[Opinion] Recognizing Palestine While Funding Hamas? Governments Repeat Deadly Mistakes
[Excerpts]
From newsrooms to parliament chambers, a growing sector of liberal-mainstream Western society is realizing that premature recognition of Palestinian statehood is a bad idea. A few weeks ago, journalists and politicians whispered it in off-record conversations. Now, as top Hamas officials correctly interpret recognition as a vindication of their October 7 atrocities, the Washington Post Editorial Board admits that “Empty gestures set back the cause of Palestinian statehood,” and Australian paper of record The Age refers to the Albanese government’s “most politically fraught day since its re-election.”
Clearly, unconditional gestures to appease radical disrupters in Western capitals and college campuses impede peace if they are not tied to an honest audit of the Palestinian terror problem, concrete deradicalization commitments, and the acknowledgement that pouring unvetted resources into Gaza will only embolden malign actors.