Abbas' manipulation of resistance in favour of compromised European recognition

According to reports by the Ma’an News Agency, PA President Mahmoud Abbas is seeking official European recognition of a Palestinian State prior to the UN General Assembly’s debate commencing on September 24. Departing from a very vague reference to “Protective Edge” and its aftermath with regards to settlement expansion, the allegedly new proposal is a recapitulation of futile diplomatic jargon that fails to address the historical process of settler-colonialism.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki is quoted in Ma’an as saying: “The world is more convinced now than ever before that Israel has been thwarting international efforts by stealing Palestinian land to build settlements, and that has created a much better atmosphere for a positive international response to Palestinian demands.”

The statement is followed by references to “occupation”, as usual divested from the settler-colonial reality in order to ensure slivers of legitimacy for Israel’s existence. Additionally, the plan is erroneously presented as a “Palestinian demand”, at a time when unified resistance has confirmed the people’s approval of entire liberation.

However, diplomatic hypocrisy remains imperative for the PA schemes within the international arena. Asking for European recognition of a Palestinian state is unlikely to go beyond the perfunctory and minimal rhetorical endorsing of the compromised two-state solution based upon the 1967 borders. Abbas’ first stop will be France, where talks are expected to be held with President Francois Hollande to push for so-called recognition – namely asking imperialist counterparts to agree with an imperialist imposition upon Palestine.

Israel National News reported Al-Maliki as saying that “European countries are gradually becoming convinced that Abbas is following the right path.” European countries have consistently singled out Abbas’ compliance as a favourable component in perpetual negotiations leading to further dissolution of Palestine. Hence, the “right path” conforms to imperialist expectations of consolidating Israel’s power base in the region, necessitating the manipulation of discourse from settler-colonialism to “occupation”, distorting liberation into a so-called “Palestinian State” dependent upon entities supporting the illegal monstrosity termed Israel, as well as the reluctance to sign the Rome Statute, in order to ensure impunity for Israel’s perpetual war crimes.

Time frames have usurped attention away from the ramifications of settler-colonial violence – an end to “occupation” within three years, according to PLO member Hanan Ashrawi. What is perceived as a diplomatic stalemate has, in reality, manifested itself as additional influence for Israel, with Abbas seeking to navigate the available international channels without prioritising a single, authentic Palestinian demand.

As expected, despite the unified approach towards resistance and liberation by Palestinians, political rhetoric seeks to confine the renewed determination to the destroyed enclave – a tactic to enforce the fragmentation of Palestinian narrative and memory. The world is already knowledgeable of the fact that Israel usurps land to complete its colonial expansion. Eliminating the ramifications of territorial expansion would render Israel a mere ideology divested of practical implications both for Palestine and imperial conquest in the Middle East. However, the PA prefers to hypocritically alter the political framework in order to promote Europe’s obvious knowledge as sentient awareness and opposition – non-existent characteristics within the imperialist support for Israel’s colonisation of Palestine.

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