[Salon] Recognising Palestine state must not distract from ending Gaza mas deaths, UN expert says (GUARDIAN)

FM: John Whitbeck

Transmitted below is a link to a report, published today by the GUARDIAN, of an interview of my distinguished recipient Francesca Albanese by my distinguished recipient Alice Speri.

The principled views expressed by Francesca in this interview are consistent with what I wrote on August 10: "Diplomatic recognitions of the State of Palestine and full UN member state status for the State of Palestine are highly desirable, but they are useful only as political and diplomatic conditions precedent to meaningful actions (necessarily including crippling sanctions) by Western governments to end the ongoing genocide and the illegal occupation of a country which they diplomatically recognize as a state by another state, not as substitutes for meaningful and effective actions toward those goals."

It would be intellectually and diplomatically incoherent to extend diplomatic recognition to a state, particularly when its entire territory is illegally occupied by another state, and then not to take meaningful and effective actions to end that occupation -- and, if important Western states like France, Britain, Canada and Australia, as well as other Western states, all extend diplomatic recognition to the State of Palestine next month, principles-based courage may be more easily found in numbers.

In addition, after imposing more than 20 rounds of sanctions on Russia, explicitly with a view to collapsing its economy, for occupying a relatively modest portion of a state that they recognize, how could Western governments justify to their own increasing horrified people imposing no sanctions at all against a country which is occupying the entire territory of a state that they recognize and which is publicly proclaiming its intention to intensify its ongoing genocide of that state's people?

While I have written of "conditions precedent", in the sense that diplomatic recognitions should virtually compel meaningful and effective actions thereafter, it should not be necessary to wait another month to take such actions. As horrors proliferate in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the general session of the UN General Assembly seems agonizingly far away.

While Donald Trump is busily extracting public professions of support for his candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize from most people with whom he meets, Francesca has received numerous principles-based nominations, and I am among those hoping that the Norwegian Nobel Committee will, exceptionally, demonstrate decency, discernment and courage by awarding this year's prize to her.
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