France’s Recognition of the Unrecognizable

Alas! The French president has announced his intention to recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations in September, declaring, his people want peace and it is up to them to get it! Notwithstanding the man’s outsized impression of his position and his country’s influence over the situation in Gaza, the act itself will accomplish nothing other than rewarding Hamas for October 7th and its aftermath. 

As of April 2024, 140 of the 193 member states of the United Nations had recognized the State of Palestine. This regardless of the fact that there is no such state in the United Nations itself, no defined territory, no central government, no currency, no unifying national institutions and no armed forces.  These countries have recognized an entity they cannot even have normal relations with.

The first state to recognize Palestine was Algeria, in 1958, when Yasser Arafat’s PLO declared Palestinian independence in Algiers (which is not anywhere claimed to be Palestine).  The first democracy to do so was India, in 1988.  Yugoslavia was the first European country to recognize the State of Palestine but it does not exist anymore.  

Sweden, in 2014, became the first major European nation to recognize Palestine.  Neighbours declining to do so currently include Germany, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Greece and Portugal – the most prosperous democracies of that continent.

So France, with its obsolete permanent seat on the UN Security Council, will change facts on the ground no more than the 140 states which have recognized the unrecognizable before it.  These actions have in no way helped the Palestinians break free from their extremist Jihadi elements or the terrorists who rule them.  Today – and next September when the United Nations pats itself on the back for rewarding Palestinian terrorism after October 7th – the Palestinians will still be a collective of largely impoverished, divided, homeless, stateless people at the mercy of brutal dictators who use them as swords and shields in their never-ending war against Israel. This is most unfortunate for them.  

Israel, on the other hand, will continue to have a higher per capita GDP than those of France, the UK and Japan, while paling in comparison to their populations and territories.  It will continue to invest upwards of 6% in research and development relative to its GDP, doubling the OECD average and tripling the EU’s average in this regard.  Tel Aviv will continue to be a global tech giant among the nations.  And Israelis will continue to rank among the best in the world in the attainment of post-secondary degrees, population growth, happiness and freedom.  We will send experts in science and the arts to all corners of the planet and even rescue distressed people when disasters strike.  We will send more astronauts to Space, invent more of the things humanity depends on and cure more of the diseases it suffers from.   

Our army – the Israel Defence Forces – will put down its enemies, near and far and our intelligence agencies will strike fear in the hearts of all who dare harm us. Against all odds, we will develop Israel to be better and better.    

France, is a country on decline.  It will likely continue to post below-average GDP growth numbers around 0.6% compared to Israel’s 3.4%.  Its unemployment rate of 7.4% is much higher than Israel’s at 2.6%, its people are less educated and largely disillusioned. 

In May, 2024, President Macron made another statement of largesse, saying “I have a clear strategic objective: Russia cannot win in Ukraine,” Since then, France (and the rest of Europe) has allowed Russia to retain large swaths of Ukrainian territory while killing free and innocent Ukrainians every day.  His proclamations are pregnant with fantasy.   Instead of making them, Mr. Macron should deal in reality and help the Palestinians by doing everything possible to uproot their extremist terrorist leaders and expel them from the region.  

France’s recognition of the State of Palestine is a mere figment of the imagination, much like its current place in the world.  It will do nothing but appease masses of people who have no idea what this conflict is about and no genuine concern for the people who live it.