"I'm really glad that there are people who can see our suffering in Palestine and understand the problems we're going through," says Diaa, 23, who did not want to give his full name. "But while recognition is important, what we really need are solutions." This city is home to government buildings, diplomatic missions, and a sprawling presidential palace.

But for many Palestinians, the dream remains that East Jerusalem - just a few miles south but largely cut off by Israel's separation barrier - could become their capital under a two-state solution, which would create an independent Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, alongside Israel. It is with that stated goal that the UK, France, Australia, Canada, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, Andorra, and Monaco announced formal recognition of the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in New York this week. "Recognition is a positive after all this time," says Kamal Daowd, 40, on a busy Ramallah street. "But without international pressure it will not be enough." "If recognition comes without giving us our rights," he says. "Then it's nothing more than ink on paper".

Israel has labelled the Western move a "reward for terrorism". Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Sunday "there will be no Palestinian state" - while ultranationalists in his governing coalition went further, repeating calls for Israel to annex the West Bank outright.  "The only response," wrote far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, is "the removal of the foolish idea of a Palestinian state from the agenda forever." The UK and Germany say they have warned Israel against annexation, while UN Secretary General António Guterres told Monday's conference it would be "morally, legally and politically intolerable". (BBC)