In what the Associated Press is calling a “historic move,” three European nations announced today that they are planning to officially recognize a Palestinian state later this month. Norway was the first to pull the trigger, with its spokesperson saying there can’t be any sort of peace in the Middle East without this type of recognition. Ireland and Spain quickly followed suit, with their leaders saying they expected other European countries to do the same in the weeks to come. This will likely be seen as another case of splintering between the United States and our European allies unless Joe Biden decides to use this as an excuse to do the same thing. Of course, this is an almost entirely symbolic move carrying no real substance because the situations in Gaza and the West Bank remain essentially unchanged.
Norway, Ireland and Spain said Wednesday they are recognizing a Palestinian state in a historic move that drew condemnation from Israel and jubilation from the Palestinians. Israel immediately ordered back its ambassadors from Norway and Ireland.
It was a lightning cascade of announcements. First was Norway, whose Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said “there cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition.”
Gahr Støre said the Scandinavian country will officially recognize a Palestinian state as of May 28. “By recognizing a Palestinian state, Norway supports the Arab peace plan,” he said.
Norway’s statement proclaims that it plans to regard Palestine as “an independent state with all the rights and obligations that entails.” But what does that mean? Countries determine what rights their citizens have, but the state itself doesn’t have “rights” as such, aside from those that it can carve out for itself. As to obligations, states can voluntarily take on obligations through treaties and diplomatic agreements, but such things require negotiations and diplomacy.
Speaking of “rights and responsibilities,” one of the primary responsibilities of a state is to provide services and security to its citizens. At least in Gaza, those responsibilities should fall to Hamas, but they regularly steal all of the aid coming into the country and don’t allow it to reach the people. They leave it to Israel to supply all of the power, water, and food that the Gazans require. They are in the process of demonstrating that they are totally incapable of providing security to their own people even if they want to.
Those issues bring us back to the fundamental questions hanging over these announcements. Where is this supposed state of “Palestine” that is being recognized and what are its borders? Is it in Gaza? The West Bank? Both? And who will speak for Palestine in negotiations with these three countries? The so-called Palestinians are split into two enclaves, each with its own dysfunctional government. They have two very different philosophies and don’t agree with each other on much. I suppose Norway could hold talks with a representative of the Palestinian Authority, but they don’t speak for the people of Gaza.
Sadly, the globalists in Europe will likely jump on this bandwagon and I will predict with confidence that you’ll soon be seeing a push to admit “Palestine” to the United Nations, despite the fact that no such country actually exists. There will probably be treaties and proclamations drawn up, all to the detriment of Israel and the United States. We can only hope and pray that Joe Biden somehow finds the internal strength to resist hopping aboard this train in a desperate effort to drum up a few more votes in Michigan in November. If not, you will likely see an actual “Palestinian refugee program” coming to a neighborhood near you before very long.