The West was forced to acknowledge the truth: Palestine is now almost on par with Israel

Within just 24 hours, ten countries recognized the State of Palestine, three of them members of the G7. This marks a significant turning point in Palestinian history. The list includes some of the world’s most powerful nations. On September 21, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Portugal recognized Palestine, followed by France, Belgium, Andorra, Luxembourg, Malta, and San Marino on September 22. In doing so, they ended 80 years of injustice in their own way. As a result, the number of countries recognizing Palestine jumped from 147 to 157 in a single moment. Now, in terms of international recognition, Palestine lags only slightly behind Israel; the difference is almost negligible. The Jewish state is currently recognized by 163 countries, meaning the gap between the two is now just six. Before Israel’s offensive in Gaza began, the difference was much larger. However, historical decisions, increasingly unfavorable to the ’’killers of children’’ soon followed. Spain, Ireland, and Norway were among the first to take this step. Later that same year, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, Slovenia, and Armenia also recognized Palestine. A year later, this trend continues at a conference organized by Saudi Arabia and France.

Britain corrects its historic mistake

One particularly significant development is that the United Kingdom — the main architect of the 80 years of injustice against Palestine — was among the first to follow France’s lead. Until the 1990s, London played the key role in this process, after which Washington assumed that position and continues to do so today. The roots of the conflict go back to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. After World War I, the empire fell and its territories were divided among the victorious coalition powers. Shortly before that, Britain’s Foreign Office issued the “Balfour Declaration,” announcing its support for the creation of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. At the time, London was supposed to protect the rights of the Arab population as well, but that never happened. Between 1920 and 1940, Britain pretended to limit Jewish immigration in an attempt to appease Palestinians, but the flow of refugees from Europe never stopped.

By 1947, decisions that neither the past nor the future could forgive were being made. The newly established United Nations adopted Resolution 181, ending Britain’s mandate over Palestine. According to the resolution, two independent states — one Jewish and one Arab — were to be established in the territory. At the time, Arabs made up nearly 65 percent of the population, Jews about 30 percent, and other groups around 5 percent. Despite this, Arabs were allocated only 42 percent of the land, while Jews received 56 percent. The remaining 2 percent — Jerusalem, sacred to all three major religions — was given a special international status. Shortly thereafter, in May 1948, the State of Israel was established. In 1949, it was recognized by most countries and admitted to the UN as its 59th member. Palestine, however, was openly blocked from joining, and that situation persists today. Several applications for full membership and resolutions supporting its admission have been vetoed by the United States. To make matters worse, following the Arab-Israeli wars after Israel’s creation, the Jewish state expanded its territory, seizing nearly all the land originally allocated to Palestinians under Resolution 181 — and this process continues to this day.

The United States continues to resist

For a long time, Palestine existed without political institutions or internationally recognized leadership, largely due to U.S. influence. Only in 1964 was the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) established, becoming the main political body representing Palestinian interests. In 1974, the PLO adopted a program that included the possibility of recognizing Israel. That same year, it was recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by Arab countries and later by the UN. The PLO was granted observer status as a non-member entity at the UN.

In November 1988, Palestinians declared the establishment of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital. This decision was symbolic, as the PLO controlled no territory. Nevertheless, more than 80 countries soon recognized Palestine as a state. Algeria was the first, doing so on November 15, 1988. Soon after, all Arab states, more than 30 African countries, Asian nations, many socialist states, and post-Soviet countries — including Uzbekistan — followed suit. Uzbekistan and Palestine established diplomatic relations on September 25, 1994. At that time, Tashkent also maintained strong relations with Israel, and even a meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and Islam Karimov was organized.

In the early 21st century, recognition of Palestine spread to Latin America. Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Chile joined the movement for justice in the Middle East. This paved the way for Palestine to apply for UN membership, which it did in 2011. However, it failed to gain enough support in the Security Council because among the five permanent members — responsible for global peace and security — was the United States, which opposed it and vetoed the resolution, as expected.

In April 2024, the Security Council revisited the issue, but the U.S. again used its veto to block it. Notably, on November 29, 2012, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution granting Palestine non-member observer state status. A total of 138 countries supported it, 41 abstained, and 9 — including the U.S. and Israel — opposed it. By this time, Palestinian self-governing institutions had formed, and the Palestinian National Authority was established with Ramallah as its provisional capital. From January 2013 onward, official documents began using the name “State of Palestine,” and the head of the Palestinian National Authority became known as the President of the State of Palestine. After Yasser Arafat’s death in 2004, Mahmoud Abbas assumed the position. However, he is considered the weakest leader in Palestinian history, with severely limited powers and capabilities.

Today, Washington continues to use every means to prevent Palestine from becoming a full subject of international law. The presence of ultra-pro-Israel Donald Trump in power is further influencing this stance. During Joe Biden’s presidency, Mahmoud Abbas last visited the U.S. and addressed the UN General Assembly in New York. This time, however, he was denied a U.S. visa and is delivering his remarks online. Meanwhile, the Jewish lobby and ministers in Tel Aviv are exerting strong pressure on French President Emmanuel Macron. It must be acknowledged that, regardless of the motives, the Élysée Palace has played an unparalleled role in Palestine’s broad recognition. Macron and the Saudi royal family deserve to be remembered prominently in history for their efforts. Together, they are conducting a campaign against powerful Washington. Whether their actions stem from national interests or a sense of justice does not matter — objectively speaking, thanks to the efforts of France and Saudi Arabia, ten countries recognized Palestine within just 24 hours.

Returning to the earlier point about the level of recognition of Israel and Palestine now being nearly equal, it can now be confidently said that almost all major powers have recognized Palestine. Some may argue that the U.S. and other G7 countries have not, but China, France (Europe’s leading power), the United Kingdom, Canada, and powerful monarchies have done so. Are these not powerful countries? Is this not enough? Moreover, Israel itself faces serious issues, as several major powers — including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar — have not recognized it. One is militarily powerful, another economically wealthy and highly influential. Therefore, it is now safe to say, without hesitation, that Israel and Palestine are on equal footing in this regard.

France stuns the U.S. and Israel

Let us now turn to the events of the recent conference on Palestine held shortly before the main session of the UN General Assembly. On September 22 in New York, French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at UN headquarters, announced that France officially recognizes Palestine as a state. He also stressed that it is time to free the 48 hostages held by Hamas, stop the war and bombings in Gaza, end mass killings, and halt the forced displacement of civilians. Macron is on the verge of making decisions that could leave the U.S. and Israel stunned. The French leader pledged that Europe would act together to ensure Palestine’s security, create security forces for it, and provide comprehensive support — an unexpected move. It is not hard to imagine the reaction in Washington and Tel Aviv following Macron’s statement.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, called on other countries to take the historic step of recognizing Palestine. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who traveled to the U.S. to deliver a scathing speech at the UN, had his microphone cut off mid-speech as he criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza during the conference. While speaking at a high-level international conference on “Finding a Solution to the Palestinian Problem and Implementing the Two-State Solution,” his microphone was cut at 4 minutes and 48 seconds. Unaware that his voice was no longer being recorded, the president continued speaking for about another minute. Turkey’s Communications Directorate later explained that speeches by heads of state and government were limited to five minutes, while other speakers were given three, and that the microphone was automatically turned off at the five-minute mark. However, the content of Erdoğan’s speech suggests that his microphone was cut off immediately after he began describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide — and, tellingly, he still had 12 seconds remaining.