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SvennoJ on 22 May 2024
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Road to Palestinian statehood

  • On November 15, 1988, the Palestine National Council declared its independence at a meeting in Algeria.
  • The same day, Algeria became the first country to recognise Palestine as an independent state.
  • Weeks later, dozens of countries, including much of the Arab world, most of Africa, Asia and several Eastern European countries followed suit.
  • The next wave of recognitions came in late 2010 and early 2011 when a host of South American states, including Argentina, Brazil and Chile, recognised Palestine.

Move to recognise Palestine is ‘significant’

Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays says the move by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognise the state of Palestine is significant for two reasons: “momentum and timing”.

He said the move could lead to other European countries joining in, pointing to Slovenia and Malta, who both sit on the UN Security Council.

“We know their position very clearly, and that those two look like they are probably going to be among the next countries to recognise Palestine,” he said.

Bays added that the timing of the announcements by Ireland, Norway and Spain is significant due to what is happening at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“Just look at the week that Prime Minister Netanyahu has had,” he said, referring to ICC prosecutor’s announcement that he was seeking an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and the ICJ hearings on South Africa’s request for a ruling to stop the Rafah offensive.

“I suspect everything that’s going on at the ICC with regard to these state recognitions is a political context for those judges as they make their deliberation. So, there could be further bad news for Israel down the line and certainly this is the day Israel looks more isolated than it has for some time.”

However the move by Norway, Ireland and Spain will have little practical effect on the everyday life of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory and Gaza, but it holds important political and symbolic weight.

  • It signals the recognition of the Palestinian right to sovereignty over the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
  • Palestinians and international human rights organisations argue that it is crucial to secure more avenues in which to hold the Israeli authorities accountable.
  • Diplomats can use recognition to revive the “two-state solution”. Today, the Norwegian prime minister said he hoped recognition would give the two-state solution “renewed momentum”.

Jordan welcomes recognition of Palestinian state

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi posted on X that the country “values the decision” by Norway, Spain and Ireland as a “key step towards peace”.