More states recognise the state of Palestine than an independent Kosovo, but while the latter is unquestioned by the Western media, the former is deemed an aspiration, writes John Whitbeck* On 7 January, Chile extended diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine as a free, independent and sovereign state. Coming soon after the recent recognitions by Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador, Chile's recognition brought to 109 the number of UN member states recognising the state of Palestine, whose independence was proclaimed on 15 November 1988. While still under foreign belligerent occupation, the state of Palestine possesses all the customary international law criteria for sovereign statehood. No portion of its territory is recognised by any other country (other than Israel) as any other country's sovereign territory and, indeed, Israel has only asserted sovereignty over a small portion of its territory, expanded East Jerusalem, leaving sovereignty over the rest both literally and legally uncontested. In this context, it may be enlightening to consider the quality as well as the quantity of the states extending diplomatic recognition. Of the world's nine most populous states, eight (all except the United States) recognise the state of Palestine. Of the world's 20 most populous states, 15 (all except the United States, Japan, Mexico, Germany and Thailand) recognise the state of Palestine. By contrast, the 72 UN member states that currently recognise the Republic of Kosovo as an independent state include only one of the nine most populous states (the United States) and only four of the 20 most populous states (the United States, Japan, Germany and Turkey). When, in July, the International Court of Justice held that Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence did not violate international law because international law is silent on the subject of the legality of declarations of independence (meaning that no declarations of independence violate international law and all are "legal", albeit subject to the political decisions of sovereign states to recognise or not the independence declared), the United States responded by calling on all countries that had not already recognised Kosovo to do so promptly. Five months later, only three more have seen fit to do so -- Honduras, Kiribati and Tuvalu. If the Arab League were now to call on the minority of UN member states that have not already recognised Palestine to do so promptly it is certain that the response would be far superior (both in quantity and in quality) to the response to the recent American appeal on behalf of Kosovo. It should do so. Notwithstanding that (by my rough calculations) states encompassing between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of the world's population recognise the state of Palestine while states encompassing only between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of the world's population recognise the Republic of Kosovo, the Western media (and indeed much of the non-Western media as well) act as though Kosovo's independence were an accomplished fact while Palestine's independence is only an aspiration that can never be realised without Israeli-American consent, and much of international public opinion (including, apparently, the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah) has -- at least until recently -- permitted itself to be brainwashed into thinking and acting accordingly. As in most aspects of international relations, it is not the nature of the act (or crime) that matters, but rather who is doing it to whom. Palestine was conquered and is still occupied, 43 years later, by the military forces of Israel. What most of the world (including the UN and even five EU member states) still regards as the Serbian province of Kosovo was conquered and is still occupied, 11 years later, by the military forces of NATO, the American flag is flown there at least as widely as the Kosovo flag and the capital, Pristina, boasts a Bill Clinton Boulevard and a larger-than- life-size statue of the former US president. Might makes right, at least in the hearts and minds of the mighty, including most Western decision-makers and opinion-formers. Meanwhile, as a perpetual "peace process" appears suddenly threatened by peaceful recourse to international law and international organisations, the US House of Representatives has adopted by a unanimous voice vote a resolution drafted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) calling on President Obama not to recognise the state of Palestine and to veto any effort by Palestine to obtain UN membership. Western politicians and the Western media customarily apply the term "international community" to the United States and whatever countries are willing to publicly support it on a given issue, and apply the term "rogue state" to any country that actively resists Israeli-American global domination. By its slavish subservience to Israel, as reflected yet again both in the absence of a single brave voice raised against this new House resolution and in the Obama administration's recently rejected offer of a huge military and diplomatic bribe to Israel in reward for a mere 90-day suspension of its illegal colonisation programme, the United States has effectively excluded itself from the true international community (redefined to refer to the great majority of mankind) and become a true rogue state, acting in consistent and flagrant contempt of both international law and fundamental human rights. One might hope that the United States could still pull back from the abyss and recover its own independence, but all signs are pointing in the opposite direction. It is a sad ending for a once admirable country. * The writer is an international lawyer who has advised the Palestinian negotiating team in negotiations with Israel.
