Last week, 10 countries officially recognized Palestine as a sovereign state. The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Portugal all announced the recognition of a Palestinian state on the 21st of September. With France, Luxembourg, Malta, and Monaco following suit the next day at the United Nations annual General Assembly. Alongside the second group, Belgium stated that they would only recognize Palestine if specific terms are met. Those terms include the disarmament and removal of Hamas, the release of all Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7th. Andorra has also communicated the same conditions to formally recognize Palestine. Belgian PM, Bart De Wever has made it clear that the conditions are to ensure that recognition “cannot be a reward for Hamas.” Furthermore, De Wever called for Arab states to recognize the state of Israel.
In addition to Belgium’s step forward toward state recognition, Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Prévot, announced that 12 sanctions would be imposed toward Israel. Sanctions include banning imports from Israeli-occupied settlements, restricting consular aid to Belgian settlers in illegal settlements, and listing two extremist Israeli ministers as Persona Non Grata in Belgium. While the two ministers were not explicitly named, it is assumed that they are Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, as they have also been banned in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom after being accused of inciting violence towards Palestinians in the West Bank.
Critics have been vocal about state recognition as “too little, too late.” Palestinian researcher and visiting fellow at the European Council of Foreign Relations, Muhammad Shehada has found several flaws in the Belgian position, stating,
“It actually gives an incentive for Netanyahu to say no to a ceasefire deal or a prisoner swap deal, because if he agrees to that deal, you get a bunch of European countries recognizing Palestine.”
Prevot has addressed concerns such as these, agreeing that Palestinian recognition should be unconditional. However, he has stated that Belgium’s foreign policy has to address the five different parties of the Belgium coalition, who are “not necessarily aligned.”
Why the sudden recognition?
Palestine declared independence in 1988, where it was only recognized by 81 countries. Since then, 75 more countries have done the same, 18 of which recognized Palestine in the past two years. The reason why more and more countries are recognizing a Palestinian state is to appeal to public opinion. Protests and boycotts have demonstrated the vast amount of people who show solidarity with the Palestinian people. Governments have realized that to remain popular they have to address the demands of the people, or at the very least, appear to. Recognizing a Palestinian state gives the impression of aid, however, it does very little to change the circumstances of the Gazan population.
French PM, Emmanuel Macron, taking the lead for Palestinian recognition seems like a step forward for the EU, especially with a member as big as France. In late July he announced that the country would recognize Palestine at the UN General assembly,
““We must build the state of Palestine, ensure its viability, and ensure that by accepting its demilitarization and fully recognizing Israel, it contributes to the security of all in the Middle East. There is no alternative.”
In contrast to Belgium, France has recognized Palestine without conditions. This is to use state recognition as leverage for the disarmament of Hamas, rather than pushing Israel to put an end to the violence perpetuated against the people of Gaza. Although Belgium’s position is lacking in terms of calling for a ceasefire, the rest of Europe‘s position is not all that much better. Also taking to account the abandoning of the Global Sumud Flotilla, European countries who attempt to build a pro-Palestinian image have yet to provide true support for the Palestinians.
