{"id":100797,"date":"2025-09-24T18:29:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T16:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=100797"},"modified":"2025-09-24T18:29:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T16:29:28","slug":"european-recognition-of-palestine-risks-undermining-refugees-right-of-return-warns-analyst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/european-recognition-of-palestine-risks-undermining-refugees-right-of-return-warns-analyst\/","title":{"rendered":"European recognition of Palestine risks undermining refugees\u2019 right of return, warns analyst"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n3-minute read | 24 September 2025 | 18:00 SAST<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Recognition of a Palestinian state by several European countries, hailed by some as a symbolic gesture of solidarity may instead \u201cderail the Palestinians’ most fundamental right,\u201d a political analyst told Radio Islam International.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Ebrahim Thembisa Fakude argued that recognition at this stage risks converting a political promise into a practical barrier to the right of return for refugees scattered since 1948. \u201cWhere do they go if you establish a Palestinian state?\u201d he asked, pointing to Palestinians \u201clingering in refugee camps in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and other countries\u201d who remain stateless and barred from basic rights.<\/p>\n

Fakude warned recognition could freeze refugees into new national identities and effectively force them to \u201cforsake the right of returning to their homes.\u201d He stressed that much of Gaza, he said, \u201cis a huge refugee camp\u201d whose inhabitants were expelled from their homes in 1948 and continue to hope to return.<\/p>\n

The analyst dismissed the two-state formula as unrealistic under current conditions, calling it a \u201cpipe dream\u201d that would not resolve core injustices, in particular the right of return. \u201cIt is not possible to have a Palestinian state, given the expansionist project led by Benjamin Netanyahu and his zealots,\u201d he said, noting the continuing expansion of settlements and land annexations that have fragmented territory designated for Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Fakude also accused many Western governments of hypocrisy: while some move to recognise statehood, they have reportedly failed to support international legal proceedings at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court that address alleged crimes. \u201cThey still have not endorsed the case against Israel of genocide in the ICJ,\u201d he said, and \u201chaven’t condemned nor endorsed the case against Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister at the ICC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond geopolitics, Fakude issued a challenge to Muslim religious leadership. He called for new religious and civic tactics, even proposing a reconsideration of contested terms like jihad to frame a lawful, creative resistance against \u201cthese evil human beings,\u201d he emphasised the distinction: \u201cI’m not talking about Jews here, we’re talking about Israelis, those that are perpetuating this evil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Fakude raised the possibility of a one-state future akin to South Africa\u2019s post-apartheid model, saying: \u201cPerhaps Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on not creating a Palestinian state will lead to a one-state solution, future generations will decide how they move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The analyst urged activists and leaders to back international law, sanctions, and concrete measures rather than symbolic recognitions that, he warned, risk entrenching displacement rather than remedying it.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on Sabahul Muslim<\/em> <\/a>with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat and Ebrahim Thembisa Fakude.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read | 24 September 2025 | 18:00 SAST Recognition of a Palestinian state by several European countries, hailed by some as a symbolic gesture of solidarity may instead \u201cderail the Palestinians’ most fundamental right,\u201d a political analyst told Radio Islam International. Ebrahim Thembisa Fakude argued that recognition at this stage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":100798,"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-100797","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\/09\/Ebrahim-Fakude.jpg?fit=630%2C626&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qdL","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-20 19:12:17","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\/100797","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\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}