Published on, Sept. 24 -- September 24, 2025 4:09 AM

The 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly would perhaps go down in the record as a rare showcase of unity and resolve. On Monday, delegates rose to endorse the New York Declaration, a resolution pledging tangible, time-bound steps toward Palestinian statehood, while one after another, Western governments (long hesitant) moved to recognition.

France joined a wider cascade that has left more than four-fifths of UN members now recognising Palestine. Yet as applause greeted a revived two-state vocabulary, Gaza absorbed another week of bombardment, displacement and hunger; a choreography of absolution by powers unwilling to pay the price of real protection.

Recognition carri...