The diplomatic gamble on Palestinian statehood gives Palestinians no security

After France announced its intention to recognise a Palestinian state, Israel and the US have been lobbying against the possibility. France and Saudi Arabia are due to host a summit on Palestinian statehood at the UN in June. The summit is based on UN General Assembly Resolution 79/81, and it seeks to “chart an irreversible pathway towards the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-State solution”.

The latest absurd comments came from US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. “If France is really so determined to see a Palestinian state, I’ve got a suggestion for them: Carve out a piece of the French Riviera and create a Palestinian state.” France, Huckabee said, has no right “to impose that kind of pressure on a sovereign nation”. The idea that France recognises a Palestinian state, Huckabee said, is “revolting”.

As France focuses on the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, which is the safe way for Western leaders to engage with international law violations while evading the necessity to stop Israel’s genocide, Israel’s Foreign Ministry accused Macron of waging “a crusade against the Jewish state”.

During a visit to Singapore, Macron raised the possibility of applying sanctions against Israelis if the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is not reversed. Since commencing operations, the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) has been associated with the massacres of Palestinians more than it has with actual aid.

READ: The EU’s discrepancies in humanitarian aid rhetoric

True to form, Israel has threatened annexation of the occupied West Bank if more countries recognise Palestinian state. For a government that claims to despise so-called unilateral actions, even if these actions are a result of decades of discusses and applied so belatedly that they amount to nothing more than symbolism, Israeli officials consider unilateral actions justified from their end.

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot specified that France supports a demilitarised Palestinian state. “That is in the interest of Israelis and their security,” Barrot added. “The only alternative to the permanent state of war.”

This clarification, although made several times by other Western leaders, is important. A demilitarised Palestinian state, and so far, symbolic at best and hypothetical at worst due to Israeli colonialism, would still spell no real independence from Israel.

Although Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar opposed France’s statements, saying “You will not decide for the Israelis what their interests are,” it must be said that France, like other Western countries, is looking out for Israel’s interests. If France had Palestinians’ interests at heart, it would call for decolonisation.

In this entire diplomatic debacle, Palestinians are still far removed from the equation. Huckabee’s dismissive attitude towards a Palestinian state – carve it out of the French Riviera – signals a stance that will obliterate Palestinians from any discussion of recognition. That, after all, is colonialism, refusing the colonised peoples the right to speak.

And by focusing solely on the politics between Israel, the US, and countries that might recognise a Palestinian state, Israeli demands still take precedence. Even without Israel’s threats, the fact remains that Palestinian statehood is up to negotiations between countries that support Israel in varying degrees, while Israel claimed its colonial statehood on the debris of the Palestinian Nakba. Neither Huckabee’s puerile comments, nor Macron’s renewed attempts at playing a mediating role can alter the facts. Palestinian statehood without Palestinian input will always remain hypothetical or symbolic. No wonder the world is witnessing genocide.

READ: Colonialism, dissociation and genocide

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