Portugal recognises Palestinian statehood
Portugal is formally recognising Palestinian statehood, the country’s Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel has announced.
It is the fourth country today to make such a recognition after the UK, Canada and Australia.
Speaking to reporters in New York, Rangel said the recognition is “the realisation of a fundamental, constant and fundamental line of Portuguese foreign policy”.
He went on to say that “Portugal advocates the two-state solution as the only path to a just and lasting peace”. Rangel acknowledged that recognising Palestinian statehood “does not erase the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza”, where he said “a ceasefire is urgent”.
He also stressed that Hamas must release the captives remaining in Gaza and in the future “cannot have any form of control in Gaza or outside it”.
Many wondering whether recognition of a Palestinian state will help people of Gaza
These are important and powerful Western countries: Australia, a regional power; Canada and the UK are members of the G7 and the latter is also a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Remember the historic role of the UK in this. It all started with the Balfour Declaration when the UK said that there could be a home for Jewish people in Palestine, and then the UK controlled Palestine as a British mandate for about 30 years.
When the Balfour Declaration was signed, the population that was Jewish in Palestine was estimated at well below 10 percent. That shows the historical sweep here.
The UK, 75 years after it recognised the State of Israel, is now recognising the State of Palestine too.
Some would say: Is this going to help the people of Gaza?
Recognition of Palestinian state ‘not going to change facts on the ground’
Simon Mabon, a professor of Middle East and international politics at Lancaster University, says the move by the UK to recognise Palestine as a state will add “symbolic diplomatic heft” to the more than 150 nations that have already done so.
“It’s not going to change the facts on the ground, it’s not going to alter Israeli actions in Gaza, it’s not going to halt Israeli settlement building in and around East Jerusalem or across the West Bank,” Mabon told Al Jazeera.
It’s also not going to affect how US President Donald Trump is thinking about the “question of Israel-Palestine and the devastation of Gaza”, Mabon said, adding that while it was “long overdue”, it is unlikely going to change anything substantive on the ground.
He also noted that there are “serious questions” about whether it is even possible to create a viable Palestinian state as illegal settlements expand and the West Bank continues to be separated from the Gaza Strip.
“It’s going to make it even more difficult, if not impossible, for people living in East Jerusalem to get to families in the West Bank – and vice versa,” Mabron said.
UK recognition of Palestinian state ‘a hollow gesture’ without concrete action: Amnesty
Amnesty International says the UK government’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state will be “a hollow gesture” unless it is matched by concrete measures to end Israel’s genocide in Gaza and decades-long occupation.
Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty’s crisis response manager, said recognition was “no doubt significant”, but warned that “words alone won’t stop the atrocities”.
He urged the UK to halt arms exports to Israel, sanction officials implicated in war crimes, end trade with settlements, push for Israel to lift the blockade on famine-stricken Gaza, and dismantle its apartheid system.
“Recognition must be tied to real accountability,” Benedict said, stressing that any political solution must be rooted in human rights and international justice.
