U.S. Should Recognize a Palestinian State
By Joel D. Joseph, author of Solomonic Justice: How the Israeli Supreme Court has Become a Beacon of Justice in the Middle East
Palestine should draft a Declaration of Independence like the United States and Israel did. The United States should then immediately recognize Palestine as an independent state. The United States and Israel declared their independence without waiting for other nations to give their approval. The United States did not ask Great Britain for permission to become an independent national and neither should Palestine.
The first nation to recognize the United States was Morocco in December, 1777. France recognized the United States two months later and fought side-by-side with us against Great Britain.
When Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948, President Harry Truman recognized Israel as a nation on that same day. Three days later, the Soviet Union recognized the State of Israel. Palestine will be recognized by most nations in the world in a short period of time.
Declaration of Independence
Palestine's Declaration of Independence should provide for the following:
1. Palestine should declare that it is the homeland for the Palestinianpeople and that all Palestinians from all over the world, have the right to become citizens there. Israel similarly allows Jews from all over the world to become citizens of Israel.
2. Palestine shall declare that Israel has the right to exist, and that the Palestine will not invade Israel.
3. Palestine should declare that because Hamas murdered 1,200 innocent Israeli citizens in October, 2023, in violation of international law, Hamas is not permitted to be part of the ruling coalition for the new country.
4. Palestine should declare that there will be no religious discrimination. Currently 50,000 Christians live in the West Bank and 1,300 live in Gaza. PalestinianChristians trace their history back 2,000 years to the beginning of Christianity. Palestine is the home of many Biblical sites and is considered the birthplace of Christianity. Nazareth and Bethlehem, Jesus's birthplace, are in the West Bank. Approximately 11,000 Druze now live in the West Bank. The Druze religion branched off from the religion of Islam and is now considered its own religion separate from Islam. The Druze religion was created in the 10th and 11th centuries in Egypt, with aspects of Hindu and Greek philosophy incorporated into the tenets of Islam.
5. The 500,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank should be allowed to stay and be allowed to become citizens of Palestine. After Palestine becomes an independent state, no additional Israelis will be allowed to move there.
6. Palestine will be a democracy and will establish a constitution defining rights and responsibilities of Palestinian citizens.
7. Palestinians will have freedom of speech and assembly.
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