[Salon] Map of States Recognizing the State of Palestine

FM: John Whitbeck

Transmitted below is a link to a map showing the 139 states which have extended diplomatic recognition to the State of Palestine.

With only a few exceptions, this map reflects the distinction between the colonized and the colonizers, a distinction which is relevant today to international reactions to the genocidal Israeli/American assault against the people of Gaza and the genocide case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18142310 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_the_State_of_Palestine#/media/File:Palestine_recognition_only.svg)

It is widely assumed that a Palestinian state does not yet exist. Indeed, to my frustration, even members of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah often refer to "our future state".

In fact, as a legal matter, a Palestinian state does exist, recognized as a state by the UN, where it has since 2012 been an "observer state", by UNESCO, by the International Criminal Court and by the 139 other states shown on this map.

The entire territory of the State of Palestine is currently under illegal occupation by another state, as was the case for Kuwait for seven months.

Hence, while there is a two-state legality in international law, there is still a one-state apartheid reality on the ground, a reality which even virtually all Western states are now, at least publicly, insisting must be corrected.

In this regard, I recommend reading the attached MIDDLE EAST POLICY publication of a speech on this subject which I delivered in 2011 at a UN conference in Montevideo, Uruguay.