Increasing pressure on Palestine to adhere to the two-state compromise

The Vatican has added its voice to the symbolic diplomatic gestures recognising Palestine as a state. A process that was reignited last October by Sweden and encouraged by the Palestinian Authority as a means of detracting from the colonising process accelerated by Israel, the latest move has once again become mired between the usual euphoria and irritation.

Rather than an agreement benefiting Palestinians, the treaty that will be signed in the following days is another attempt at forcing Palestinians into further negotiations regarding the two-state compromise.

According to the Vatican’s Deputy Foreign Minister Monsignor Antoine Camilleri: “It would be positive if the accord could in some way help with the establishment and recognition of an independent, sovereign and democratic State of Palestine which lives in peace and security with Israel and its neighbours.”

Israel predictably lamented the Vatican’s gesture. “Israel was disappointed to hear of the Holy See’s decision to agree to the final version of the agreement with the Palestinians. This does not promote the peace process and a Palestinian return to the negotiations. Israel will study the agreement and consider its next steps accordingly.”

Hanan Ashrawi from the PLO interpreted the symbolic gestures towards Palestine as “recognition that Palestinians are acting on their commitment to the two-state solution, while Israel is deliberately destroying it.”

Pope Francis is being credited with taking a more active stance in diplomacy, particularly after his role in negotiating agreements between the US and Cuba, resulting in the release of the remaining three prisoners of the Cuban 5 in return for USAID subcontractor Alan Gross and an unidentified spy.

In 2012, the Ma’an News Agency reported that PA President Mahmoud Abbas had actually approached Cuban leader Raul Castro to secure Alan Gross’s release from Cuban jails after being asked to intervene by Gershon Baskin based upon the island’s historical ties with Palestine. On the other side of the equation, Palestinian prisoners languishing in Israeli jails have been forgotten by diplomats on all sides of the political spectrum.

As regards political endeavours in both Cuba and Palestine, Pope Francis has facilitated a process that implements imperialist dictates – in Cuba through the normalisation of relations with the US and in Palestine by adding its voice to the restrictions placed upon Palestinians to adhere to the two-state compromise as opposed to reigniting the anti-colonial struggle.

Since the symbolic recognition of Palestine is already based upon implementing acquiescence and compromise, Palestinians are unlikely to benefit from further consolidation of an elusive paradigm that has only strengthened Israel’s colonisation process while requiring Palestine to succumb to waiting and further fragmentation of territory. Ultimately, the allegedly encouraging moves are merging into Netanyahu’s statements, later retracted, rejecting the existence of a Palestinian state. As the two-state compromise is nothing more than mere political rhetoric aiming to facilitate complete colonisation, further endorsement will only render the PA even more complicit in subjugating Palestinians, as it seeks to appease the international community’s predictable belligerence through reticence to implement an ideology that sets the foundations of entire liberation.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.