UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal Officially Recognize Palestinian State

The United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Australia and Portugal officially recognized Palestine as a state on Sunday. 

The Details: The four nations, all diplomatically related to Israel, joined about 150 United Nations (UN) states – mainly in the east – by recognizing Palestinian statehood. More nations are expected to join the movement on Monday. The US State Department responded, “Our focus remains on serious diplomacy, not performative gestures. Our priorities are clear: the release of the hostages, the security of Israel, and peace and prosperity for the entire region that is only possible free from Hamas.”

For Context: France, Canada, and the UK announced in July that they would officially recognize Palestine in September, with the UK stipulating that its recognition would come if Israel didn’t take “substantive steps” to end the war. Many of the nations recognized Israel as a state in the mid-1900s.

How The Media Covered It: News media across the political spectrum placed a particular emphasis on the UK and its prime minister, Keir Starmer, with whom President Donald Trump met in September. Reuters (Center bias) highlighted the UK’s move as carrying “particular symbolism given its major role in Israel's creation as a modern nation in the aftermath of World War Two.” The Guardian (Left) noted that the nation “brought forward their declaration out of respect for the Jewish new year.” And Fox News (Right) said Starmer “insisted that the recognition of statehood was not a reward for Hamas.” Both Reuters and Fox quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion, “A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.” Fox emphasized the forty-eight remaining Israeli hostages being held by Hamas. Reuters noted the death toll of the initial Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, but more extensively detailed Israel’s fatal damage to Palestinians.

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