Europe starts process of recognizing Palestine

Ireland on Tuesday decided to upgrade the status of the Palestinian Authority diplomatic delegation in Dublin, starting what many in Israel fear will be a domino effect leading to the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian Arab state.
Irish officials stressed that the PA delegation was not being upgraded to a full embassy, but rather a diplomatic mission, and that Dublin was not recognizing “Palestine” as an independent state.
Still, the move does mean that the head of the PA delegation will now be referred to as “ambassador” and will present credentials to the Irish president just like a real ambassador. So while Ireland is playing a game of semantics, the reality “on the ground” is that the Palestinian Authority will be represented as an independent national entity in Europe.