they will recognize the State of Palestine diplomatically on May 28. Professor Juan Cole of the University of Michigan says in his blog Informed Comment that
this is not unprecedented in Europe or in the world. In Europe, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Iceland have all done so. Indeed, most countries recognize Palestine. The outliers were the U.S., Australia and most countries of Western Europe. Now the Western European consensus against this step is crumbling, as well.
Cole provides details about Spain’s decision. He points out that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is the Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party and the head of a left wing coalition in parliament.
He is facing vehement demands from those further to his left that he unrecognize Israel the way Colombia has over the brutal Gaza campaign, and that he stop selling Israel arms.
Cole reports that in a speech, Sanchez insisted that Spain’s decision was not “anti-Israel.”
We must say to the Palestinians that we are with them, that there is hope, and the land and identity of Palestine will continue to exist in our hearts, in international legality and in the future of a harmonious Mediterranean.
Cole explains that Madrid voted in the UN General Assembly for Palestinian admission as a member state in the United Nations.
“If Spain voted in favor of recognizing Palestine as a state with full rights in the UNO,” Sanchez said, “we must also recognize it bilaterally.”
Cole quotes Sanchez’s observation that:
The countries that believe in a rules-based international order are obliged to act in Ukraine and Palestine, without double standards, and to do everything in our power — providing humanitarian aid, assisting the displaced, and using every political avenue to say that we will not allow the two-state solution to be forcibly destroyed.
Cole says Sanchez pointed out that a two state solution requires the two parties feel themselves able to negotiate with legitimacy and must have the same status as states. The prime minister also said that
recognizing the State of Palestine is a way of enabling it to confront Hamas, which must disappear so that the Palestine Authority can rule Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem as its capital.
Cole adds that the prime minister has been “scathing” on Netanyahu’s Gaza campaign. Sanchez said it was legitimate to fight Hamas after what it did on Oct. 7, but “He doesn’t have a peace project for Palestine.” Sanchez added:
“Netanyahu generates so much rancor that the two-state solution is in danger of being made unviable.”
The present offensive “will only increase hatred by worsening security prospects for Israel and the entire region.”
Cole says Sanchez’s comments on the issue are “informed, ethical and insightful.” He quotes Sanchez saying the step was intended to push for a cease fire in Gaza.
“In a while when shelling ceases and the dust of the tanks and the destruction of buildings dissipates, we will realize that we have witnessed one of the darkest episodes of the 21st century, and I want the Spaniards to be able to say with their heads high that they were on the right side of history.”
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MAP showing countries that recognize the state of Palestine: https://www.usnews.com/news/world-report/articles/2024-05-22/map-these-countries-recognize-a-palestinian-state
UPDATE: The New York Times says more than 140 countries have recognized Palestinian statehood. “But most countries in Western Europe and the United States have not, arguing that statehood can come only through a negotiated agreement with Israel.”
The NYT quotes a statement from the Irish prime minister, who links his government’s decision to Ireland’s quest for independence from Britain. “From our own history, we know what it means: Recognition is an act of powerful political and symbolic value.”
(In March, Ireland joined South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice on grounds of commission of genocide.)
The NYT also quotes the prime minister of Norway, who has said that by offering support to Palestinians who favor democracy and a sovereign Palestine alongside Israel, Norway is hoping to break what he sees as
“a downward spiral, with militant groups like Hamas setting the agenda on the Palestinian side” and the Israeli government “establishing hundreds of thousands of settlers” on occupied land.