Unlike the simplistic narrative of recognition, the Albanese government has attached a list of conditions to Palestine’s recognition, conditions which the Palestinian Authority (PA) has little hope of fulfilling.
What Are the Conditions?
Australia’s recognition is not a blank cheque. It comes with explicit expectations:
• The Palestinian Authority must reaffirm Israel’s right to exist.
• It must hold democratic elections, something it has avoided for almost two decades.
• It must undertake sweeping reforms in governance, finance, and education, sectors notorious for corruption and incitement.
• And critically: Hamas can have no role in any Palestinian government if recognition is to mean anything.
On paper, those restrictions look tough. In practice, however, recognition was already extended before a single one of those conditions was fulfilled. Australia has effectively put the cart before the horse rewarding the PA in the hope that they will one day behave.
Why the Silence on Conditions?
If you scanned the ABC, SBS, or most of the major newspapers, you would think Australia had just recognised Palestine unconditionally. The headlines were all designed to look like a diplomatic triumph. What was missing was the acknowledgement that this “recognition” is riddled with caveats.
Why is that important? Because it changes the story entirely. If conditions don’t have to be met first, then recognition is just a symbolic gift to the Palestinian Authority. The conditions become nothing more than polite diplomatic footnotes, quietly ignored until the next crisis erupts.
The lack of mainstream scrutiny is telling. The press is quick to criticise Israel’s democratic choices, yet it brushes past the fact that Palestinians haven’t held a national election since 2006. Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation, remains entrenched in Gaza. But apparently, those details are inconvenient for the narrative of “Australia standing up for Palestine.”
Can the U.S. Veto This Anyway?
Here’s the kicker: no matter what Australia does, recognition at the United Nations still runs into one immovable obstacle the United States. For Palestine to gain full UN member-state status, it must pass through the Security Council. The U.S. has a veto there and has consistently blocked past attempts.
So Australia’s recognition is mostly symbolic. It pleases the activist class, panders to international opinion, and costs little in Canberra. But it also risks signalling to Palestinians that they can be rewarded before they reform. That is the dangerous precedent at the heart of this decision.
Steven is an entrepreneur and an ex RNZN diver who likes travelling, renovating houses, Swiss Watches, history, chocolate art and art deco.
6 comments:
Actually it’s cost them a lot diplomatically as their biggest capable military ally is very displeased- and rightly so
None of those conditions will be met so the exercise in signalling virtue to terrorists is why it looks both so geo-politically stupid and sad at the same time.
Exactly - a tragi-farce.
Hoping against hope that our Govt will have the balls to do exactly the oppposite i.e. Palestine fulfill the conditions and then we will look at recognition. An opportunity on the world stage to not just follow the lefty sheeples but show we can think and act for ourselves.
I focus my comment on - "What are the Conditions"?
Read the list carefully.
Can I advise, these are NOT NEW, but have been placed before the PLA/PLO & Hamas - more than once and on each time, either one or all of the Palestinian Groups (mentioned) have rejected those "terms".
Also to the PLA have a Govt, was elected for a 4 year span, still in office 20 years later. Not one live in Gaza or the Left bank - residential address is Qatar.
And that is in writing, by the Western Govts who were involved and many media outlets that are not "tainted" by a socialist bias.
Do not look to the UN for confirmation, they could have/ should have resolved this conflict long ago and America knows this.
If anyone thinks that "there will be a ceasefire in Gaza" anytime soon, then you need another cup of coffee. Why?
because it is a 'determined factor', by the groups mentioned above & Iran, to remove Israel from the map.
Sound familiar - yup - Russia & Ukraine - if Russia 'wanted" a ceasefire or cessation of hostilities, then they would have done so long ago - no, like the Middle East conflict - Putin is determined to "extinguish" Ukraine.
One is a religious issue, the other is a "vendetta".
What? There are no strings attached all. The Australian government has formally recognised a sovereign state of Palestine. There are expectations, but recognition is not dependent upon them, and there is no indication at all that anything will happen if those expectations are not met. Again, there simply are no preconditions to recognition; that has happened and is complete. This column is pure gaslighting, so far as I can see.
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