The West's hollow discourse about a Palestinian State

by Nabil Al-Sahli

A view of the Ramallah Municipality Building as the building adorned with flags of Spain, Ireland and Norway to express their gratitude following the countries formally recognise the State of Palestine, in Ramallah, West Bank on May 24, 2024 [Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency]

Spain, Ireland, Norway, and Slovenia have finally officially recognised the State of Palestine, at a time when Israel continues to commit horrific massacres around the clock against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and to silence people inside the Palestinian Territories. This is at a time when Western discourse about establishing a Palestinian State is repeated, but without any real or effective pressure on Israel.

Core issues

There is frequent Western talk about the importance of establishing a Palestinian State by the Biden administration and the European Union, but this remains within the framework of media displays. This was accompanied by Israeli statements from both the political and military levels, completely rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian State and, at the same time, calling for the displacement of Palestinians outside their homeland, Palestine. This is the main goal of the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.

Observers will notice that there is great agreement between all Israeli political factions on resolving the fundamental Palestinian issues, as all Israeli parties, across the spectrum, always stress that the refugee issue must be resolved through settling the refugees in host countries, and thus not accepting the principle of the Right of Return according to UN General Assembly resolution No. 194.

Settlement activity

These parties believe that Jerusalem, both its eastern and western parts, must remain the unified and eternal capital of Israel, and they emphasise the legitimacy of settlement activity in the West Bank and Jerusalem. The parties insist on absolute Israeli control over the borders up to Jordan from the east, as well as maintaining control over Palestinian water sources.

The document signed in 1996 between the Labour and Likud parties may be indicative of the aforementioned Israeli visions and perceptions regarding the core Palestinian issues. In the same context, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, always addresses the most important issues that emerged with the appearance of the Palestinian issue and, up until this moment, he emphasises Israel’s usual constants regarding those issues, as there is an Israeli consensus on them among the Israeli parties, regardless of their classifications. In the case of the most prominent issue, the issue of Palestinian refugees, these parties stress that it must be resolved outside of Israel and, therefore, it does not bear any political or legal responsibility for that issue and its repercussions.

Regarding the establishment of a Palestinian State, Netanyahu referred years ago to a demilitarised Palestinian State that recognises the Jewishness of Israel, but without specifying its geographical framework. Then he stopped negotiations with the Palestinian Authority under the pretext of the absence of a Palestinian negotiator and has been supported by the American administration at all levels.

Rejecting the principle of a State

At a time when Israel continues its genocidal operations against the Palestinian people, Netanyahu rejects the principle of establishing a Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with Jerusalem as its capital, ignoring Western discourse about the importance of its establishment. Consequently, Netanyahu stresses in his repeated speeches one of the constants of Israeli political discourse related to keeping unified Jerusalem, including both its occupied eastern and western parts, as the eternal and unified capital of Israel.

In doing so, Netanyahu relies on facts that Israeli institutions and ministries are trying to impose on the ground in the city of Jerusalem for the purpose of Judaising and seizing it. This was accompanied by persistent Israeli attempts, the chapters of which we are still witnessing, to Judaise the old Arab neighbourhoods through the daily issuances of notices to demolish Arab homes, expel them and taking control of the remaining Arab properties and shops, along with an increase in the pace of settlement activity deep in the West Bank. There is an Israeli consensus on expanding outposts and building new settlements.

We are certain that the Israeli consensus on core Palestinian issues makes the repeated discourse by the Biden administration and some European Union countries about the possibility of establishing a Palestinian State mere nonsense and hollow.