Longtime Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti said recognition of the Palestinian state by Ireland, Spain and Norway was a “powerful political and symbolically significant step” that moved the achievement of “freedom and justice” closer for the Palestinian people.

“It is a very important step in determining the rights of the Palestinian people – our people – for self-determination,” Barghouti told Al Jazeera.

“Also, it blows away a lot of the de facto effects that Israel has created through settlement building on the ground – by confirming that Palestine today is a state under occupation,” Barghouti said.

“So, any efforts of the occupying power to change facts on the ground is meaningless and will not have an impact in the long run,” he said.

“This is also a blow to Netanyahu and his extreme government, and to the fascists in his government … It means the acts of fascism and extremism in the Israeli government has no future,” he added.