There is an overwhelming political recognition of the Palestinian quest for a state of their own from the international community. Palestine is recognised as a sovereign state by more than three-fourths of the member states of the United Nations. Mexico is the latest country to complete the process of full diplomatic recognition for the state of Palestine when President Claudia Sheinbaum accepted the credentials of Nadya Rasheed, Ambassador of Palestine to Mexico, on March 21, 2025. During the occasion, the Mexican Foreign Ministry issued a communique that asserted Mexico’s commitment to a “two-state solution” for establishing peace between Israel and Palestine. The two-state idea remains the bedrock of the international commitment to peace through diplomacy with regard to the Palestine-Israel conflict.
Historians like Avi Shlaim point out that the long historical experience of Jews, Muslims and Christians living together in the Arab world is a significant resource for thinking about a common future. The end of occupation is a precondition for such a future
The Palestinian people do not enjoy sovereignty over any part of historical Palestine. A major part of historical Palestine was converted to the State of Israel in 1948, while the rest of historical Palestine, consisting of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israel War. There is no ground-level correlation between international recognition and the reality of the everyday life of Palestinian people as they face continued occupation of their land by Israel and oft-repeated military attacks on them, as we witness in the Gaza Strip during the last several months. The recognition has remained largely symbolic.
The Palestinian quest for a sovereign independent state of their own is directed through the Palestinian nationalist movement, which expresses itself through diverse ideological and political positions. The Fatah-led Palestinian Authority mostly assert the two-state solution, as its diplomatic conduct has to be in line with the internationally accepted position. The essence of a two-state solution is to strive for forming a Palestinian state in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital; such a state is envisaged to come into being side by side with the state of Israel. Countries like India, which traditionally have been supporting such an agenda in full, still do so, but with a substantial change under the Narendra Modi government, which avoids mentioning East Jerusalem as the future Palestinian state’s capital in its regular diplomatic statements. Israel has been asserting that Jerusalem is its “undivided capital.”
