KISUMU, Kenya, September 22nd –Whether the much-talked-about Palestine statehood will this time come to fruition still remains to be seen.
The major adversary to the two-state solution proposals, Israel has vowed to oppose the idea using all means at its disposal.
Israel’s hardline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that according to the Palestinians, independence is akin to rewarding the Hamas terror organisation with a state after the October 7, 2023, attack, which killed over 1,000 Israelis and took another handful hostage.
Netanyahu is categorical that they cannot allow a Palestinian state west of the river Jordan as it is a threat to the state of Israel.
The United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have waded in by officially announcing their recognition of a Palestinian state.
Following suit, Portugal reportedly also announced that it had recognised the Palestinian state. The declarations came ahead of a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting on Monday.
British Premier Keir Starmer was the most surprising supporter of the state of Palestine, given that United States President Donald Trump had earlier visited his country.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a joint statement that they made a joint approval of the whole idea.
Incidentally, families of Israeli hostages in Gaza wrote to Starmer, expressing their disappointment in his decision and appealing to him not to take that step before all 48 remaining hostages are returned.
Israel remains opposed to recognition of a Palestinian state, especially during the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.
Meanwhile, poll reports indicate that thirteen per cent of Britons support Palestine being recognised without any conditions, 51 percent oppose recognition while Hamas still controls Gaza and has not released any hostages.
Compared to 40 percent who believe a condition for statehood should be Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire and releasing hostages.
The move is also strongly opposed by Trump, who made a state visit to the UK last week.
During his meeting with his British counterpart, Trump said he did not agree with the plan to recognise a Palestinian state.
At the same time, the Board of Deputies of British Jews on Sunday said there would be “deep dismay” at the announcement across the Jewish community.
The move, according to keen observers, appears to embolden Hamas and undermine peace efforts.
“It will prolong the suffering of Palestinians under Hamas rule, and fuel global incitement against the Jewish people.”
Recognition of a Palestinian state was lately linked to a surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes in Canada.
Husam Zomlot, Head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, welcomed the decision, terming it historic and long overdue.
“It marks an irreversible step toward justice, peace, and the correction of historic wrongs, including Britain’s colonial legacy, the Balfour Declaration, and its role in the dispossession of the Palestinian people,” he said.
The new push comes amidst a spirited campaign by the Israeli defence forces to remove Palestinians from both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank through relentless bombardments.
The push for a Palestinian state echoes the 1991 Madrid Conference and the 1993 Oslo Agreement that marked the beginning of the direct Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The Madrid Conference itself marked the first time that Israelis had sat down at a conference table with Arabs since the Geneva Conference on December 19,1973, and the first time in which all four of the frontline Arab states sat down with Israelis since the 1949 Lausanne Conference.
It was also the first-ever conference in which Palestinians formally attended as participants alongside Israelis.
The Oslo Agreement was the first bilateral Israeli-Palestinian document that laid out a process by which Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) could end decades of conflict.
Though widely hailed at the signing as offering Palestinians self-government on the path toward eventual statehood, after several decades of unabated occupation, many Palestinians see the Oslo Agreement as having done little if anything to produce the conditions under which independent Palestinian statehood, much less liberation, could be realised.
Fredrick Odiero is an experienced journalist who has written extensively for a variety of media platforms.
