The Global South must demand more than symbolic recognition for Palestine

The dust rising from the rubble of Gaza has begun to settle in the Western power corridors. Ina move that sent diplomatic shockwaves, the UK, Canada and Australia—core members of the US-led alliance and traditional shields for Israel—announced their recognition of Palestinian statehood. Portugal soon followed. The headlines bloomed with a sense of historic shift, a long-overdue correction. But from the perspective of the Global South, particularly for nations like Bangladesh that have long stood in solidarity with Palestine, this moment demands a clear-eyed and critical interrogation.

- BY ZAKIR KIBRIA

For decades, the Palestinian struggle was relegated to the margins of Western diplomatic seriousness, often framed as a complex conflict rather than a straightforward case of colonial displacement and occupation. Nations in the Global South, many of whom won their own independence from colonial masters, saw through this obfuscation. They recognised Palestine decades ago not as a bargaining chip but as an inalienable right. This latest wave of recognition from powerful Western states is, in one sense, a stunning admission that the Global South was right all along. It is a testament to the unyielding power of global public opinion, forged in the horror of over 60,000 deaths in Gaza (since October 7, 2023) and the relentless witnessing of a genocide live-streamed in real time.

These recognitions are a significant diplomatic defeat for Israel and its chief patron, the US. They formally legitimise the Palestinian right to self-determination on the pre-1967 borders and make it impossible to dismiss their aspirations as illegitimate. They are, undeniably, a symbolic victory wrested from the jaws of unimaginable suffering.

Yet, symbolism is the currency of the powerful when they wish to appear moral without incurring any cost. We must see this move for what it is not. It has not stopped the bombs. It has not lifted the siege of Gaza. It does not dismantle a single illegal settlement in the West Bank. The Israeli government has already dismissed these recognitions as irrelevant, and they are correct in one chilling aspect: on the ground, nothing changes—the military occupation, the apartheid system, the relentless expansion of settlements.