GM Shahidul Alam
As of this writing in late September 2025, the UN General Assembly (UNGA), comprising 192 UN member states, voted for a two-state solution entailing a safe and secure Israel coexisting with a viable Palestinian state, even before this formality, a few member countries with much clout in security matters. The UK, Canada, and Australia (all Commonwealth nations) declared their support for a safe and secure Israel existing alongside a viable Palestinian state.
Take note of a fine distinction in the UK’s decision: While it supports a peaceful co-existence among the protagonists, the UK does not recognise Palestine as a state. It emphasises on a two-state solution of coexistence. It would be fascinating to follow the directions that the current Gaza conflict is taking to its logical or illogical end.
It may be noted that the UK and Australia became the first G-7 nations to recognise a Palestinian state. Fourteen of the nineteen member countries of the G-20, including Argentina, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Türkiye, among others, have recognised Palestine as a state, while the remaining five (Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and the US) do not. The matter can be made complicated that is, if the influential countries choose to do so in the UN. Or, cooler heads may prevail, and a good degree of marginality may bring about an amicable outcome embracing a two-state solution.
International politics, as one can see, is a complex issue and often a matter of displaying supremacy in different forums. It has created so in the past and continues to do so in the current global environment. So? Well “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” (The French adage “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”) and the French have been at it for some time now, as well as UK, US, and others.
In the current situation, the US has unilaterally tried to act as a superpower and has smaller promises, ideas, and objectives, or seeks to curry favour from bigger, even more powerful entities. Israel, of course, has a very powerful backer in the US.
“Israel” predated “Palestine” by more than 1,000 years, and its establishment as an independent sovereign state was officially declared in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948. Its close allies will continue to support its ideas and activities.
In 1948, under the leadership of David Ben-Gurion, Zionism — which had originated in 1897 in Basel, Switzerland at the First Zionist Congress — culminated in the declaration of the State of Israel. In response, the declaration of a State of Palestine took place in Algiers on November 15, 1988, announced by the Palestinian National Council, the legislative body of the PLO. And here we stand today.
The central objective has long been the struggle over land. Every piece of territory in this region carries immense strategic and religious significance. Both Muslims and Jews regard it as holy land, and this overlapping claim continues to fuel deep conflict.
The ongoing struggle, overseen and manipulated by powerful external forces, has created a cycle of violence that shows no sign of easing. What is urgently needed is a sustainable alternative that can end the bloodshed and sorrow in a land that is supposed to symbolise peace and holiness for both faiths.
But how does one address this, when religion is so central and sacred to both Muslims and Jews? The Middle East conflict is not merely territorial — it has become a holy, or some might argue unholy, war that has drawn in two of the world’s major religions, and potentially others as well.
One would have thought that large-scale religious strife belonged to the past. Yet in this region, it remains a painful reality, threatening peace not only locally but across the world.
The writer is a MALD (Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a PhD (Boston University)
