Palestine: Recognition of What? And Why

Image from an artistic and cultural rally for peace against the genocide in Palestine, Mexico City, May 2025 -- ProtoplasmaKid, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

By Biljana Vankovska

The Palestinian question predates the United Nations, which is now celebrating its 80th anniversary. The roots of the Palestinian conflict lie in the deep wounds and scars inflicted across the Middle East by Western powers, and the greatest victim, of course, has been the Palestinian people. Looking back at the long history of UN resolutions—passed but never respected—feels almost pointless. From the first Nakba to the present day, Palestinians have been stuck in limbo, forced into vast concentration camps, and now subjected to open extermination under brutal conditions. And it continues, on and on.

International courts are still ‘studying’ what we all see unfolding before our eyes. But justice, as the old saying goes, is slow—though supposedly inevitable. Meanwhile, Israel wages literal wars of aggression against several states, while the United States keeps the UN hostage. Against this backdrop, we suddenly witness a wave of recognition of the Palestinian state by several Western governments. Since 7 October 2023, several smaller states have already taken this step, aiming to put symbolic pressure on the so-called international community. But now, even the UK, France, Belgium, Portugal, Canada, and Australia have joined the list.

What does this really mean for Palestinians? A state without borders. A state without sovereignty. A state where institutions—down to basic health and education—have been torn apart, especially in Gaza. A state in famine, as declared by the UN. Estimates of lives lost range from 65,000 to over half a million. Yet few dare to ask the real question: after this orgy of genocidal violence, how will a nation rise again? What trauma and lifelong consequences will generations of Palestinians face?

But let’s pause for a moment on this latest wave of ‘recognitions’. I put recognition in quotes intentionally, because these are nothing more than cynical gestures by states that continue—one way or another—to support Israel while turning a blind eye to its crimes. These governments probably want to look good to their own publics, who are increasingly tired of seeing daily images of death and are protesting more and more.

The recognition letters themselves are worth less than the paper they are printed on. For instance, the UK Prime Minister speaks of a desire for ‘close and constructive relations’ with Palestine. As long as these same states that ‘recognise’ Palestine—even if only as an abstract entity—fail to impose sanctions on Israel or make it comply with international law, including the so-called ‘responsibility to protect’, the whole act remains a sham. The dead will rest in a ‘state’. A state with more dead than alive, where all essential systems—water, healthcare, food—have been deliberately uprooted and destroyed.

Following a one-day summit hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, which focused on plans for a two-state solution to the conflict, the reactions—although welcomed with applause by the participants—nonetheless provoke a sense of nausea. For instance, one of the co-chairs, the President of France himself, declared that ‘the time for peace has come’ and that ‘nothing justifies the ongoing war in Gaza’. Any reasonable observer is aware that this is nothing more than a farce, a ritual in which Western powers attempt to wash their hands of blood, believing that such gestures will absolve them of moral and political responsibility for what has transpired not only during the past two years but over the last eighty years. To be clear, there is no need to ‘wait’ for the time of peace, because what Israel is committing is a direct violation of the Genocide Convention—long before this, decades of the worst forms of apartheid, discrimination, degradation, and denial of freedom had already unfolded—with the West serving, and continuing to serve, as a staunch supporter of Israeli policy. Furthermore, Macron cannot in good faith speak of a ‘war’ when what is at stake is the brutal deployment of overwhelming military force against a civilian population (with Hamas serving merely as a pretext), where even food and water have been weaponised. Those who now hasten to recognize a Palestinian state are, in fact, accomplices in supporting a genocidal policy, while simultaneously maintaining rhetoric about ‘friendly relations’ with Israel.

Some sports associations are considering expelling Israel from membership and banning it from major tournaments and qualifiers. Something similar happens in academia. For Russia, such measures were swift and comprehensive—and still are. For Israel… Well, we’ll see. The pace seems slower, more hesitant.

Experience teaches us to be cautious of the West—even when it comes bearing ‘gifts’. The latest wave of recognitions of Palestine is not a genuine peace initiative but rather an attempt to whitewash genocide. This is not about Palestinian self-determination. It is about further entrenching their colonial condition and delegitimising their just struggle for human dignity and the right to decide their own destiny.

Some states are so brazen in their ‘recognition’ that they attach conditions to the Palestinian side, dictating what kind of government it should have. Tragically, even some respected intellectuals, in the midst of genocide, argue that a Palestinian state should exist—but only on the condition that it be democratic, that it guarantee women’s rights, and so forth. In other words, yet another expression of Western arrogance: you may have a state, but only if we approve of it—and only under our supervision, in our own image. Palestinians are told they must disarm (of what, exactly?), while Israel remains armed to the teeth with full military supremacy.

These recognitions are not born of moral awakening; they are the product of growing grassroots protest and the heroic endurance of the Palestinian people. Yet in essence, they serve as a distraction, an effort to shift the horror of genocide onto the safer terrain of ‘political and diplomatic process’—a process largely impossible under current conditions. It is a way to control the narrative, to avoid confronting the deep colonial structures that keep Palestinians, and the entire region, in captivity. It is an attempt to ‘pacify’ the victims of genocide, while leaving Israel unpunished for its ongoing acts of genocide and aggression against its neighbors.

Those of us who were worried from day one already know: the time for symbolic gestures and condemnations has passed. What’s needed now is action. Humanitarian intervention to protect the Palestinian people. Sanctions against Israel and its leaders—economically, diplomatically, culturally, academically, and more. Today, Israel (alongside the United States) stands as the worst rogue state. In truth, it shouldn’t even be part of the United Nations, just as the United States does not deserve the privilege of hosting this global Organisation.

Palestinians are fighting for life itself. For decades, against all odds. And for that fight, we all must stand with them. History will not forgive this silence. Recognition without action and justice is betrayal. If Palestine is to survive, the world must finally draw a line—not in diplomatic ink, but through deeds.

Biljana Vankovska is a professor of political science and international relations at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, a member of the Transnational Foundation of Peace and Future Research (TFF) in Lund, Sweden, and the most influential public intellectual in Macedonia. She is a member of the No Cold War collective.

This article was produced by Globetrotter.