Palestine Rising

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat formally proclaimed an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital on November 15th, 1988.  Arafat made that declaration in Algiers, and just a few minutes later the government of Algeria became the first to officially recognize the existence of  the new Palestinian state.   Today 142 of 193 member countries of the United Nations recognize Palestinian statehood, and by next Tuesday three more UN members - Ireland, Spain, and Norway - will officially join the majority of the world's countries in recognizing the state of Palestine.

Palestine, which has been an "observer" state at the United Nations since 2012, tried for a second time to gain full admission as a member state last month, but that move was vetoed by the United States, a close ally of Israel's that does not officially recognize Palestinian statehood.

Malta and Slovenia both say that they will recognize the state of Palestine when the time is right, and Australia and France are also talking about eventual recognition.

The Jews and the Palestinians have both suffered removal from their homelands and attempts of annihilation as a people, yet both survive.  Many see the only path to a lasting peace as being a two-state solution, a world in which there is a free and independent Israel along with a free and independent Palestine, but that cannot happen as long as both parties refuse to share in that vision and instead pursue a strategy of trying to eliminate the other.    War extends the suffering, but it will not end anything.

The world community is having its say, one country at a time.  At some point we need to start listening.