{"id":100728,"date":"2025-09-22T12:40:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T10:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=100728"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:40:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T10:40:47","slug":"palestine-report-73","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/palestine-report-73\/","title":{"rendered":"Palestine Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

22 September 2025 | 12:40 CAT
\n3-minute read<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Western Powers Recognise Palestine Amid Scepticism over Motives<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the United Nations General Assembly convenes in New York, a shift in global diplomacy is unfolding. The United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have formally recognised the State of Palestine, joining more than 140 other UN member states. Their move comes amid unprecedented public pressure over Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza, where months of bombardment have left thousands dead and displaced millions.<\/p>\n

For many, the announcements mark a milestone in the campaign for Palestinian statehood. Yet scholars and activists caution that the recognitions may be more about political optics than genuine commitment. Speaking on Radio Islam International\u2019s Palestine Report<\/a><\/em>, Moulana Ebrahim Moosa welcomed the development but offered a sober assessment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe very governments that continue to abet the genocide in Gaza now claim to champion Palestinian independence, and when they talk about a Palestinian state, its real purpose is to save Israel from itself,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Moulana Moosa noted that this policy shift would have been unthinkable a few years ago, when Western leaders insisted Palestinian statehood could only emerge from direct negotiations with Israel. But he credited Palestinian perseverance and global civil society movements for forcing governments to act.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the product of Palestinian steadfastness \u2026 and the product of popular mobilisation in Western countries,\u201d Moosa explained.<\/p>\n

Despite the diplomatic momentum, Moosa warned that recognition alone will not bring justice or accountability. He drew a historical parallel to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which seemed symbolic at the time but later paved the way for the creation of Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecognising a Palestinian state \u2026 may change with time to come,\u201d he observed, urging activists to press for concrete measures such as sanctions and the severing of ties with Israel.<\/p>\n

Before this week\u2019s recognitions, about 147 of the 193 UN member states<\/strong> had acknowledged Palestine as a state. The United Kingdom\u2019s recognition was conditional, linked to Israel\u2019s genocidal actions in Gaza (including humanitarian access, ceasefire), opposition to West Bank annexation, and the need for a credible two-state framework.<\/p>\n

Israel has condemned the move, calling it a \u201creward for terrorism,\u201d and warned that recognition will not lead to a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River.<\/p>\n

Concerns have been raised that Western leaders frame recognition around strengthening the Palestinian Authority, which is described as a long-time \u201csubcontractor\u201d of Israel\u2019s occupation. Tying statehood to the PA risks reinforcing a body many Palestinians view as weak and complicit, rather than advancing genuine independence.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Digital Counteroffensive<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to reports, Israel has embarked on an \u201call-out digital fightback\u201d to counter the growing tide of international criticism. Google recently signed a six-month, $45 million contract with the Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s Office to place pro-Israel advertising and discredit pro-Palestinian initiatives such as the Gaza flotilla. Similar campaigns are running on X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube.<\/p>\n

The pressure extends to social media regulation. Moulana Moosa pointed to the looming U.S. takeover of TikTok\u2019s American operations\u2014driven partly, he said, by Israeli lobbying\u2014as the platform quietly deletes old posts and bans terms such as \u201cIDF terrorists,\u201d potentially erasing evidence of alleged war crimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a wider dimension of the Israeli fightback campaign,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n

A South African Test of Conscience<\/strong><\/p>\n

Closer to home, Moosa noted how the conflict is exposing moral fault lines in South African politics. He cited a recent interview with Democratic Alliance mayoral candidate Helen Zille, who refused to describe Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza as genocide despite the UN\u2019s own pronouncements. Zille said \u201cgenocide is a big word\u201d and insisted she had not visited Gaza to verify conditions, while confidently claiming that Hamas aims to \u201cobliterate the state of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critics argue her comments reflect a broader reluctance among some South African leaders to confront Israeli aggression. For Moulana Moosa, the exchange underscored how Palestine has become \u201cthe litmus test of moral conscience of our era.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen <\/strong>to the Palestine Report<\/a> on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

22 September 2025 | 12:40 CAT 3-minute read Western Powers Recognise Palestine Amid Scepticism over Motives As the United Nations General Assembly convenes in New York, a shift in global diplomacy is unfolding. The United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have formally recognised the State of Palestine, joining more than 140 other UN member states. Their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":98313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4998,4997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-ummah","category-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Palestine-Report-2.jpg?fit=372%2C367&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qcE","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 11:32:29","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}