Recognising a "state of Palestine" before it's too late? Before the tiny strip of Gaza and an ever-shrinking occupied West Bank are finally "cleansed" of all remaining traces of Palestinian life?
Starmer and Macron, and the 8 others who just announced their recognition of Palestine, gave the game away when they insisted that this was conditional on the revival of the old "two state solution", which today lacks any concrete basis.
As delegates self-righteously took their seats in the 80th UN General Assembly, its Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, explained that "denying statehood would be a gift to extremists everywhere, Without two States, there will be no peace in the Middle East, and radicalism will spread around the world".
Which, incidentally, turns Netanyahu and Trump's position on its head: they say that "recognising Palestine" rewards Hamas and terrorists everywhere... and will be a threat to peace. But of course it's neither, nor: nothing these politicians do, or don't do, above the populations' heads, can possibly bring lasting "peace" to this region.
Their hypocrisy
Neither is this recognition of Palestinian statehood likely to score Starmer or Macron "humanitarian" electoral points. So why did they do it? Especially since they're ostensibly placing themselves in opposition to Trump, after having supported US-Israeli policy up until now.
While one can't read their minds, their material interests are clear to see. As the end of the offensive against Gaza looms; so too, does the end of the Netanyahu administration. It is unlikely that Trump can justify propping it up, once it totters and falls, in front of Israeli public opinion.
And this means that the Israeli state - war-weary and semi bankrupted - is likely to need the "support" of its neighbours in the Guif sooner, rather than later... And behind them, former colonial bosses - i.e., the British and French - whose corporate institutions will want to swoop down like the vultures they are, to profit even further out of the spoils of this devastation. And ves, it's "further" profiteering, because, these warmongers fuelled the Israeli state's aggression: for them, blood turns into gold...
A reiteration of formal commitment to Palestinian statehood is even more necessary for the Arab regimes, as Trump's Abraham Accords - meant to boost Arab- Israeli commercial relations - are revived. But even then, this tokenism may not be enough to pacify their populations - subjected, as they are, to the oppressive rule of autocratic "princes". And the one cause which has always united them - making their potential "people-power" even more formidable - is the cause of the Palestinians!
Despite what may seem to be an opposing stance to Washington's pro-Israeli policy, we can be sure that Washington will have understood the British and French "about-turn" on Palestine "completely"... Indeed, what else did Trump's little pat on Starmer's back mean when Starmer made his statement on Gaza at the recent joint press conference at Chequers, saying "we have differences on this issue" Yes, "differences", just like Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum!
Guilty by association
The big, striking, irony is that just as Palestine is formally "recognised" for the first time by the British government, this same government has taken action against ordinary British citizens who have chosen to protest against the Israeli army's onslaught on Gaza. Hundreds are now being charged with terrorism(!) for their pro-Palestine stand.
What they've done is no worse, nor better, than any other protest group. But following in Trump's footsteps, Starmer, the former human rights lawyer who successfully represented a protester against the Irag war who, in 2004, broke into the RAF Brize Norton Base, has turned middle class do-gooders who did the same, into terrorists - and clamped down on their freedom of speech.
So those who mention "free Palestine" or voice their opposition to the proscription of the group known as "Palestine Action" are being sacked from their jobs, arrested, and jailed... just like in the US, where anyone condemning the late Charlie Kirk's far right views - or indeed Trump's own far-right views - is being "dealt with" by US law enforcement.
This is a turn even further to the right by Starmer. No doubt he is looking for Reform voters' approval! - as his own rating falls to a record low. But like all those who fawn in front of a clinically certifiable US president who rants against paracetamol and immigrants with equal fury - and who fiddled while Gaza burnt - he just proves his own bankruptcy.
This is why it is so vital for us workers to "get political" and get organised, so that our class is able to lead the struggle for the rights of the poor and oppressed, inside and outside our borders... and finally, to abolish the profit system and the nation states which maintain it - which will be in all of our interests.