National Post
· collected 2026-09-13 · by Special to National Post
analysis
Story summary
Canada recently recognized Palestine as a state based on commitments from Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority President, to reform governance, hold elections in 2026 excluding Hamas, and demilitarize. However, critics argue that these conditions fail to address whether Palestine has the institutions necessary for peaceful and democratic governance before being recognized as a state.
The critique highlights a perceived double standard: while Israel is held accountable for its actions and decisions, Palestinians are often seen merely as victims of historical forces beyond their control. Diplomatic discussions typically emphasize demands on Israel to accept ceasefires, restrain military operations, halt settlement expansion, negotiate with adversaries, make territorial concessions, and outline a political vision, underscoring that Israel has significant agency in the conflict.
In contrast, the expectations placed on Palestinian leaders tend not to stress accountability or democratic reforms similarly. This disparity suggests that treating Palestinians with dignity requires acknowledging their capacity for making critical choices regarding war, peace, democracy, authoritarianism, education, incitement, and governance.
Written for “Palestinian Accountability” on 2026-09-14,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Canada’s decision, Carney said, was predicated on commitments from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to fundamentally reform Palestinian governance, hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas could play no part and demilitarize a future Palestinian state.
uncertain
Hamas → say → state
These conditions never answered the most obvious objection to Canada’s policy: Why recognize a state before the institutions capable of governing it peacefully and democratically actually exist?
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institutions → answer → it
Canada went ahead and did it anyway.
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Canada → go → it
Israel is treated as a country whose leaders make choices and must live with their consequences.
asserted
leaders → treat → consequences
Palestinians are treated as a people to whom history happens.
asserted
history → treat → whom
Israel must accept a ceasefire, restrain its military, halt settlement expansion, negotiate with its enemies, make territorial concessions and articulate a credible political horizon.
asserted
Israel → accept → horizon
Some of those demands are reasonable and others can be debated, but they all make it clear that Israel possesses agency.
asserted
Israel → debate → agency
Mahmoud Abbas was elected president in 2005 and has remained in office ever since, despite repeatedly promising to hold elections.
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Abbas → elect → elections
Hamas spent years turning Gaza into a terrorist stronghold before launching the deadliest attack against Jews since the Holocaust.
asserted
Hamas → spend → Holocaust
Palestinian politics remain fractured, corruption is endemic within the Palestinian Authority and its education system continues to glorify violence and deny the Jewish people’s historical connection to the land.
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system → remain → land
Yet the diplomatic dogma remains overwhelmingly focused on what everyone else should do for Palestinians.
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everyone → remain → Palestinians
Israel should change its policies and tactics.
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Israel → change → policies
Washington should exert more pressure on Israel.
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Washington → exert → Israel
Western governments should recognize Palestine, the United Nations should confer greater legitimacy and donor countries should provide more assistance.
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countries → recognize → assistance
What, precisely, are Palestinian leaders expected to do?
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leaders → expect → ?
Expecting nothing is not allyship, it’s paternalism.
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it → expect → nothing
If Palestinians are entitled to sovereignty, as the Carney government believes they are, then Palestinian leaders should be responsible for building the institutions that make sovereignty viable.
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sovereignty → believe → institutions
They should be responsible for whether their people vote, whether public money rewards violence, whether schools prepare children for co-existence and whether their political culture treats negotiation and compromise as diplomacy or betrayal.
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culture → vote → diplomacy
None of this absolves Israel of responsibility for its actions.
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None → absolve → actions
It is held accountable for the decisions of its elected government because that is what it means to treat a nation as a sovereign political actor.
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it → hold → actor
Palestinians deserve the same standard.
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Palestinians → deserve → standard
Successful states are built on institutions, accountability, the rule of law and political leadership capable and willing to make difficult choices.
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states → build → choices
Foreign governments cannot manufacture a viable Palestinian state by removing the expectations placed on the people who would govern it.
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who → manufacture → it
This is what makes Canada’s decision so baffling.
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decision → make → ?
Ottawa granted one of the Palestinians’ most important diplomatic objectives before the reforms it deemed essential to statehood had been adopted.
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it → grant → statehood
The message was that Palestinian leaders could receive the benefits of statehood before demonstrating their willingness or ability to assume its responsibilities.
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leaders → receive → responsibilities
The international community speaks about Palestinian dignity and self-determination.
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community → speak → dignity
Treating Palestinians with dignity means recognizing they are not victims of forces beyond their control, but a people whose leaders make choices about war and peace, democracy and authoritarianism, education and incitement, corruption and good governance.
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leaders → treat → war
The refusal to hold those leaders accountable has real consequences.
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leaders → hold → consequences
A Palestinian born when Mahmoud Abbas was elected president could now be old enough to have children without ever having voted in a presidential election.
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Abbas → bear → election
Nor should Hamas’s continued armed presence in Gaza be treated as an unfortunate fact that everyone else must accommodate.
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everyone → treat → that
Its leaders made choices, its members committed atrocities and its continued brutality carries consequences for the society in which it operates.
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it → make → which
A serious commitment to Palestinian statehood requires more accountability, not less.
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commitment → require → accountability
Canada says it wants Palestinians to exercise the right of self-determination.
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Palestinians → say → determination
Then it should treat them as a people capable of exercising it, with all the responsibilities that entails.
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that → treat → responsibilities
Palestinians do not need the international community to expect less of them.
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community → need → them
They need it to take their aspirations seriously enough to expect more.
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it → need → more
