“How is this going to work?”: The Challenges of Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and The Bahamas recognizing Palestine During War
Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and The Bahamas now recognize Palestine as a State. This is after a failed bid by Palestine to gain UN membership and an apparent coalescing around Palestine in the UN General Assembly. Seven months into a war, however, what does this recognition even mean?
The Immediate Background
On April 18, 2024, the United Nations Security Council rejected Palestine’s request for UN membership, with the United States casting a veto. It was a request for a reconsideration of a 2011 request by Palestine. But the world has changed since 2011.
Palestinians are in the middle of a war.
A war in which the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has requested a ceasefire, the provision of humanitarian aid, and the oft-discussed “two-state solution” to be put into effect. Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and The Bahamas are all CARICOM full Member States.
Why does that matter? Because they had been signing regional statements that represented all 14 CARICOM independent Member States. (Montserrat is a great place but they are still under the control of the United Kingdom. So they don’t count for these purposes.) Deciding to join the rest of the region in the recognition of Palestine then did not seem like it would be a difficult position. But it appears to have been. Because all of these four (4) countries have decided to grant recognition now.
And truly, they didn’t have to wait that long. You can’t keep discussing a two-state solution if you don’t recognize two States. But we, in our absolute wisdom, decided to recognize Palestine the hard way.
IN THE MIDDLE OF WAR!
Challenging. Even as other countries like Ireland are talking about also granting Palestine recognition, ahead of the new symbolic UN General Assembly vote.
CARICOM Recognition of Palestine: Everybody Was Not on Board
CARICOM was writing statements left and right asking for calm, then a ceasefire, then a humanitarian corridor. In these statements, it requested a two-state solution as a way to attain a durable peace between Israel and Palestine.
This is technically billed as a war between Israel and Hamas but in month 7, it is clear that the Palestinian people as a whole are taking the brunt. And with the impending bombing of Rafah, it is hard to dispute that everybody Palestinian is a target.
But what did it mean when 10 Member States of a regional grouping recognized Palestine and 4 did not? Especially when those 4 signed on to the group project documents? That is a functional question for the operation of CARICOM. Because, unlike many issues where a compromise document can be drafted, you either recognize a State or you don’t. It doesn’t allow for compromise.
There are also questions to be answered about the weight of previous CARICOM statements, both written and to the UN. If everybody was not on board, did the regional grouping’s position have all the weight it could have? Was it weakened by the holdouts? And what do we do in the future? The issue of Taiwan and its recognition continues to loom large.
Criteria for Statehood in a Time of War
The criteria for statehood are most easily found in Article 1 of the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States. The idea is generally held to be that if you have all four (4) of the criteria, you meet the requirements to be recognized. (Yes yes, that is controversial and complex and there is a whole discussion that can be had about the chicken or the egg, but bear with me in simplicity here).
The criteria are: 1) a defined territory; 2) a permanent population; 3) government; and 4) the capacity to enter into relations with other states. But in a time of war, those are all under pressure.
What are Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and The Bahamas recognizing? As States #140, #141, #142, and #143 of 193 in the world to recognize Palestine, we must figure that out. We are recognising them during a changing and uncertain time. Is what these 4 countries have now chosen to recognize the same as what the other 10 independent CARICOM States have recognized? And what CARICOM, the larger organization, has already recognized?
Below I have some questions and thoughts on how the criteria for statehood may be assessed during this time of war.
Defined Territory Challenges
Where is the defined territory for Palestine? That space appears to be shrinking day by day.
What do we mean when we say we recognize Palestine? What are the geographic limits to that recognition?
Are we recognizing it as it is today or sometime in the past? If in the past, which time in the past?
Permanent Population Challenges
The Palestinian people have had to move to and fro. And the devastating death toll is over 35,000. With the significant bombing of Rafah to come, the number of deaths is likely to go much higher. And the population may no longer be established as so many have lost homes that will take years to rebuild (if they are even allowed to).
Where is the permanent population we are recognizing?
Also, at the rate the war is going, with South Africa taking Israel to the International Court of Justice on allegations of an unfolding Palestinian genocide, they may struggle to be an ongoing population as well.
Government Challenges
The government must have effective control over its territory. We have the defined territory challenges above but, we also have a control problem.
Who is controlling what within Palestine? And where?
Are we also recognizing a government? And if so, who are the persons who comprise that government?
If they are governing, which land are they exercising control over, and which people?
Can this government levy taxes? Provide sanitation? Control immigration? Is that what makes a government effective?
Capacity to Enter Into Legal Relations Challenges
The State must also be able to enter into legal relations. So, how will that work?
Who will sign the treaties with us? Who will grant ambassadors full powers for them to be able to sign treaties?
Are Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, or The Bahamas planning to set up embassies or consulates and exchange ambassadors?
When we discuss State responsibility for internationally wrongful acts, who would we be planning to hold liable?
Creating International Rules
By deciding to go the extremely hard route (I decided the hard route wasn’t enough to indicate the potential challenges ahead), these 4 CARICOM Member States have the opportunity to do something really cool, create international rules around recognition during war.
We’re bright. We can do it. I believe in us. But we could have chosen the path with less stress. Others will follow us, and they will be looking to see how we handle this delicate juncture. You can’t take back recognition (that’s the rule), so going forward, we must now see what recognition will actually mean.
May common (and Capital) sense bless us all.
