The move to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state
Canada is the latest country to join the growing list of countries, great and small, who have committed themselves to support for an independent Palestine. Some of these countries have done so unequivocally, others have hedged their support with various preconditions.
The declaration by the United Kingdom, for instance, has been made with the proviso that both warring parties must accept a ceasefire and commit themselves to living peaceably, cheek by jowl, as two separate states. Hamas, they say, must release the hostages, give up its arms and undertake to play no part in the government of a future Palestine. For its part, Israel must furnish evidence, the specifics of which have yet to be defined, that it has changed its ways.
The announcement is vaunted by more enlightened countries on the list as a symbolic gesture, a morale booster for the demoralized Palestinians and a rebuke for Israel. More sinister proponents of the move see it jubilantly as one more step on the road to the extinction of the Jewish State.
Ironically, the move will be seen by Hamas as a victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. It will in no way deter them from continuing their deadly struggle. On the contrary, it will spur them on to renew it. For its part, Israel, sidelined by nations who presume to determine its future without inviting its participation, will only dig itself in more deeply to its isolationist fortification. It’s own extremists will have a field day and the Israeli people will be sucked into an even more persecuted stance in relation to the international community.
There is no equivalence in the battle between Israel and Hamas. Israel is a beleaguered nation fighting for its survival. Hamas is a terrorist movement with no goal except the annihilation of the Jewish State and its replacement by a Jihadi tyranny.
The demoralized people of Gaza have yet to realize that they have been in thrall to a cult which does not have their interests at heart. When that day dawns, a leadership might possibly emerge which will see both Hamas and the Jewish State in a different light. Talk of Palestinian statehood at this stage is both premature and counterproductive.
