The UK, Australia and Canada recognize Palestinian states
The UK, Canada and Australia officially recognized the Palestinian state, contradicting President Donald Trump’s policies.
Over the past two days, several Western countries announced they were recognizing an independent Palestinian state just weeks before the second anniversary of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
On Sunday, September 21, the UK, Canada, Australia and Portugal announced on Monday, September 22 that France will then officially recognize the Palestinian state. Belgium, Luxembourg and Malta are expected to do the same this week. Globe’s top leaders are expected to do the same this week as the ongoing issue of the Israeli Hamas War, hunger in Gaza and the push issues between several countries of two-state solutions dominate many agendas.
Palestinian territory covers the Israeli-occupied Jordan River, including East Jerusalem, which Palestinians consider to be their capital and Gaza.
These latest decisions have led to the majority of European countries, as well as many of the world’s largest Western countries, now recognizing Palestinian states. It is the meaning of recognizing this formal state and the ability to inform it that it will move forward.
What does official state mean, and what are the requirements?
Rowan Nicholson, an international law scholar at Flinders University in Australia, told USA Today in 2024 that four standards are usually needed for a region to qualify as a nation.
Nicholson said the state’s conditions are at the same time rather strict and a matter of debate.
“This standard has developed over the centuries through state practice,” said Nicholson, who has worked on the case before the International Court of Justice. “There is no single, written version of them. They are vague and open to interpretation.”
He said there are exceptions, such as when the group illegally invaded existing states and separated parts of it as Russia tried to do it with Ukraine a few years ago.
In the Palestinian context, one reason why Palestine can qualify as a nation is that it lacks effective independence from Israel, as defined by the frequently cited 1933 Treaty of Montevid and other similar formulations.
Israeli forces occupy Palestine lands. Israel oversaw several civilian aspects of life in the West Bank run by Fatah, and even before the present war, it largely dominated access to Hamaslan Gaza.
What is the importance of the nation to Palestinians?
Some countries officially recognize the other is a diplomatic and legal movement in an effective sense. It opens the door to building full diplomatic relations between two countries, which could include the establishment of embassies, foreign ambassadors, the creation of various agreements, treaties, and other forms of bilateral or multilateral cooperation.
“Regardless of whether an entity actually meets the standard or not, a recognized nation promises to treat it as a state for practical purposes,” Nicholson said.
This means that he accepts a passport, grants sovereign immunity to civil servants, and acts as if a generally recognized entity had the right to control its own territory.
Beyond diplomatic and bureaucratic meanings, perceptions can hold considerable symbolic weight. French European Foreign Minister Jean Noel Barott said his country’s decision this week was “a symbolic and immediate political decision demonstrating France’s commitment to a solution for the two states.”
“The perception of Palestinians is a categorical rejection of Hamas and its decisive isolation,” Barott told ITV News, a report from Reuters ahead of the official announcement of France.
Law scholars such as Mark Weller, chair of international law and constitutional studies at Cambridge University, told USA Today in May 2024 that “recognized countries will change their status (in Palestinian). Should Becoming a state to our entities Claim It’s a nation.”
“It makes it even more difficult for Israel to deny (Palestine) to become a state. The recognition is deliberately framed to oppose Prime Minister Netanyahu’s claim that a solution for the two states cannot exist,” he said.
How many countries recognize the Palestinian state?
According to the UN’s Western European Regional Information Center, 148 of the 193 UN member states had already recognized independent Palestine by this week. Ireland, Norway and Spain joined the list of countries supporting the state in May 2024, followed by Slovenia, Armenia and Mexico a few months later.
A recent addition on September 22 brought the number of UN member states officially announced their support for the Palestinian state to 153.
Palestine was recognized as a UN Observer state in November 2012, and in 1988 Palestine was created by the Palestinian Liberation Agency. Since then, there has been what the nation calls “waves” when the UN Centre was first established.
Palestinian national perception and the United States
The United States does not recognize the Palestinian state, and President Donald Trump is opposed to the move.
The United States was one of the first countries to recognize Israel as an independent state in 1948. It is the main supplier of Israeli weapons. American diplomats have habitually framed Israel as the only democratic and security partner in the Middle East that shares values and interests with America.
In May 2024, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring that Palestinians qualify for full UN membership status. Congress may only grant full membership with the approval of the Security Council. This is a move that the US is likely to reject.
Larry Gerber, former US committee body for the West Bank and Gaza, said last year that the US had long thought that formal recognition of the Palestinian state should only come through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
“For many years, we all operated on the theory that this should be done in stages,” Gerber said. “First, Palestine needs to build a variety of national attributes, including good governance and an effectively operated independent economy. The state will then become the ultimate goal.”
Germany and France have reflected this position in the past, but now there are no more two European powers on the same side of the issue. Germany has not recently signaled that it intends to recognize an independent Palestinian state as France has. This leaves Germany and Italy as the remaining large European countries that have not been added to the gust of EU member states’ approval.
Kathryn Palmer is a political reporter for USA Today. You can contact her kapalmer@usatoday.com And with x @Kathrynplmr.
