Spain, Palestine and the ‘via Dolorosa’

The imminent recognition by Spain of the Palestinian State has raised immense expectations in the Arab world, where the news has been received with euphoria, as it is perceived as a moral and human position in harmony with international law. After the Spanish Congress urged the then Government of the Popular Party, almost unanimously, to recognize Palestine as a State in 2014, the decision of the current Executive is the fruit of a significant change in the international panorama, marked by a massive wave of solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

Until Israel’s war in Gaza, the conflict in the Middle East had been relegated to the background, particularly after the 9/11 attacks and, more recently, the repercussions of the Arab Spring, which began in 2011. When If this Spanish recognition is finalized—along with that of Ireland and Norway—this May 28, this step could have a notable geopolitical impact due to its capacity to encourage other countries in the European Union and the United Nations to adopt similar measures.

In that sense, the Government of Pedro Sánchez has led an “axis of resistance” with the aim of seeking collective recognition of the Palestinian State in the EU, where an immense majority of countries have been very reluctant towards this proposal, which is not exempt from the risk of a diplomatic clash with Israel and the United States. It is difficult to believe that an Executive who was not left-wing in Spain would have ventured into that slippery terrain: the “via Dolorosa” of recognition of Palestine as a State. This difficult path can, however, position Spain as an important interlocutor in the face of a new diplomatic dynamic in that conflict. If other countries and the EU itself follow their example, Europe could play an essential role in hypothetical peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel. Brussels would thus shed its current marginal role, which reduces its role to that of a mere provider of funds.

That is precisely what a large part of the Arab elites expect: that Spain’s example will spread, not only in the EU but throughout the world. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) itself has assured that this measure “consecrates Palestine as a political reality and closes the distance towards its global recognition as a sovereign State.” Egypt has asserted, for its part, that the recognition of the Palestinian State is a strategic necessity to make the two-state solution a reality and establish the long-awaited peace in the region.

In the Arab world, they warn, however, that Spain’s purpose, no matter how noble, would be meaningless if certain conditions are not met. So that this recognition does not remain a mere gesture whose only consequence would be the elevation of the diplomatic rank of Palestinian representations abroad, it is necessary to pressure Israel to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the cessation of the occupation.

Azmi Bishara, former Arab member of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), has alluded to the minimum conditions for any international recognition of the Palestinian State. The first is that this decision must stipulate a clear delimitation of the borders of that State, the immediate cessation of the Israeli colonization policy and the withdrawal without delay from the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, including East Jerusalem. Any recognition that ignores these requirements would be perceived, Bishara stressed, as an “abortion of the struggle of the Palestinian people and of the very idea of ​​the State.”

The Palestinians should not incur the same sin of the Oslo agreements when they accepted, with a certain political naiveté, an authority without true sovereignty. For them, a recognition of their State that does not respect these minimum conditions would be null, void and categorically unacceptable. Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian delegation at the Madrid peace conference in 1991, has summarized the Palestinian position by pointing out that any pact that does not take these demands into account would be a new tragicomedy in the history of the Palestinians and a mere attempt to weaken its position and accelerate the hitherto inexorable process of normalization with Israel.

The Palestinians hope that Spain will formalize the recognition of their State on May 28, not only with the purpose of simply establishing that state entity, but with the desire that their land be projected towards a new and ambitious framework of negotiations that establishes the foundations for a just and lasting peace in the region.

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