Palestine recognition too little too late for people of West Bank

Palestinians in Ramallah, in the Occupied West Bank, fear that recognising a Palestinian state is not enough, the BBC reported on September 23rd.

Countries including the UK and France have formally recognised a Palestinian state, but the residents of Ramallah, the de facto Palestinian capital of the Occupied West Bank, expressed concerns that the recognition is too little, too late.

The city is home to government buildings, diplomatic missions and a presidential palace.

However, many Palestinians hope that East Jerusalem will become their capital under a two-state solution, which would lead to an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

East Jerusalem is mostly cut off by Israel’s separation barrier; the Israeli government signed off on a settlement expansion plan that would undermine a Palestinian state on September 11th.

Diaa, age 23, told the BBC: “I’m really glad that there are people who can see our suffering in Palestine and understand the problems we’re going through.”

He added: “But while recognition is important, what we really need are solutions.”

For Diaa, the situation in the Occupied West Bank feels very hopeless: “People feel that the national dream is almost impossible.”

On a busy Ramallah street, Kamal Daowd echoed a similar sentiment: “Recognition is a positive after all this time.”

The 40-year-old then said: “But without international pressure, it will not be enough.”

“If recognition comes without giving us our rights,” he added, “then it’s nothing more than ink on paper”.

The decision to recognise a Palestinian state has garnered backlash from Israeli settlers living in the Occupied West Bank, such as Eda, who said: “We must do everything we can to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state, because they don’t want us, wherever we are.”

Eda continued: “We know they [the Palestinians] don’t want peace. We already tried. Now we have to build and get on with our lives.”

Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank has escalated significantly since the October 7th, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

The violence has included an attack by armed settlers on September 5th on locals, with settlers wielding knives and sticks. Residents of the Khillet al-Dabaa village in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, were left with wounds and fractures.

Settler groups also vandalised the Pine Tree Nursery between Yetma and Qabalan, an area in the north of the Occupied West Bank; trees were uprooted and equipment was damaged.

On June 14th, Israeli settlers attacked and started fires on property belonging to Palestinian residents in al-Mazra’a al-Sharqiya, east of Ramallah.

An estimated 40,000 Palestinian residents of the Occupied West Bank have been displaced from their homes due to Israel’s military operations, which have claimed to target Palestinian militants.

BBC, Maghrebi.org