Letter

In response to Recognition of Palestine: A neocolonial, feel-good gesture

Recognition of Palestine matters

I agree with the author that recognition of Palestine “provides no tangible benefit to the people of Gaza”. But I do not agree that it is “wrong in principle”. I believe recognition acknowledges that the century-long Palestinian struggle is legitimate and puts a moral imperative before us to do more to bring about justice.

Israel declared itself a nation without specifying its borders and has been accepted as a nation by most other countries regardless. I see no “colonialist imposition” in recognising Palestine as a nation since that’s how Palestinians see themselves already. Of course, borders remain problematic and something to be settled. But without recognition that a nation exists, borders are irrelevant.

— Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122