🇵🇸 Britain, Canada, and Australia Recognize the State of Palestine — A Huge Symbol, But Does It Change Anything for Palestinians?
For Palestinians on the ground, recognition doesn’t stop genocide or deliver bread. But it reframes Israel’s actions as an invasion of a sovereign state.
Why I Need You Today
Family, this week Britain, Australia, and Canada formally recognized Palestine as a state. That’s three of America’s closest allies breaking from both the U.S. and Israel on the world stage. Symbolically, it’s huge. Politically, it’s risky. And it shows just how isolated the U.S. and Israel have become.
But here’s the thing: for Palestinians in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Jerusalem, and scattered in refugee camps around the world, this recognition feels like a little more than nothing. It doesn’t stop the bombs. It doesn’t deliver food. It doesn’t hold Israel accountable. And that story simply isn’t being told in the mainstream media.
That’s why I need you with me to keep telling the truth: symbolism matters, but survival matters more. Please become a monthly, annual, or founding member.
What It Means for the Nations
For Britain, Canada, and Australia, this is a big move. Let me explain why I feel this way because in my community, it looks like a bunch of nothing. These three nations know it risks alienating two of their oldest allies — the United States and Israel. These are nations that have almost always moved in lockstep with Washington and Tel Aviv. To break from that is rare. I’m no fool, I know these nations still give a ton of support and cover to the United States and Israel, but this move represents the reality that these nations know the genocide is just not sustainable much longer. At least that’s my hope.
So yes, in London, Ottawa, and Canberra, they see this as bold. They are proud of themselves. Their leaders will tell their people: “We stood up for international law. We recognized Palestine.”
And for citizens of those nations — especially activists who have fought for this recognition for decades — there is a sense of pride. Finally, their governments said out loud what they have long believed: Palestine is a state. So for those reasons, I’m slow to simply dismiss it as nothing. People fought for this.
What It Means for Palestinians
But for Palestinians themselves? The truth is more painful. Recognition does not stop a single missile. It does not stop famine. It does not allow a single truck of food or medicine into Gaza. It does not free Palestinian hostages from military jails.
To Palestinians, and to most Arabs and Muslims around the world, this feels like the safest possible bold move. It’s the symbolic gesture you make when you don’t have the courage to cut weapons shipments, or sanction Israeli officials, or call the genocide what it is.
And they’re right. It’s a move of recognition without real consequence. The UK now recognizes Palestine as a state, for instance, but still says that no genocide is taking place. What are any of us supposed to do with that?
Where I Stand
Family, I fall somewhere in the middle. I agree with Palestinians who say this changes almost nothing on the ground. It doesn’t. Recognition will not feed children or stop bombs.
But I also believe this represents a massive sea change in how the world sees Palestine — and how it sees Israel.
For decades, Palestinians were told they weren’t even a people. They were told their land was disputed, their nation imaginary. And now? Nearly 150 nations have recognized Palestine as a state.
That matters. Because when a people are recognized as a state, it reshapes how the world must talk about their oppression. I hope that makes sense.
The Key Question
Here’s the question I can’t stop asking: if now nearly 150 nations recognize Palestine as a state, then what do we call what Israel is doing today?
It’s not just “military operations.” It’s not just “occupation.”
It is the destruction and invasion of a sovereign state.
That changes everything. Under international law, invading and dismantling another recognized state is not just occupation — it is aggression. It is a crime of war on the highest level.
Family, Pause With Me Here
If you see the contradiction, pause with me here. How can the world recognize Palestine as a state and then sit silently as Israel bombs its cities, starves its people, and seizes its land? If Palestine is a state, then the world must admit this is not security — it is the annihilation of a nation. If you agree, please share this post now.
Why It Matters
Recognition alone will not save Palestinians. But it chips away at Israel’s legitimacy. It isolates the U.S. further. It cracks the wall of silence.
But unless recognition is followed by:
Arms embargoes,
Sanctions on Israeli officials,
Prosecutions for war crimes,
Full accountability for genocide,
…it remains mostly symbolism.
And Palestinians cannot eat symbolism. They cannot survive on recognition alone.
The Truth
Family, recognition is a start. It is a sign that the world is shifting. It is a moment of pride for citizens of Britain, Canada, and Australia. But let us be clear: unless those nations follow recognition with courage, this will be remembered as the safest bold move they could make during genocide.
The world doesn’t need safe boldness. It needs real boldness. It needs nations willing to stop the bombs, starve the weapons pipeline, and hold Israel accountable.
Stand With Me Against Silence
Family, we cannot allow recognition to be the end of the story. It must be the beginning. Because if Palestine is a state — and it is — then the world must treat what Israel is doing as the destruction of a sovereign nation.
Mainstream outlets will not frame it that way. But here we will. They are literally controlled by Zionism. That’s why I need you with me. Please become a monthly, annual, or founding member.
Because here, we refuse to let symbolism replace survival.
Silence is complicity.
Silence is complicity.
Silence is complicity.
Love and appreciate each of you.
Your friend and brother,
Shaun
Three More Truths
Family, here are three more truths I’ve written that I don’t want you to miss. Please read them, share them, and let them fuel you the same way writing them fueled me:
🚨 I want to get super nerdy and tell you how math proves a scandal in the United States Senate
Family, let me show you something extraordinary — and infuriating. This week Bernie Sanders became the first United States Senator to call Gaza a genocide. But here’s the problem: Bernie is 1 out of 100. That means that 714 days into this campaign of mass death,
🚨 Banned for Life on Instagram, Censored on Twitter — The Only Place I Can Still Tell the Truth Is Here
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I'd truly love to hear your thoughts on this one. If you read my full article, how do you now see an announcement like this? As always, feel free to push back.
'But for Palestinians themselves? The truth is more painful. Recognition does not stop a single missile. It does not stop famine. It does not allow a single truck of food or medicine into Gaza. It does not free Palestinian hostages from military jails.'
Very true, Shaun, it's a step forward and indicative of the tide turning more and more against what Israel is and what it's doing. But by the time the world recognises the State of Palestine there will be nothing left to recognise. This recognition of a destroyed states and a people completely massacred will then just stand testament to the great lie that lives at the heart of the liberal order.
For us: All rules can always be broken and none ever apply.
For you: No rules can ever be broken and all apply always.
The Rules-Based Order is among the greatest deceits in history. My new piece goes into this actually and my theory of megaloliberalism.
We need the US to finally do something for anything of meaning to change, to save Gaza and to stop the monstrosity that is Zionist Israel. Until then, it's mostly just words, and Gazans, more than most any people we can imagine, need actions.