Palestinian statehood: cold comfort or flicker of hope?

The UK has joined other Western nations in formally recognising Palestine. Former Oslo Accords negotiator Dr Harry Hagopian asks whether this gesture will translate into meaningful progress toward peace, or whether it will further complicate an already volatile situation

Let me be honest with you: until the very last minute, I was unsure whether the UK, along with France and a number of other Western countries, would take the much-delayed step of recognising the statehood of Palestine.

But they did.

And of course, the analysts, journalists or observers instantly jumped in with their comments: what did this recognition mean in practice? Would it make a difference to the harrowing violence in Gaza? Would it help or impede the release of the hostages? Is there really any hope that this spate of recognitions would enhance the two-state solution? Or is this all simply pointless? After all, if recognition by 140 countries at the UN over many years hadn’t moved matters forward, what difference would another 11 countries make now?

Let’s start with the phone calls that I had with a Christian Palestinian, a Muslim Palestinian and an Jewish Israeli with whom….