Opinion: Why recognising 'Palestine' rewards Israel's PA collaborators

Earlier this week, several European countries - including Britain and its settler colonies Canada and Australia, though with the notable exception of the United States - recognised a non-existent "State of Palestine", to be ruled by the unelected, collaborationist quisling regime of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its head, Mahmoud Abbas.

This was not the first time Britain recognised Palestinian collaborators to speak for the people. That practice began as soon as it conquered and colonised Palestine at the end of 1917.

Following the issuance of the Balfour Declaration in November and the British military conquest of Palestine in December of that year (with full control over its territory by September 1918), more than 40 Palestinian organisations were formed between 1918 and 1920 to oppose British colonial rule and Zionist settler-colonialism. 

They demanded independence, convened national congresses and adopted resolutions affirming Palestine's Arab character and calling for its liberation and unity within a Greater Syria.

Still, Britain consistently blocked Palestinian bids for recognition, which it always conditioned on their acceptance of the Zionist project.

Such tactics reflected a central colonial strategy across much of the world to deny the colonised their own representatives, then secure collaborators from among them and install those willing to betray their people as leaders. Palestinians are no exception, and are indeed a prime illustration of this strategy, whether under the British or the Zionists.

Why recognising 'Palestine' rewards Israel's PA collaborators, not the Palestinian people Opinion by Joseph Massad