Is Palestine a State? What If Countries Say It Is?

France, the UK, Canada and Australia formally recognized Palestine as a state in advance of the Sept. 23 start of the annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations, and more more countries are expected to line up behind them during the UN General Assembly in New York.

The great majority of countries in the world — around 150 of them — recognize Palestinian statehood. That doesn’t mean the Palestinian people have a state of their own in the full sense of the word. In fact, the likelihood of full self-government appears more remote than ever. Yet the latest declarations have symbolic value for the Palestinians, and they serve to diplomatically isolate Israel, whose government opposes Palestinian statehood.