Palestine’s recognition is not a reward to Hamas

The recognition of Palestine as a state by some major Western powers, including the UK and France, has come so late that many would argue these nations also bear some responsibilities for the thousands of preventable deaths that have occurred in Gaza. Yet, US President Donald Trump, the most powerful man on Earth, believes the recognition of a Palestinian state by key allies is effectively rewarding Hamas for its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which started the war. According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, "Frankly, he believes it's a reward to Hamas."

President Trump repeated the same diatribe against its allies that have independently announced recognition of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly's 80th session. Shockingly, it's not just President Trump, who earlier this year shockingly proposed to convert Gaza into "the Riviera of the Middle East"; many leading media houses, particularly in Britain, also echoed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's outrage by likening the recognition as a surrender to terrorism.

Headlines in the British media, the day after the announcement by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, are anything but an unbelievably shameful dehumanisation of the Palestinian people. Picking up a few words from Hamas' reaction that the recognition by the UK, Canada and Australia were "victory for the justice of our cause," the Daily Mail splashed out "Hamas claims victory." The Times took a similar approach, though quoting families of Israeli hostages who have accused the prime minister of handing Hamas "its greatest prize." The Telegraph headline also said, "Hamas declares 'victory' after UK recognition of Palestine."

There were, however, a few exceptions who are known for their liberal and left-wing views. The Mirror's front page reads "the best hope for peace," showing a photo of damaged buildings in Gaza. The Guardian quoted Sir Keir Starmer's claim that the decision showed "commitment to a two-state solution." But the domineering tone was of the right-wing view of anti-recognition of a Palestinian state.

It has been alleged for quite some time that the mainstream media in the West are inherently biased against Palestinians. The Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM), founded by the Muslim Council of Britain and known for monitoring anti-Muslim bias in British media, pointed out that BBC presenters shut down genocide claims in over 100 documented instances while making zero mention of Israeli leaders' genocidal statements, including Netanyahu's biblical Amalek reference.

The report, published in June this year, examined over 35,000 pieces of BBC content and found that Israeli deaths were given 33 times more coverage per fatality, and four times more emotive language than the Palestinian ones. It also assessed some 180,000 video clips from seven UK broadcasters and three international broadcasters, as well as about 26,000 news articles from 28 British media websites and found a similar pattern of bias in favour of Israel. However, the BBC rejected the allegations of bias, saying, "We do not think due impartiality can be measured by counting words. We make our own independent editorial decisions, and we reject any suggestion otherwise."

This is not mere minimisation of Palestinian suffering, rather deliberate or unknowing downplay of Israeli atrocities and war crimes that have been continuing with impunity for nearly two years. Israel's Gaza campaign is perhaps the only genocide broadcast live despite absence of any journalists from outside world. The Netanyahu government has done everything possible to keep the media out of Gaza by denying access to foreign journalists, shutting down Al Jazeera and indiscriminately killing Palestinian journalists.

According to the United Nations, more media workers have been killed by Israeli forces during their ongoing military campaign in Gaza than the journalists killed in two world wars and wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan combined. In various counts, the toll varies between 220 and 272. While covering the Gaza war, Palestinian journalists' unmatched sacrifices to tell the stories of devastation and inhumane sufferings of the innocent victims, including women and children, to the world were largely ignored by most Western media outlets. Instead, briefings by the Israeli Defense Forces' spokesperson got prominence in their coverage.

The most disturbing aspect of the mainstream global media's coverage of Palestine's recognition is its continuation of the same approach to reporting on the Gaza invasion—one that dehumanises Palestinian lives, equates the general population of Gaza with Hamas, and normalises atrocities to the point of whitewashing war crimes. The contrast with their treatment of Ukraine's war with Russia could not be starker. While Ukrainian victims of Russian invasion justifiably get humane treatment in the language of their reports and commentaries, the innocent Palestinians under Israeli occupation are often subjected to being equated with terrorists.

It is true that the recognition of Palestine by these Western powers is largely symbolic as the US remains steadfast in favour of Israel. But this symbolic gesture is crucial to keep the hope for a two-state solution of the conflict as Netanyahu insisted that there will not be any Palestine. This long-awaited recognition should now be followed by coordinated and practical measures to bring an end to the Gaza war and annexation of the West Bank. Immediate suspension of arms supply and military cooperation are the least these countries could do to resume negotiations for the future of Palestine, freeing Israeli hostages and civilians languishing in Israeli prisons, and rebuilding Gaza.

(Published in The daily Star on September 25, 2025.)