Struggle for global recognition
Photo: AFP
From Palestine to Ecuador
Op-ed: South American recognition of Palestine a symptom of Israeli failure to speak clearly
We can keep the levels of anxiety down in the face of the willingness of certain South American states to recognize a Palestinian state. We’ve been there before. Words may shape one’s perception, yet hollow diplomatic declarations produce nothing.
On November 15, 1988 Arafat spoke in Algeria and declared the establishment of Palestine. For a few days it appeared to be a painful blow to Israeli policy: The declaration was embraced by most states of the world. The UN later decided to symbolically change the PLO’s name to Palestine – 104 states voted in favor, two voted against (Israel and the United States,) and the rest (36) abstained. The world that exists within the confines of the UN spoke up.
Question of Legitimacy
Country's Foreign Ministry says decision 'vindicates the valid and legitimate desire of the Palestinian people for a free and independent state'
In the past two years we are seeing a repeat performance – a struggle for global recognition. The Palestinians, who lost the violent struggle led by Arafat (the al-Aqsa Intifada) are engaged in an all-out war of legitimacy. Yet it’s important to keep in mind that this is not a struggle for the Palestinian right to statehood and recognition. It appears that on that front, ever since Netanyahu’s Bar-Ilan speech there isn’t even one state that officially objects to this.
The real struggle is over our own legitimacy and the State of Israel’s right, some 62 years after its establishment, to exist. The issue of borders is much less fundamental: It can be 1967, 1948, or any other border you come up with. This war is about the existence of the Jewish state.
Against this backdrop, anti-Israeli forces are expected to encourage the renewed recognition of a Palestinian state. At the same time, interested parties that have no interest whatsoever in Israel are expected to join in, including Latin American states that are fighting against US hegemony and small African and Asian partners that seek to connect to the axis of oil or gain solidarity with the Arab bloc.
The Ariel test case
So what does that say about our diplomatic status? Nothing. Just like in 1988, today too official recognition is not the essence, but rather, a mere symptom of the main malady: Our own stuttering in the face of the de-legitimization show we’ve been witnessing in the past decade.Under the shadow of diplomatic sensitivity and political correctness, ever since Operation Cast Lead we’ve been conducting ourselves with our hands tied behind our back every step of the way. And so, Turkey, which is engaged in a belligerent campaign against us, is met with diplomatic vigor and apologetic gestures. Meanwhile, the Palestinians, who are working against Israel in the UN, get our cooperation in other areas. Most of all, we are having trouble to openly declare the legitimacy of our life here, and later we’re surprised that other states adopt the opposite approach.
Those who seek a good example of this should look at Ariel or Gush Etzion. For years, there has been broad and rare consensus in Israel in respect to the settlement blocs. But what have we done to translate this consensus into international recognition? Nothing.
Ariel is illegitimate in the eyes of the world because it’s still illegitimate in Israel’s view. It is officially beyond our borders and is used as the creative target for boycotts by bored artists. Seemingly, both on the Left and Right there is an interest here in producing a territorial common denominator and engaging in a debate about all the rest. Yet in practice we prefer to keep quiet, as not to annoy anybody.
And in the absence of a real Israeli policy, the struggle over terminology and legitimacy is being engaged in from Palestine to Ecuador.
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