The United Nations (UN) in New York has to commence again to discuss the often bloody and complex business of legal diplomacy and international politics. Foreign Ministers met at the UN headquarters to restart the political momentum towards ending the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres addressed the conference co-chaired by Foreign Ministers Jean-Noël Barrot of France and Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud of Saudi Arabia. Guterres in his address stated that the crisis was as “at breaking point”. The high-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the implementation of the Two-State Solution was underway from 28 to 30 July.
France and Saudi Arabia, co-chairs of the conference, called on all UN Member States to support a declaration urging collective action to end the war in Gaza and to achieve a just, peaceful and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution outlines political, humanitarian and security steps to be taken on a timebound and irreversible basis. The co-chairs urged countries to endorse the declaration by the end of the 79th session of the General Assembly, in early September, should they so wish. In his stark opening remarks on Monday, Secretary-General Guterres stressed that the two-State solution is the only viable path to ending the longstanding conflict and achieving lasting peace in the region, warning that there is no alternative.
“A one-State reality where Palestinians are denied equal rights and forced to live under perpetual occupation and inequality? A one-State reality where Palestinians are expelled from their land? That is not peace. That is not justice. And that is not acceptable,” he said.
Guterres is right to argue the Palestinian people have long suffered under Israeli occupation and oppression. The question remains; is the establishment of a two-state solution with the states of Israel and Palestine co-existing side by side a viable solution? The Israelis’ construction of walls and checkpoints indicate otherwise. They are turning the remaining Palestinian land into open-air prisons. Is the UN general Assembly going to compel the Zionist state to dismantle these walls and checkpoints, go back to the 1967 borders? It is telling that neither Israel nor the United States sent delegations to the UN Conference. Washington has long been faithful to Tel Aviv’s beck and call. But even now cracks are beginning to show in the relationship. France which co-chaired the Conference alongside Saudi Arabia has already chosen to give diplomatic recognition to Palestine as a state.
The United Kingdom and Canada have dropped indications that they would be doing the same. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has denounced the Israelis for opening fire on the Humanitarian workers and Palestinian civilians alike. Many in British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet have urged him to follow Paris’s example and recognize Palestinian statehood.
The deputy PM (Angela Rayner) has joined Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, and Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to urge Keir Starmer to follow France by making the move.
The UK government has previously expressed its intention to recognise Palestine as part of a larger peace initiative but insists this will happen alongside other Western nations, such as the United States. Despite this, according to the Guardian, frustration has been growing among Labour cabinet members. Last week, Streeting denounced Israel’s attacks, arguing they “go well beyond legitimate self-defence”. “I deplore Israel’s attacks on healthcare workers as well as other innocent civilians trying to access healthcare or vital aid. These actions go well beyond legitimate self-defence and undermine the prospects for peace,” he told MPs in the Commons.
“I sincerely hope that the international community can come together, as the foreign secretary has been driving towards, to make sure that we see an end of this war but also that we recognise the state of Palestine while there is a state of Palestine left to recognise.”
If London does give the Palestinian state diplomatic recognition, then that would be a blow to Israel and the regime of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. The Israelis have long since had their own hopes of gaining influence in the Middle East through the Abraham Accords. Their crowning glory would have been an economic alliance with Saudi Arabia, if Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman were to extend his country’s diplomatic recognition to the Zionist state. The Gaza war has put that on hold and opened a door for the question of the existence of Palestinian statehood to reassert itself. Now more nations are looking to balance their commitment to the two-state solution with the symbolic move to recognize a Palestinian state. At a time when the Palestinian people of the occupied territories suffer carnage and the restrictions on their lives, Israel could see itself become further isolated. (We hope).
The risk of genocide by the Israelis of the Palestinians of Gaza has led to opinion across the world being divided. At the heart of this contention are the calls to end the war in Gaza and to recognize the state of Palestine across the board. Recognition of the Palestinian territories as a state is a symbolic move that carries heavy weight. It will depend on how the conference at the UN in New York plays out and whether further international recognition will be given to a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
