Link to article: https://allafrica.com/stories/202110070940.html
Dr. Riad Malki, Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, will travel to South Africa on an official visit. There, he will hold diplomatic talks with South Africa’s International Relations and Cooperations Minister, Dr. Naledi Pandor. This visit takes place as both South Africa and Palestine believe the people of Palestine are being subjugated to injustice, destruction, thievery, displacement, and loss of territory by the government of Israel. In response to recent skirmishes between Israel and Palestine the government of South Africa has called upon the International Community to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict and South Africa dreams of an independent State of Palestine alongside Israel.
Nevertheless, at this current meeting South Africa hopes to strengthen their relationship with Palestine, provide political support to Palestine, build and maintain a high-level of exchange between their intelligence communities, and form an ally within a very volatile and strategic Middle East. South Africa also hopes the meeting signals to the United Nations and its Security Council of the growing legitimacy of the Palestinian State and its people.
Now, as optimistic South Africa and Palestine may be, this meeting will likely not make any changes in the United Nations recognition of Palestine. This is because the United Nations Security Council gets to determine who are officially states. Since the United States, one of Israel’s closest allies, is a Permanent Five Member with veto powers the United States can block any attempts at a large-scale recognition of Palestine on the International Level.
However, Palestine using Sub-Saharan African countries as allies in an attempt to gain recognition, specifically South Africa, could potentially help boost their reputation, particularly with countries like the United States. The United States and South Africa are economically, politically, and culturally linked as both nations are former colonies of Britain. Also, South Africa could be seen as a more moderate ally of Palestine because they recognize both Palestine and Israel. This places South Africa as an important link between the two countries that could potentially aid in more autonomy for Palestine. However, sadly for South Africa and Palestine, there is very little to no chance of the United States recognizing Palestine in the near future.
This could represent an Identity view of International Relations. This is when countries work together for the sake of caring about each other rather than self-interest. This cooperation usually stems from a long-standing history, ethnic ties, or a common culture. This can be seen in the South African and Palestinian relations as the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) stated, “South Africa attaches great importance to its relationship with Palestine, which is underpinned by historic bonds of solidarity, friendship and cooperation.” This unifying factor between Palestine and South Africa was that both countries were imperial possessions of the British.