{"id":2883,"date":"2025-09-26T10:35:42","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T10:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/?p=2883"},"modified":"2025-09-26T10:35:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T10:35:43","slug":"recognising-palestine-is-just-a-way-to-save-face-for-western-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/2025\/09\/26\/recognising-palestine-is-just-a-way-to-save-face-for-western-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Recognising Palestine is just a way to \u2018save face\u2019 for Western leaders!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Is recognising Palestine a way to \u2018save face\u2019 for Western leaders?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

While a historic decision, Western states\u2019 recognition of Palestine needs to come with more action, analysts say.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses a press conference on Australia formally recognising the state of Palestine on Sunday, outside UN headquarters in New York, USA [Lukas Coch\/EPA]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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By\u00a0Justin Salhani<\/a> Published On 21 Sep 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia have recognised Palestinian statehood, a symbolic response to Israel\u2019s ongoing war on Gaza and territorial expansion in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More states, including France and Portugal, are expected to recognise Palestine in the coming days after the announcements on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly before the announcement, Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesperson for Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the PM had called the act \u201cabsurd and simply a reward for terrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At an event in occupied East Jerusalem on September 15, Netanyahu promised his supporters<\/a> that there \u201cwill be no Palestinian state\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this act by the three states \u2013 Canada, the UK and Australia \u2013 grabbed the world\u2019s attention and many headlines, analysts tell Al Jazeera that it is a small, symbolic step in the ongoing indignity, murder and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, albeit it one with some weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRecognition matters in this case because close US allies have so far reserved it until the day after a negotiated agreement,\u201d Rida Abu Rass, a Palestinian political scientist, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt matters because these countries broke ranks. In terms of its impact, Israel finds itself further isolated, and I think that\u2019s meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the same day as recognition was announced, at least 55 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza on Sunday. At least 37 of them were killed in Gaza City, where the Israeli army has unleashed another brutal campaign<\/a> of violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Performative recognition?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Analysts have expressed scepticism that recognition might improve the material conditions of Palestinians currently suffering under Israeli aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel has killed at least 65,283 people and wounded 166,575 in its war on Gaza since October 2023; figures that are thought by many experts to be much higher. During the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel, 1,139 people died, and another 200 or so were taken captive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military and violent settler attacks have killed more than 1,000 people, as the Israeli government threatens to completely annex the entire territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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European solidarity with Palestine has boomed among constituents, analysts say. Here, protesters march in Vienna on September 20, 2025 [AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Israel\u2019s war, which both Israeli and international experts<\/a> and human rights groups<\/a> call a genocide, is not expected to subside after Sunday\u2019s actions, analysts said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs long as it doesn\u2019t come with concrete actions, such as sanctions, arms embargo, and the implementation of a no-fly zone in occupied Palestine with a coalition of forces from the international community to alleviate the suffering of the people, I remain pessimistic,\u201d Chris Osieck, a freelance researcher who has contributed to investigations from Forensic Architecture and Bellingcat on Palestine and Israel, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told<\/a> Al Jazeera that the move is mainly performative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re under increasing pressure from the international community and also from their local populations to do something,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is, I think, their way of doing something or saying that they did something without actually taking substantive action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pressure is increasing on European countries and the UK to take action, including possible sanctions [Burak Bir\/Anadolu via Getty Images]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Still, recognition does mean that the three countries can now enter into treaties with the Palestinian government and can name full ambassadors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For its part, the UK will recognise Husam Zomlot as the Palestinian ambassador to the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zomlot said in a statement that the \u201clong-overdue recognition marks an end to Britain\u2019s denial of the Palestinian people\u2019s inalienable right to self-determination, freedom and independence in our homeland\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt marks an irreversible step towards justice, peace and the correction of historic wrongs, including Britain\u2019s colonial legacy, the Balfour Declaration and its role in the dispossession of the Palestinian people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joining international organisations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Much of the world already recognises the State of Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recent additions mean that only the United States, a handful of European and Baltic states, South Korea, Japan, and a few other states do not recognise Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, even with most of the world on board with Palestinian statehood, the country is still not a full member state of the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Recognition] brings no new UN privileges, nor does it enable Palestine to become a member of new intergovernmental institutions \u2013 not without US support,\u201d Abu Rass said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPalestine is currently a \u2018non-member observer state\u2019,\u201d he explained. \u201cTo become a full member would require the recommendation of the UN Security Council [followed by UN General Assembly vote] \u2013 unlikely, to say the least, given US veto powers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, it could be a first step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International pressure has intensified on Israel to end its war on Gaza, particularly from Europe. Boycott campaigns are gaining momentum that could see Israel expelled from Eurovision<\/a> and participation in international sporting competitions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the European Union has recently discussed<\/a> increasing tariffs on some Israeli goods and applying sanctions to some Israeli leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRecognition has no direct impact on Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza, but it may signal these countries\u2019 willingness to take real measures, which would have a direct impact on Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza, such as two-way arms embargos \u2013 meaning, neither selling weapons to Israel, nor buying weapons from Israeli manufacturers,\u201d Abu Rass said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaders \u2018saving face\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Analysts told Al Jazeera they believe some Western states, despite discussing Palestinian recognition for months, are taking the step as a punishment for Israel\u2019s aggression on Gaza and the occupied West Bank. This is bolstered by conditional support for statehood expressed by some states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say that these leaders are responding to myriad domestic pressures in their own countries, including pressure from pro-Israel groups with ties to establishment parties, at the same time that a growing chorus of constituents is calling for state action and penalties to stop genocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is happening now because of growing domestic pressures on these centre-left governments,\u201d Abu Rass said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing changed, per se [but] what we\u2019re seeing is a slow, cumulative reaction to a low simmer \u2013 a growing liberal disaffection \u2013 and these steps should be seen as a low-cost way to satisfy constituents\u2019 demands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re saving face,\u201d Abu Rass added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July, the UK\u2019s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would recognise Palestine unless Israel took \u201csubstantive steps\u201d to end its war on Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, Starmer reiterated that recognition comes as a response to the political realities in Israel and Palestine today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is intended to further that cause,\u201d Starmer said on Sunday. \u201cIt\u2019s done now because I\u2019m particularly concerned that the idea of a two-state solution is reducing and feels further away today than it has for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia also made its recognition conditional, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying: \u201cFurther steps, including the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of embassies, will be considered as the Palestinian Authority makes further progress on commitments to reform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A special burden<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One hundred and eight years ago, the British government signed the Balfour Declaration, declaring its support for a \u201cnational home for the Jewish people\u201d in the land of Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United Kingdom has been a historical ally for the state of Israel against the Palestinians, so recognition of the state is also, to some, a recognition of the UK\u2019s complicity in the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBritain bears a special burden of responsibility to support the two-state solution,\u201d UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said during a speech at the UN in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the historic symbolism, analysts were not convinced that the future would break from the last 100 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven if Palestine is recognised by every country in the world, little would change for Palestinians unless the Israeli occupation is dismantled,\u201d Abu Rass said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInternational pressure has a role to play here, but it needs to move further than mere recognition, including sanctions, cutting diplomatic ties, the prosecution of war criminals, and cultural boycotts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is recognising Palestine a way to \u2018save face\u2019 for Western leaders? While a historic decision, Western states\u2019 recognition of Palestine needs to come with more action, analysts say. By\u00a0Justin Salhani Published On 21 Sep 2025 Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia have recognised Palestinian statehood, a symbolic response to Israel\u2019s ongoing war on Gaza and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6,2,10,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-history","category-international-news","category-news","category-science-it-ai-military-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2883"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2885,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2883\/revisions\/2885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}