In late July, 17 nations, plus leaders of the European Union and the Arab League, met in New York. The meeting—hosted but not directed by the United Nations—issued a 42-point “New York Declaration.” The declaration supports an end to the war in Gaza through a two-state solution. This group, rather than the U.S., would oversee Palestine and its relations with Israel. This may appear to be a significant step toward possible Palestine nationhood, but it brings both good news and bad news.
The good news is that global support for Palestine is growing. In New York, another eight countries— Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Portugal, and San Marino—promised diplomatic recognition of Palestine at the General Assembly meeting later this year. This brings the number of nations recognizing Palestine to 155. (Other nations that have recently recognized Palestine include Iceland, Ireland, Malta, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain. And the UK, Japan, and South Korea have indicated similar plans to do so, which would bring the proportion of recognition to over 80 percent of nations worldwide.)
The bad news for Palestine is that conference co-chairs France and Saudi Arabia led the New York Declaration states in demanding that Hamas disarm and dissolve itself, so that the Palestinian Authority would have full authority in governing all of Palestine. With this, the declaration joins Israel in demanding total exclusion of Hamas members from Palestinian politics—treating them as non-Palestinian, almost non-human. As the French Foreign Minister said, “For the first time, Arab countries and those in the Middle East condemn Hamas, condemn October 7, call for the disarmament of Hamas, call for its exclusion from Palestinian governance, and clearly express their intention to normalize relations with Israel in the future.”
How Can a Discredited Authority Represent the People?
The Palestine Authority, created in 1994 to negotiate Palestinian independence with Israel, has failed utterly in its mission. It is weak and corrupt, deeply infiltrated by Israeli agents, and highly unpopular with Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank. (Most of the West Bank, in fact, is now governed directly by Israel.) Palestinian citizens will not accept control by the Palestinian Authority—and they have power to resist it.
The history of the Gaza war shows the error of the New York Declaration approach. After October 7, 2023, Israel expected to conquer and slaughter easily in Gaza. But two local forces prevented that outcome: the fighting force of Hamas (plus other groups) and the broader resistance of Palestinian citizens in Gaza. Israel, in increasingly genocidal attacks, repeatedly claimed that Hamas and other resistance had been eliminated, yet never achieved its war aims.
War is hell, that is sure, and I don’t propose to excuse Hamas from its share of atrocities. But facts on the ground, preserved in videos, show that the successful resistance against many months of Israeli attacks with U.S. bombs could have only been achieved by determined cooperation of most Palestinian citizens in Gaza, including Hamas. Even during the current starvation of Gaza, Palestinian resistance cost Israel’s “Gideon Chariots” ground attack so much that, after two months, Israel withdrew its forces beginning July 30.
Let Palestinians Decide Their Future
Importantly, Palestinians had no representation at the New York meeting. This is a fatal flaw—ignoring Palestinians’ viewpoints and granting all Palestinian governance to the feeble and discredited Palestine Authority.
A more appropriate step would be to permit formation of a Palestinian Constituent Assembly, recognized by the UN as a provisional government. This is a proven structure for national consolidation and constitution-writing, founded most obviously by the cases of the United States, Poland, and France in the 1780s. There have been about 80 constituent assemblies worldwide since then. Many of them led to successful governance, and almost all of them were carried out by citizens of the nation—not by foreign powers.
Representatives to the Constituent Assembly, elected by Palestinians within Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, could meet, discuss, and take action on behalf of the Palestinian people—in acts of self-determination. Palestinians would debate, struggling for power and direction, and would need to maintain cordial relations with UN representatives. But they would ultimately establish a structure chosen by themselves. Participants with experience in Hamas and other factions could contribute to these debates but would need to work with their fellow citizens. Months ago, Hamas officials expressed willingness to dissolve the organization after Israeli withdrawal, but only if its members could join a pan-Palestinian provisional government—yet another signal that a constituent assembly may be viable.
The New York Declaration told Palestinians that, once again, they are on their own; outsiders will govern their fate. Governments—even those who seek to provide some support for Palestinian nationhood—refuse to give Palestinians the space and the freedom to construct their own nation. This persists despite Palestinians’ ongoing achievement of resistance and survival, which has shifted public opinion around the world. Is there some way that this global shift in public opinion can be harnessed to persuade governments to agree to full national independence for Palestinians?
Thoughtful analysis. The Taliban remerged in Afghanistan after it was “destroyed” by the United States because it provided the country with a functioning government. I suspect that unless Palestinians have a sense of their own efficacy and see the conditions of their lives improve something similar to Hamas or Hamas itself will reemerge, even if it disbands and disappears now.
An insightful point. The U.S. did not understand the need to prioritize self-determination in Afghanistan and maybe not in Iraq after 2003. And now it is France, Saudi Arabia and others that still do not understand – for Palestine.