Independent Palestinian state: myth or reality

The dream of a Palestinian state faces daunting challenges from internal divisions and global geopolitics.

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The extraordinary Arab-Muslim summit held in the Saudi capital Riyadh last week issued a joint statement which called for "providing all forms of political and diplomatic support to the Palestinian people and to the State of Palestine for achieving Palestinian national unity, and for its effective assumption of its responsibilities over all the occupied Palestinian territories, including Gaza Strip, unifying it with the West Bank, including the city of Jerusalem." The statement also "reaffirmed the full sovereignty of the State of Palestine over occupied East Al-Quds, the eternal capital of Palestine, and rejects any Israeli decisions or measures aimed at Judaizing it and consolidating its colonial occupation of the city."

The myth or reality of the Palestinian state is not a new debate. When the Arab-Muslim summit adhered to its commitment to a viable state of Palestine it was immediately rejected by the Israeli Foreign Minister. Even a makeshift Palestinian state composed of a Hamas-run Gaza Strip and a PLO-administered West Bank littered with hundreds of Jewish settlements is not acceptable to Israel. There was a time when - on November 13, 1974 - PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat got a standing ovation as he addressed the UN General Assembly in which he called for the establishment of a Palestinian State in which Muslims, Christians and Jews will live in justice, equality and fraternity. After 50 years, the steady erosion of the demand for an independent Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital is a stark reality.

In retrospect, the 1947 UN partition plan called for two states in Palestine: one composed of Jews and the other Arabs. In 1948, the state of Israel came into being when the UN gave it a legitimate status but the Arab state called Palestine is still not on the map of the world. Israel defeated the combined armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq during the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948 and annexed Sinai, Gaza, West Bank and Golan heights in the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967. Since then, the very idea to establish an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital is now perceived as a myth and devoid of reality. The retreat of PLO and Arab states from their drive to destroy Israel and establish a Palestinian state became a reality on September 13, 1993 when PLO and Israel signed a peace treaty granting legitimate recognition to each other. The Oslo Accords committed permitted autonomy to Gaza and West Bank pending the formation of an independent Palestinian state, return of refugees and the status of East Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, following the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli Prime Minister who had his famous handshake with Arafat over the US-mediated Oslo Accords in the lawns of White House on September 13, 1993, the Likud party government led by Benjamin Netanyahu reneged from the Oslo Accords and ruled out a Palestinian state. The Jewish state violated the UNSC resolutions by shifting capital from Tel Aviv to East Jerusalem and allowed hundreds of settlements in the West Bank, thus altering the demographic complexion. Now, after almost 80 years, an Arab-Muslim summit is calling for an independent Palestinian state. However, not only has Israel rejected the call, but its neighbours too lack the political will or capability to achieve what is mentioned in the final statement of the Arab-Islamic summit. By merely holding a get together or arranging photo sessions, the hard task of establishing a viable Palestinian state cannot be accomplished particularly when Hamas and PLO are unable to mend fences and the geographical distance between Gaza and West Bank cannot be bridged amid hundreds of Jewish settlements which tend to alter demographic complexion. When Palestinians have lost their majority in the occupied West Bank and Gaza is almost destroyed because of a year-long Israeli bombardment, the myth to establish an independent and a viable Palestinian state is reinforced.

The reason why a Palestinian state has turned out to be a myth needs to be analysed from three standpoints.

First, the Arab-Muslim summit was held in the backdrop of a landslide victory by Donald Trump in the November 5 American Presidential Election. The expectations of Arab-Muslim voters in the US from Trump that he will strive for peace in the Middle East are nothing but a fallacy. It was during Trump's first tenure as president that the US shifted its embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem; endorsed Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank; and recognised the Israeli occupation of Golan Heights. All these steps came in violation of the UNSC resolutions. In fact, an age-old nexus between Trump and Netanyahu will further galvanise American support for Israel. During his first term, Trump was instrumental in getting the Abraham Accord signed between Israel and Arab states like the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco which helped broaden diplomatic legitimacy of the Jewish state in the Arab world. Had Hamas not carried out the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Saudi Arabia was in the process of granting recognition to Israel. Expecting Trump to compel Israel for cessation of hostilities in Gaza and abandoning its settlements in the occupied West Bank is a pipedream.

Second, more than Israel, enormous damage has been done to the demand of an independent Palestinian state. More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 8, 2023 but the Muslim world has not rendered any substantial help. Mere statements and summits cannot help a Palestinian state take a practical shape. Rather the hypocrisy of Muslim world will further strengthen the will of Israel to sustain its brutalities in Gaza, West Bank and Lebanon. It means the rhetoric of supporting an independent Palestinian state will further damage the prospects for which the UN in 1947 came up with a partition plan recommending a Jewish and a Arab state in Palestine. In 1917 at the time of the Balfour Declaration which ultimately led to the creation of Israel in 1948, Jews only accounted for 7% of the Palestine population. Now, Palestinians do not matter for Israel and it wants them to migrate to Jordan and other countries as the Jewish state pursues its dream of a permanent hold over the West Bank.

Finally, neither the Arab League nor the OIC has done anything concrete for an independent Palestinian State to come into being. The US, which called for a two-state solution, is receding from its position. Under the circumstances, a Palestinian State looks more of a myth than a reality.