Three European Countries Move To Recognize Palestine

By Steven Williams

Ireland, Spain, and Norway have made moves aimed at recognizing Palestine as an independent state. The leaders of the three nations underlined in their statements that a Palestinian state was necessary and that a two-state solution was the only way to achieve peace. According to US officials, such a move is premature and ill-advised.

The recognition comes against the backdrop of a gruesome attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas on October 7th, 2023. Israel launched “Operation Iron Swords” military campaign against the militant group in the Gaza Strip. The campaign is ongoing and has claimed about 35,000 casualties on the Palestinians’ side according to the Gaza Ministry of Health which is controlled by Hamas. Hamas makes no differentiation between civilians and combatants killed in lawful military fire in its overall figures. Kenya Insights is not able to independently verify Hamas’s claims.

The Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, criticized the move to recognize an independent Palestinian state as insincere. “I have instructed the immediate recall of Israel’s ambassadors to Ireland and Norway for consultations in light of these countries’ decisions to recognize a Palestinian state. I’m sending a clear and unequivocal message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not remain silent in the face of those undermining its sovereignty and endangering its security. Today’s decision sends a message to the Palestinians and the world: Terrorism pays. After the Hamas terror organization carried out the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, after committing heinous sexual crimes witnessed by the world, these countries chose to reward Hamas and Iran by recognizing a Palestinian state. This distorted step by these countries is an injustice to the memory of the victims of 7/10, a blow to efforts to return the 128 hostages, and a boost to Hamas and Iran’s jihadists, which undermines the chance for peace and questions Israel’s right to self-defense. Israel will not remain silent – there will be further severe consequences. If Spain follows through on its intention to recognize a Palestinian state, a similar step will be taken against it. The Irish-Norwegian folly does not deter us; we are determined to achieve our goals: restoring security to our citizens, dismantling Hamas, and bringing the hostages home. There are no more just causes than these.” The minister noted in his X account.

Hamas on the other hand called on “countries around the world to recognize our legitimate national rights” and stated in a statement, “We consider this an important step towards affirming our right to our land.”

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas who has been in power for the last 20 years, hailed the move and urged other countries to follow the lead of Spain, Ireland, and Norway. The President asked other countries to “follow the example of Norway, Ireland, and Spain, which chose the path of supporting the achievement of peace and stability and consolidating the rules of international legitimacy, and international law.”.

Slovenia, Belgium and Malta are expected to follow suit in the coming days. Nine European Union nations have formally recognized Palestine as a state. Most of those took the decision in 1988 when they were part of the Soviet bloc. Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, and Slovakia are among the countries on the list. France said that it’s not a “taboo” to recognize Palestine as a state while Britain insisted, that a ceasefire must be in place first before such a move is undertaken.

Germany, a staunch Israeli ally, is ambivalent about the recognition of Palestine as a state. There is however a representative office in Ramallah and is the second largest donor to UNWRA, the Palestinian refugee agency.

Recognition of Palestine as a state is particularly controversial due to significant areas that need final resolution before such a move is undertaken. The major issues are the status of Jerusalem which is claimed by both Israel and Palestine, the borders of a modern-day state of Palestine, the settlements in the West Bank area which is known as Judea and Samaria in Israel, the rights of a Palestinian state in regard to military and airspace access and also the right of return.

The right of return is a demand that all Palestinians who ran away after war broke out between Israel and the Arab countries be allowed to return alongside their descendants. Such a move has been severely opposed by Israel.

Israel still has the upper hand in terms of diplomatic recognition boasting diplomatic recognition from 165 (or 85%) of the 193 total UN member states, and also maintains bilateral ties with all of the Permanent Five members of the UN. North Korea is the only distinct non-Arab, non-Muslim majority country that does not recognize Israel. Palestine on the other hand has recognition from 143 out of 193 UN members with 2 out 5 veto members recognizing it as well. Both Palestine and Israel recognize each other as part of the Oslo Accords Peace Process.

Kenya recognized Israel in 1963 and Palestine in 1989. In Africa, Cameroon and Eritrea have never recognized a Palestinian state. Some countries such as DRC and Rwanda did recognize Palestine in one way or the other in the past. Kenya supports a two-state solution to the conflict and has always been its position when it comes to the conflict.