Why aren't more European countries recognising Palestinian statehood?

Less than a week after Spain, Norway and Ireland officially recognised Palestine, UN experts including the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian territories, urged the rest of the world to follow suit to ensure peace and stability in the Middle East.

Currently, 10 EU member states recognise Palestine (including three in the last month), while 17 have not. Universal recognition of Palestine in the continent remains elusive in large part due to the presence and efforts of far-right entities and conservative political parties that tout nativist, ultranationalist and pro-Zionist views.

These parties' positions on Palestine are likely in keeping with their already established anti-Muslim and anti-migrant platforms.

This perspective stems in part from an unfair association between the growing influx of Muslim migrants into Europe and rising terrorism concerns. Such fear has been stoked by far-right parties themselves for political gain and relevance.

It has also spurred ultranationalist parties such as Vox in Spain and Alternative for Germany to call for a curb on Muslim immigration. Far-right groups have also weaponised rising unemployment in Europe, blaming migrants for that issue as well.

Hence, the commencement of Israel's genocide in Gaza aligned perfectly with the European far-right's Islamophobic orientation. It has allowed groups such as the Alternative for Germany to call for funding cuts to Palestinians and submit parliamentary proposals to halt financial donations to UNRWA. Both proposals were rejected; however, their anti- Muslim/Palestine rhetoric remains.

In Denmark, Israel's campaign against Palestinians prompted the Danish People's Party to step up its anti-immigrant rhetoric while also appealing to the safety of Jews living in the country.

The link between conservative parties, far-right entities and support for Israel in Europe runs deep.

Two decades ago, an assessment of voting in the European Parliament's ninth term by the European Council of Israel in 2004 found that the 20 political parties voted in favour of Israel on the Palestine issue and all of them belonged to far-right, Eurosceptic, conservative and reformist schools of thought.

Today, the mindset of the far right remains pretty much the same. Islamophobia, anti-immigration and pro-Zionism all continue to go hand-in-hand.

Netherlands shift

Last month, Dutch politician Geert Wilder's Party for Freedom, which campaigns on an anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and populist platform in the Netherlands, signed a coalition agreement with several other political parties on controlling asylum and migration. They included the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, the centre-right New Social Contract and the agrarian, right-wing, populist, Farmer Citizen Movement.

Within this agreement, Wilders inserted an "examination" into moving the Dutch embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. This is a break from the long-standing European position that the status of Jerusalem must be decided through negotiations between Israel and Palestine.

Wilder's pro-Israel stance is echoed by the Vox party in Spain, which campaigns on a Spanish unionist and Roman Catholic platform. Vox voiced opposition to Pedro Sanchez government's decision to recognise Palestine, with party leader Santiago Abascal expressing his disapproval at a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu.

Far-right support for Israel also comes from lead candidates for European Parliament in the upcoming 2024 elections. Marion Marechal of the far-right French Reconquete Party is one such politician who is campaigning on an anti-Islam platform.

At a recent debate, Marechal stated that France recognising a Palestinian state would be tantamount to creating an Islamist entity that could prove dangerous for Western civilisation, morals, principles and political systems.

Notably, many of these far-right parties do not have seats in the government and find themselves to be part of coalitions or oppositions in countries such as Spain, France and the Netherlands.

However, they still remain a potent force.

Disrupting the system

As disruptors, far-right parties often form a coalition or in Italy's case form a government at the centre. Regardless of their position, they have an inherent ability to scuttle, pressurise and disrupt any attempt by socialist governments or left-wing governments to introduce resolutions and bills calling for Palestinian statehood.

The far-right's pro-Israel orientation is also championed by conservative governments which are either in power or in a coalition. Denmark is a prime example, where the parliament's decision to vote down a bill for Palestinian recognition was due to conservative parties in the ruling coalition voicing their opposition to Palestinian statehood.

Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said that Denmark would not recognise an independent Palestine as preconditions of statehood have not been met. Recently, an effort by four left-wing parties to push recognition through failed, in part because of Rasmussen's Moderates Party.

Similarly, in France, Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron mulled over Palestinian recognition at a suitable time, but is threatened by potential losses for his Renaissance Party in the upcoming European Parliament elections.

French candidates from centrist, conservative, far-right and right-wing parties seek to capitalise on Macron's softer stance on Palestine by using this against him and touting their own support for Israel. This has been the case for Marine Le Pen's National Party, which is expected to trounce Macron in the 2024 ballot as it campaigns on a nativist, anti-immigrant and Islamophobic platform.

Another important player in Europe is Italy. The promise of a two-state solution by the far-right Giorgia Meloni government cannot detract from the fact that Rome might not recognise Palestine anytime soon.

Her opposition, the Five Star movement, has called out Meloni for intransigence and an inherent inability to follow in the footsteps of Norway, Ireland and Spain. Despite Meloni's support for a two-state solution, no policy change from her far-right Brothers of Italy party is expected.

The far-right, conservative parties in Europe are hence a major roadblock for Palestinian recognition. As disruptors and policy makers, nativist, Christian, white supremacist and anti-Islam parties and their sympathy for Israel's genocide clearly suggests that the UN's calls for universal recognition of Palestinian statehood may not materialise in the near future.

As long as Europe’s far right continues to demonise Muslims, there is little hope on the horizon for universal acceptance of Palestinian statehood.