{"id":31,"date":"2015-04-06T17:17:53","date_gmt":"2015-04-06T16:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/?p=31"},"modified":"2018-11-02T18:13:05","modified_gmt":"2018-11-02T18:13:05","slug":"palestine-state-recognition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20150406-palestine-state-recognition","title":{"rendered":"State Recognition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recognising Palestine is about the recognition of Palestinian rights and self-determination. As the former Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander said in 2012, statehood is not \u201ca gift to be given, but a right to be recognised\u201d. Labour Friends of Palestine supports the immediate recognition of Palestine as reflected in Labour\u2019s 2017 manifesto.<\/p>\n

Recognition is a policy decision for the UK Government and there is nothing to stop the current Government from granting diplomatic recognition to Palestine, should they wish – indeed 136 of the 193 UN Member States have already done so. Russia and China, 2 of the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council have also recognised Palestinian statehood. In line with Labour\u2019s 2017 manifesto, a Labour government would immediately recognise Palestine.<\/p>\n

In October 2014, the House of Commons voted in favour of a motion calling on the UK Government to recognise the state of Palestine. The vote was passed by a majority of 262 votes. Years later, the UK Government still have yet to acknowledge that decision.<\/p>\n

Over 100 years ago, the then British government issued the \u2018Balfour Declaration\u2019, which promised UK support for the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine. The current British Government has an historic responsibility to uphold the second commitment in the Declaration, that \u201cnothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine\u201d. That commitment remains unfulfilled. The Palestinian people continue to be denied basic rights \u2013 including self-determination \u2013 in contradiction of international law. This continued denial of rights remains one of the key causes of the conflict. A sustainable peace in the Middle East can only be built on the basis of equal rights for all and the self-determination of peoples on both sides. The UK Government should therefore recognise the State of Palestine alongside Israel and press for international law to be upheld in the search for a just and lasting peace.<\/p>\n

Why UK recognition of Palestine is so important:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
1. Britain has already accepted Palestine\u2019s right<\/em> to statehood and has an historic responsibility for the region<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
2. Palestine has all the attributes of a state with functioning institutions worthy of a state\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013\u00a0Both the World Bank and the IMF have reported that Palestine\u2019s institutions are ready. The British government accepted at the time that this was the case.<\/li>\n
3. Recognition of Palestine does not prejudice negotiation and final agreement on borders<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0As it stands the internationally\u00a0recognised\u00a0borders of the state of Israel are not the same as those Israel defines for itself. For example, Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be within its borders whereas the UK, in common with other countries, only recognizes West Jerusalem as part of Israel. The UK acknowledges that Israel has de facto control of East Jerusalem but not de jure Israeli control there. These differences are not any impediment to continuing UK recognition of Israel as a state and they do not prejudice final status negotiations on Jerusalem or borders. Recognition of Palestine by the UK would not prejudice these things either.<\/li>\n
4. Israel should have no right of veto over the right of Palestinians to self-determination<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Bilateral\u00a0recognition of Palestine is something the UK can do bilaterally. Israel has objected to Palestine being recognised as a state. It states that this should be an outcome of negotiations. There are currently no negotiations and the peace process has been stalled for long enough while the viability and contiguity of any potential Palestinian state are eroded by Israeli authorities on the ground. Recognising Israel was not subject to negotiation and neither should recognition of Palestine.<\/li>\n
5. Recognising Palestine would balance recognition of Israel<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The UK recognised Israel in 1950, it did not ask Palestinian permission to do so. It is time to recognise Palestine without having to ask Israel\u2019s permission to do so.\u00a0 Palestinians have been denied the rights and freedoms accorded to citizens of a state. For example, they do not have a fully accredited Embassy in the United Kingdom. They do not have passports recognised the world over. This has been the case now for over 60 years.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

   Recognising Palestine is about the recognition of Palestinian rights and self-determination. As the former Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander said in 2012, statehood is not \u201ca gift to be given, but a right to be recognised\u201d. Labour Friends of Palestine…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Palestinian-flag-flies-in-Ramallah.jpg?fit=1200%2C894&quality=80&strip=all&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":163,"url":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20110916-mps-show-support-for-palestine-in-un-vote","url_meta":{"origin":31,"position":0},"title":"MPs show support for Palestine in UN vote","date":"16th September 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Parliament heard passionate pleas for the Palestinians to be granted recognition as a state and admission to the United Nations as MPs prepared for the conference season. Labour\u2019s Sir Gerald Kaufman urged the Foreign Secretary to vote in support of the Palestinians when the UN meets in New York later\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20110916_temp.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&quality=80&strip=all&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":37,"url":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20161222-briefing-on-the-united-nations-vote-on-palestinian-statehood-and-un-membership-in-september","url_meta":{"origin":31,"position":1},"title":"Briefing on the United Nations vote on Palestinian statehood and UN membership in September","date":"22nd December 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"After the Israelis refused to extend their settlement freeze last September, leading to the break-up of the peace talks, the Palestinian Authority announced that it would seek recognition as an independent state and membership of the United Nations at the General Assembly in September.\u00a0 Already well over 100 countries (representing\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/placeholder_grey.gif?quality=80&resize=350%2C200&strip=all#038;strip=all&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":140,"url":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20110703-briefing-on-the-united-nations-vote-on-palestinian-statehood-and-un-membership-in-september-2","url_meta":{"origin":31,"position":2},"title":"Briefing on the United Nations vote on Palestinian statehood and UN membership in September","date":"3rd July 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"After the Israelis refused to extend their settlement freeze last September, leading to the break-up of the peace talks, the Palestinian Authority announced that it would seek recognition as an independent state and membership of the United Nations at the General Assembly in September.\u00a0 Already well over 100 countries (representing\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Map-palestinian-loss-of-land-1946-2009.jpg?fit=1200%2C816&quality=80&strip=all&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":166,"url":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20110920-the-government-should-follow-the-lead-of-the-labour-party-and-support-the-palestinian-bid-for-recognition-at-the-united-nations","url_meta":{"origin":31,"position":3},"title":"The Government should follow the lead of the Labour Party and support the Palestinian bid for recognition at the United Nations","date":"20th September 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Simon Danczuk MP The Chair of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East, Simon Danczuk MP welcomed the announcement from the Shadow Foreign Minister, Douglas Alexander MP, supporting the Palestinian bid for recognition at the United Nations. Mr Danczuk backed the letter Douglas Alexander sent to the Foreign Secretary\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Painted-Palestinian-flag.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&quality=80&strip=all&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":154,"url":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20110914-jack-straw-urges-mps-to-back-the-palestinian-statehood-bid","url_meta":{"origin":31,"position":4},"title":"Jack Straw urges MPs to back the Palestinian statehood bid","date":"14th September 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Jack Straw writes to MPs to urge them to support the Palestinian statehood bid.\u00a0 His letter his published in full below: Dear Member of Parliament I haven\u2019t signed an EDM for many years but last week I decided to break the habit of (nearly) a political lifetime by putting my\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"Jack Straw","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/jack-straw.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&quality=80&strip=all&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":169,"url":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20110920-labour-party-backs-palestinian-statehood-bid","url_meta":{"origin":31,"position":5},"title":"Labour Party backs Palestinian statehood bid","date":"20th September 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"20 September 2011 Douglas Alexander MP, Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary, has written to William Hague setting out Labour's position ahead of the United Nations General Assembly:?\u00a0?\u201cThe case made by the Palestinians for recognition as a state is strong. This week, at the United Nations, the British Government should be willing\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Labour-logo.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&quality=80&strip=all&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1078,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions\/1078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}