A Palestinian state

As elusive as peace in the region?

Despite the long decades since the Naqba (catastrophe of the Israeli occupation), the Palestinians continue to be a people without a state. Significantly, even when lawmakers in a country as significant as Britain vote in favour of recognising Palestine as a state, the move is only symbolic, and not meant to alter the government’s stance on the issue. The official stance, meanwhile, is that Britain does not recognise Palestine as a state, but could do so at any time if it believed the initiative would help peace efforts with the state of Israel.

Tel Aviv is very clear on the issue and, therefore, so are its allies and patrons, whatever symbolic gestures their lower houses of parliament present. The Israelis will not allow an official recognition. But that does not mean they are open to meaningful negotiations minus the statehood either. And to add insult to injury, Bibi Netanyahu’s government especially plays the settlement-expansion card whenever international pressure for serious talks increases. So much so that he has had a rocky relationship with Washington ever since President Obama took a stiffer line on the issue than any of his predecessors.

The Palestinians, too, should play their hand more cleverly, especially since the opposition they face is colossal. Arafat was harassed by allegations of corruption and nepotism for most of his time at the top of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). Even in its best days, when he led the resistance from Beirut, those suffering on the ground felt a feeling of betrayal as the high command apparently lived the good life in exile. And later, when the PLO was discredited, its civil war with Hamas insulted three generations of blood and tears. Meanwhile, the suffering of ordinary Palestinians has few parallels in the world. They should channelise even symbolic moves for a coordinated show at the UN, where they have found many a keen ear regarding their statehood. Issues like the two state solution, especially the status of Jerusalem, will move forward only when the international community makes a greater show of solidarity. And that consensus will only be achieved when the ordinary people of Palestine find a larger audience than their representatives have been able to win over so far. For the moment, though, few take Fatah seriously, while Hamas has been lost in regional political warfare in the wake of the Arab Spring. So the statehood remains elusive, and so does the chance for peace in the region.