MEND STATEMENT: RECOGNITION OF THE STATE OF PALESTINE MUST NOT BE MADE CONDITIONAL

While MEND cautiously welcomes the UK Government’s move to recognise the State of Palestine, we note with concern that, in his announcement of the decision, Prime Minister Starmer stated that recognition will happen unless the Israeli Government takes “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza”, which includes a ceasefire.

This seems somewhat hollow, given that Israel has already massacred over 55,000 Gazans. The right of Palestinians to sovereignty is inalienable and should not be made conditional upon the behaviour of Israeli authorities, who have already made clear their intention to ensure that the people of Gaza have no homes to return to.

The UK Government must recognise the State of Palestine for the simple reason that it is the morally right thing to do amidst the genocide and decades-long occupation of Palestine.

Recognition of a Palestinian state will not end the genocide overnight, nor the occupation. Recognition alone will not dismantle Israel’s structures of apartheid, nor ground its fighter jets. However, it will contribute to the sea change that is occurring internationally around the recognition of Palestinian statehood, which itself could instil more balance into international diplomacy on the conflict. It may even help to give Palestinians greater access to international forums and legal avenues which, up until now, they have been unjustly denied.

Most importantly, perhaps, recognition sends a signal to the long-suffering Palestinians that we acknowledge their right to sovereignty, self-determination and freedom from Israeli occupation. It may even help to give them increased hope.

We therefore call upon the British Government to recognise the State of Palestine without delay, and to immediately impose an arms embargo and economic sanctions against Israel over its ongoing genocide against the defenceless civilian population of Gaza.