Op-Ed: Recognizing a Palestinian state – Meanwhile, not a damn thing is being done to set one up


By Paul Wallis
DIGITALJOURNAL
July 31, 2025


Palestinians spend hours every day hunting for food at occasional aid distribution points to feed their displaced families - Copyright AFP BASHAR TALEB

“Recognition of a Palestinian state” is all over the news. The fact is that there is no financial or other infrastructure, no plan, no capital, and no clear direction. “Recognition” means almost nothing in practical terms.

When is a state not a state? When it gets no practical support from anyone. When it has no economy to speak of. When it’s in a wasteland of rubble and disappointment made worse by deliberately started wars, perhaps?

The question to ask about a Palestinian state is “How?.” Not “Why?” — Most of the physical territorial issues were caused by colonial borders created by idiots.

Historically, there never was a sovereign Palestine as such. It was just a name on a map. It was part of the Ottoman Empire until World War I. Then it was a British “mandate”, a remarkably meaningless and useless description. The Palestinians were left out in the cold under the terms of the mandate.

It wasn’t a “Palestine run by Palestinians.” That’s what a Palestinian state needs to be to have any meaning at all.

For a Palestinian state to succeed, it needs:

Palestine must be able to stand on its own two feet.

No maniacal mass-murdering third parties starting wars whenever they feel like it is the minimum requirement.

Reliable homegrown revenue, not “charity.”

Secure, sane, credible borders.

Trade and commerce.

Modern education and training.

Power, water, and food infrastructure.

Stop pretending it’s easy. Recognition is barely a beginning.

It astonishes me that anyone could seriously believe you can draw a line around the rubble and assume a Palestinian state will instantly arise. This “recognition” is totally irresponsible without backup.

A Palestinian state, properly set up and with some level of competence in managing the facts, could be the start of a real peace.

The West and the Middle East, in general, talk big.

Many countries “recognize” a Palestinian state in theory. So far not one single word has delivered anything at all. At the moment, it’s just a theory without an atom of substance to back it up.

This hideous, disgusting, ongoing situation has caused multiple wars, killed thousands of people on all sides, and it has achieved precisely nothing.

This isn’t a rhetorical exercise. It’s the future of an entire people. It is absolutely intolerable that the situation has been allowed to drag on for so long. How many people would still be alive, or un-maimed, if sanity prevailed?

Let no medals be pinned on anyone for acknowledging the right of a people to exist.

Now get off your butts and make it work.

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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.