Europe's Recognition of 'Palestine' Is a Cynical Joke
By David Harsanyi
Friday, August 01 2025
Every Israeli restriction on Palestinians in Gaza has been put in place to mitigate violence.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced this week that their countries would unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.
The first problem with that is "Palestine" is a fictional place. There never was any such thing.
And diplomatic recognition of it no more changes this reality than if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were to decide to recognize the archipelago of Islamic banlieues on the outskirts of Paris as an independent nation.
But what exactly are Britain and France recognizing?
Mahmoud Abbas, the dictator of the Palestinian Authority in the "West Bank," is now 89 years old. What does Macron and Starmer think will happen when he finally dies?
The best-case scenario, I suppose, is for another corrupt strongman to take over an independent "Palestine." Will these Western European leaders back an autocracy?
https://cfif.org/v/index.php/commentary/45-foreign-policy/7352-europes-recognition-of-palestine-is-a-cynical-joke
