The UK must recognise Palestine now
3 min read
The United Kingdom government must recognise Palestine as a sovereign and independent state. It has repeatedly stated that it intends to do so – but never right now.
Palestine has been recognised by almost 150 of the 193 member states of the United Nations. It has held non-member observer status of the UN General Assembly since 2012 and, in 2014, the Commons voted for recognition.
My Private Members’ Bill would recognise Palestine on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, and the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
Hope for the Palestinians has always been over the horizon, never seemingly within reach
It has been said that such recognition is merely symbolic, not changing anything on the ground. But official recognition has importance – that Palestinians do have a right to self-determination, that they have national rights and that, just like Israelis, they have a right to a state of their own. Acquiring statehood would also give them legal benefits. It has been said that it is too late – the “Swiss cheese” effect of the Israeli settlements and 700,000 settlers, roads, walls and check points in the occupied Palestinian territories means that a contiguous Palestinian state is no longer viable.
Nevertheless, most countries remain signed up to a two-state solution. If so, it becomes extremely urgent to take that forward, lest it becomes impossible, with ramifications both for the Palestinians and the long-term future security and stability of Israel.
It has been said that such recognition would be a reward for the Hamas terrorists who carried out the atrocities of 7 October. This is absolutely not the case. This would be the long overdue recognition of a state for the Palestinian people, not for a particular group. Sir Vincent Fean, former British consul-general in Jerusalem, has written: “The voices of moderation on both sides need encouragement.”
Britain, of course, has a particular responsibility here. The 1917 Balfour declaration was made in the UK. While the then foreign secretary, Arthur James Balfour, spoke of a national homeland for Jewish people in Palestine, he also spoke about safeguarding the “civil and religious rights of… non-Jewish communities”.
The state of Israel was recognised in 1948 in the wake of the horrors of the Nazi period, which had succeeded centuries of persecution. But no state was established alongside for the displaced Palestinians. This was never likely to be a settled and stable situation, and so it has proved.
We know that Israeli governments have opposed Palestinian sovereignty and have frozen out those countries, most recently Norway and Ireland, who have recognised Palestine. But it cannot be the case that an established state should be able to veto the recognition of a neighbour, in their own territories. Neither can this be subject to negotiation and conditions.
Recognition now would be a clear message that Britain recognises Palestinian rights, just as it recognises Israeli rights.
As the Labour Party manifesto stated: “Palestinian statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people. It is not in the gift of any neighbour and is also essential to the long-term security of Israel.”
In 2019, Luxembourg called for the European Union to recognise a Palestinian state. The country’s then foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, said at the time: “Recognising Palestine as a state would be neither a favour nor a carte blanche, but rather a mere recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to their own state. It would not be meant against Israel, but a measure intended to pave the way for a two-state solution.”
Hope for the Palestinians has always been over the horizon, never seemingly within reach. As my colleague Layla Moran argued when she introduced an identical bill in the Commons last year: “The time is now.”
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