MPs to debate recognising the Palestinian state

The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror, The Times, BBC News, Sky News, and The Daily Record all report on today’s debate in Parliament on whether to recognise the statehood of Palestine.

The House of Commons debate comes after the Swedish government announced that it would officially recognise the state of Palestine as the Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven, justified the move on the basis that “a two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to peaceful coexistence.” Sky News reports that Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have also already recognised Palestine as a state. More than 100 countries worldwide have recognised Palestine.

Labour MP Grahame Morris will be presenting the motion later today with backing from the party leader Ed Miliband. The motion states “That this House believes that the Government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel.”

In an interview with the BBC, Grahame Morris said “The problem we have is that the evidence of history over the last 20 years, or perhaps 60 years, is that negotiations are not based on equity. They are rather asymmetrical. Israel holds all the aces. They continue to expand their settlements. They continue to annex land. We saw the terrible incursion into Gaza and consequential loss of life. This is an attempt to balance the equation in reducing some equity and to retry to re-energise the process.”

According to the Guardian, almost two dozen MPs including Conservative MP Guto Bebb have tabled an amendment calling for the recognition of Palestinian statehood after a formal peace deal between the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority is established.

Although the Foreign Office will not be bound by the outcome of the debate, the vote carries symbolic importance.

While the coalition government has granted backbenchers a free vote, Labour MPs who choose to attend the vote are compelled to support the motion after the party imposed a three line whip on the issue.

The Times notes that between four and six members of the shadow cabinet as well as other frontbenchers and MPs are expected to be absent from the vote. In addition, the BBC reports that Prime Minister David Cameron will also abstain in the vote. The Times also adds that the motion is expected to be backed by a significant number of Labour MPs as well as Liberal Democrats and Tories.

Indeed, Lady Warsi, who resigned over the government’s ‘morally indefensible’ stance on Gaza, is urging MPs to lead by example by recognising the state of Palestine with their vote. In an interview with the Observer newspaper, she stated “There is a lack of political will and our moral compass is missing.

“There are no negotiations, there is no show in town. Somehow we have to breathe life into these negotiations, and one of the ways we can do that is by recognising the state of Palestine.

“The settlement building continues apace, yet there are no consequences following settlement building. If the settlements are not stopped – and they will only be stopped if there are consequences – then the viability of a two-state solution is over”.

The significance of the debate has been duly recognised by leaders and activists across British Muslim communities who have similarly urged MPs to support the motion recognising the state of Palestine in a letter published in the Guardian newspaper today. It states:

“For many years we have seen British politicians acknowledge the impact the abuse of Palestinian human rights and the steady demise of the prospects for a two-state solution has had on radicalising British Muslim youth. We have also too often heard rapturous vocal support for the two-state solution and the Middle East peace process without due regard for the need to match words to deeds.”

Similarly, the Guardian also notes that a group of more than 350 Israelis including politicians, activists, and scientists, urged MPs in an open letter to vote in favour of the motion because “the long-term existence and security of Israel depends on the long term existence of a Palestinian state”.

It seems there is considerable support for MPs to recognise the state of Palestine though it remains to be seen whether parliamentarians will speak up for those constituents who, since Israeli’s brutal incursion into the Gaza strip over the summer, have been lobbying for recognition of Palestine as a means of advancing sovereignty for the Palestinian people.