OPINION | Belated European recognition for Palestinian statehood is a response to popular empathy but lacks teeth

The current recognition by some G7 nations is being seen as that slender silver lining to a dark cloud which hovers in menacing manner over Palestine.

The decision taken by UK, Australia, Canada and Portugal on Sunday (September 21) to recognize a Palestinian state is a major politico-diplomatic development, even if it does not translate into any tangible humanitarian benefit for the beleaguered citizens of Gaza who are being subjected to a relentless genocidal military campaign by Israel  - as retribution for the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack.

Over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands displaced, while famine conditions have compounded the human tragedy. Israeli impunity has been openly endorsed by the US.

G7 splinters on the issue of Palestinian statehood

The UK and Canada are the first two G 7 nations to break ranks from long held positions by western / developed   nations that are aligned with that of the US. France and Belgium are expected announce their decision to also recognize Palestine soon. Many nations plan to make public their support for Palestine at the opening of the annual UN General Assembly deliberations that began on Monday (September 22).

With this new show of solidarity, it is estimated that almost 80 percent of the UN’s 193 members would have recognized Palestine and those in the minority include the US, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea, among 45  others.

Atonement for double-dealing

At a symbolic level, the current decision by major European nations led by France and UK is an atonement for the myriad injustices that have mounted since the imposition of the iniquitous Balfour Declaration of November 1917. In essence it was a statement of British support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” but couched in ambiguity, perfidy, opacity and obfuscation about the rights of the original non-Jewish inhabitants of the region.

The Palestinian issue, as it has been referred to, after the creation of Israel in 1948 has continued to remain unresolved and the citizens denied both viable statehood and the freedom that post-colonial states yearned for.

US and its European allies are not on the same page

This current surge of recognition points to a fracture in Western unity on Israel-Palestine, with Europe diverging from the US orientation.  US President Donald Trump has dismissed the European decisions as "performative" and warned that they reward terrorism. But most of the nations that have distanced themselves from the Trump position are also responding to the indignation and anguish of their own citizens over the disproportionate war of revenge that Israel is waging against Palestine -   ostensibly to punish Hamas.

While these protests are not enough to move the policy needle of most nations, they are an indication of citizen solidarity in Europe with the Palestine people and a rejection of the Israeli narrative.

Historically the Jews of Europe were tragic victims of major power   chicanery and unimaginable turpitude and the Nazi gas chambers will remain an indelible blot on the history of 20th century Europe. The vicissitudes of imperial history have left many scars but Palestine, alas, is still bearing the cross of elite machinations across continents and centuries.

Bleak future for the two-nation solution

While a two-nation formula has been advanced as the modus-vivendi for a very complex legacy of venal colonial history – it has remained a non-starter. The current recognition by some G7 nations is being seen as that slender silver lining to a dark cloud which hovers in menacing manner over Palestine.

It is unlikely that there will be any meaningful movement on the two-nation solution given that Israeli PM Netanyahu has totally rejected it but the European recognition is a modest diplomatic gain on the international stage. It enhances the legitimacy and sovereignty claims of Palestine over the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem; further, it brings back into focus  the two-state solution's viability on 1967 borders: with East Jerusalem as Palestine's capital.

However, without enforcement mechanisms, this normative goal risks remaining aspirational.

India’s surprising ambivalence

Delhi’s support for the Palestinian cause has been an integral part of Indian foreign policy. In 1974, India became the first non-Arab State to recognize the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization)  as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and the Yasser Arafat bear hug of PM Indira Gandhi at the 1983 Non-Aligned Summit in Delhi is part of Palestinian folklore. In 1988, India became one of the first countries to recognize the Palestinian State and opened its Representative Office in Gaza in 1996. This was later shifted to Ramallah in 2003.

Since the 1999 Kargil war, Israel has emerged as an important supplier of critical military inventory and related technology for India and PM Narendra Modi has prioritized the bilateral relationship with the Jewish state in a visible manner since assuming office in 2014.

Delhi has maintained a delicate balance with the Arab world and with respect to Palestine – the Indian position has been consistent. It endorsed the "New York Declaration" at a July 2025 UN conference co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, calling for a Hamas-free Palestinian state, disarmament of terror groups, hostage release, and a two-state solution. India also voted in favour alongside 141 nations on a related UNGA resolution, marking a shift from abstentions on Gaza ceasefire votes since October 2023.

But Delhi is now perceived to be less empathetic to the Palestinian cause and this is evidenced in the fact that Delhi declined to co-chair working groups at the UN conference, opting for "discussions" instead, reflecting pragmatic caution.

In contrast to citizen protests in support of Palestine across many parts of the world, the Indian government has sought to prevent any visible demonstrations that are seen to be in support of Palestine/Gaza, or castigate Israel for its genocidal excesses. This is incongruous with the traditional Indian support to the Palestinian cause - and more a reflection of the influence of domestic political compulsions and conflating this denial of natural justice to a hapless people with terrorism and their Muslim provenance.

Can the Indian state evolve a finer policy path that would ensure safeguarding the abiding national interest without shrinking citizen solidarity over an essentially humanitarian issue?