In a political development that will have enormous symbolic importance for the cause of Palestine, the British House of Commons voted overwhelmingly in favour of recognising Palestine as a state alongside Israel.
Isolating Israel
Although it is the government and not the House of Commons that recognises states, the voting result at 274 to 12 will strengthen the moral case for Palestine internationally while simultaneously isolating Israel for its illegal occupation of Palestine.
Indeed, even though less than half the Members of Parliament (MPs) took part in the voting and Ministers abstained, the debate in the House was sharply critical of Israel’s methods of keeping Palestine under its control.
The United Kingdom does not recognise the state of Palestine, and was one of the 41 countries that abstained from voting at the U.N. General Assembly in 2012 when a majority voted to upgrade the status of Palestine to that of a ‘non-member observer state.’ Its current policy on Palestine “reserves the right to recognise a Palestinian state bilaterally at the moment of our choosing and when it can best help bring about peace.”
The full motion, submitted by Grahame Morris (Labour) with the support of Sarah Teather (Liberal Democrat) and Crispin Blunt (Conservative) stated: “That this House believes that the government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution.”
Mr. Morris said that the British government was “on the wrong side of history” when it decided to abstain on the issue at the U.N. General Assembly in 2012. “We have seen a significant expansion of illegal Israeli settlements… a humanitarian crisis in Gaza of catastrophic proportions and the construction of an illegal annexation wall through Palestinian land,” he said, adding “to make our recognition of Palestine dependent on Israel’s agreement would be to grant Israel a veto over Palestinian self-determination.”
The House of Commons supported the move as “a contribution to supporting a negotiated two-state solution” to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Support from all sides
Indeed, support for a Palestinian state came from all sides of the political spectrum. Sir Richard Ottaway (Conservative) spoke of how he was someone who had “stood by Israel through thick and thin, through the good years and bad” but who has now realised that Israel, over the past 20 years “has been slowly drifting away from public opinion.”
Labour Leader Ed Miliband supported the motion as did the rest of the Labour shadow cabinet. The Liberal Democratic party also supported the motion, though its Ministers in the coalition government abstained from voting in keeping with parliamentary procedure where Ministers do not vote on motions brought in by backbenchers.
