On 28 May, Ireland, Norway and Spain announced They formally recognize Palestine as a state. This step was welcomed by the Palestinians and condemned by the Israeli government, which reacted with Withdraw his ambassadors from all three nations and snubbed their envoys.

Although recognition of Palestine as a state is largely a symbolic gesture, it could add to the wave of unprecedented diplomatic pressure currently being exerted on Israel over its brutal attack on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

However, there is also reason for skepticism about the extent to which this move will actually help the Palestinians.

The Palestinian-American scientist Noura Erakat has convincingly arguesThe joint gesture of Ireland, Spain and Norway is “too little and too late”.

The announcement came almost eight months after genocide in Gaza at a time when Palestinians need much more than just symbolism.

When Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Union and the United States imposed thousands of sanctions on Russian politicians, companies and banks. The sanctions included technology bans, Travel restrictionsand asset freezing, to name a few.

Much more could be done to combat Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank.

Why, for example, have Norway, Spain and the Republic of Ireland not pushed for ostracism Israel at the United Nations?

Why did Spain and Ireland not push for an EU? Arms embargo against Israel?

And why have they not proposed to the EU that more comprehensive economic sanctions be imposed on Israeli companies, institutions and politicians?

Any of these measures would have a much greater impact than symbolic declarations of statehood, which have brought few concrete benefits to the Palestinians in the past.

Furthermore, recognition of a Palestinian state does not mean that Ireland, Spain and Norway actually pursue policies that fully support Palestinian interests. This was made clear at yesterday’s joint press conference by the Foreign Ministers of Ireland, Norway and Spain.

Although all three condemned Israel’s actions relatively strongly, they also parroted the demands of US policies that harm the Palestinians and serve Israeli interests.

For example, they highlighted the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which the United States – Israel’s closest ally – has long touted as a landmark agreement that would benefit everyone.

There is no doubt that the proposed normalization agreement would bring significant, tangible benefits to the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

However, many Palestinians fear that such an agreement will bypass and ignore their interests and further entrench their oppression.

A poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research conducted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and published in September 2023, just weeks before Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, found that 56 percent of Palestinians believed the normalization deal would harm them, while only 17 percent said the deal would benefit them.

Furthermore, it became clear during the press conference that Spain, Ireland and Norway are behind the Palestinian Authority (PA). Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin exclaimed that “the EU must urgently support the Palestinian Authority’s reform plan.” He also praised the PA as potential governors “across the entire Palestinian territory.”

This statement could just as well have come directly from the US State Department, which is desperately trying Search to revive a PA that has lost legitimacy and authority.

Even Israeli scholars view the Palestinian Authority as an Israeli “subcontractor and collaborator” in the illegal occupation of Palestinian land.

As an institution, it serves primarily to protect Israel, but offers almost no protection to the Palestinians who live under a violent apartheid system.

Given some of these basic realities, it is no surprise that the PA is deeply unpopular among Palestinians.

According to a poll published on December 13 by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, only ten percent of Palestinians were satisfied with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, where it governs.

The same poll found that 88 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip would welcome the resignation of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and 58 percent are in favor of the complete dissolution of the Palestinian Authority.

It is paradoxical that Ireland, Spain and Norway, on the one hand, demand a Palestinian state and Palestinian self-determination, and on the other hand, propose that the Palestinians should be ruled by a political leadership they despise.

The three countries also pushed for a two-state solution without addressing the substantive and practical obstacles that Israel had placed in their way.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly Rejects He supports the idea of ​​a two-state solution and boasts of his decades-long efforts to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

In the three decades since the Oslo Accords, Israel has built more than 200 illegal settlements on Palestinian territory. Today, more than 700,000 illegal Israeli settlers live in the West Bank.

The Israeli government is pursuing a campaign of aggressive expansion of settlement construction precisely because it sees this as a way to prevent the possibility of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state.

The settlements have important resources by Palestinians, banned Palestinians from traveling on exclusively Israeli roads, and forced Palestinians to pass through Israeli military checkpoints to access their agricultural lands, other urban areas, and services such as health care and education.

Israel always maintains its claim to the settlements in the West Bank and rejects the possibility of evacuations in the event of a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Settlement construction in the West Bank continues aggressive during the current war, and there are strong indications that Israel may seek to restore settlements in the Gaza Strip.

Given the practical impossibility Given the popularity of a two-state solution, it is puzzling why the foreign ministers of Ireland, Norway and Spain were so keen to support it.

More prudent approaches would be to advocate a one-state solution or to join academics and established human rights groups in demanding that Israel evacuate the settlements in the West Bank and end the war and blockade of the Gaza Strip as a prerequisite for a new peace process.

While Ireland, Spain and Norway appear to be making diplomatic efforts in favour of the Palestinian cause, in reality they are supporting policies that ultimately harm the Palestinian cause.

At best, this indicates a profound lack of awareness of the fundamental realities between Israel and Palestine and the conditions that lead to ongoing Palestinian suffering.

At worst, it is a diplomatic cover-up for a Western “business as usual” policy that favors Israel.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.