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| MPs expected to vote on whether to recognise the Palestinian State | MPs expected to vote on whether to recognise the Palestinian State |
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| MPs are expected on Monday to vote on whether or not to recognise the Palestinian state, though Ed Miliband, faced by a rebellion across the Labour party, has been forced to backtrack on plans to require his MPs to follow a three-line whip to support recognition. | MPs are expected on Monday to vote on whether or not to recognise the Palestinian state, though Ed Miliband, faced by a rebellion across the Labour party, has been forced to backtrack on plans to require his MPs to follow a three-line whip to support recognition. |
| Almost two dozen MPs who support Israel have tabled an amendment calling for the formation of a state only after a formal peace deal between the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority. It is not clear what amendments will be accepted by the Speaker, John Bercow. | Almost two dozen MPs who support Israel have tabled an amendment calling for the formation of a state only after a formal peace deal between the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority. It is not clear what amendments will be accepted by the Speaker, John Bercow. |
| The vote is entirely symbolic, but may be taken as a sign of the extent to which Israel is losing the battle for public opinion in Britain. | The vote is entirely symbolic, but may be taken as a sign of the extent to which Israel is losing the battle for public opinion in Britain. |
| A large number of Labour MPs have been given permission to stay away from Westminster for the vote, rendering the three-line whip largely meaningless. Miliband was forced to revise his position after senior figures complained that carefully constructed Labour foreign policy towards Israel was being determined on the basis of a backbench Commons motion tabled by the Labour MP Grahame Morris. | A large number of Labour MPs have been given permission to stay away from Westminster for the vote, rendering the three-line whip largely meaningless. Miliband was forced to revise his position after senior figures complained that carefully constructed Labour foreign policy towards Israel was being determined on the basis of a backbench Commons motion tabled by the Labour MP Grahame Morris. |
| More than 130 countries already recognise Palestine, but the Foreign Office will not be bound by the result of the expression of opinion by MPs. Russia has recently said it will also recognise Palestine. | More than 130 countries already recognise Palestine, but the Foreign Office will not be bound by the result of the expression of opinion by MPs. Russia has recently said it will also recognise Palestine. |
| The current policy at the moment, set out by the former foreign secretary William Hague, is that Britain “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 current policy at the moment, set out by the former foreign secretary William Hague, is that Britain “reserves the right to recognise a Palestinian state bilaterally at the moment of our choosing and when it can best help bring about peace”. |
| Support for recognition of Palestine runs high in Labour as the only way forward after the breakdown of peace talks led by US secretary of state, John Kerry, and subsequent fighting between Israel and Gaza. The UK government refused to condemn the Israeli response to rocket attacks from Gaza as disproportionate. | Support for recognition of Palestine runs high in Labour as the only way forward after the breakdown of peace talks led by US secretary of state, John Kerry, and subsequent fighting between Israel and Gaza. The UK government refused to condemn the Israeli response to rocket attacks from Gaza as disproportionate. |
| But in a statement, the Labour Friends of Israel director, Jenny Gerber, warned : “A unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state may make negotiations less likely to occur as the Palestinian Authority will have less motivation to enter talks to begin with.” Baroness Warsi, the former Conservative foreign officer minister, told the Observer: “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 new life into these negotiations, and one of the ways we can do that is by recognising the state of Palestine.” | But in a statement, the Labour Friends of Israel director, Jenny Gerber, warned : “A unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state may make negotiations less likely to occur as the Palestinian Authority will have less motivation to enter talks to begin with.” Baroness Warsi, the former Conservative foreign officer minister, told the Observer: “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 new life into these negotiations, and one of the ways we can do that is by recognising the state of Palestine.” |
| The UN general assembly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine in 2012, but the European Union and most EU countries, including Britain, have yet to give official recognition. Alan Duncan, the former international development minister, said it was shaming that Britain had not taken on its moral responsibility to recognise Palestine. “What is it about Palestine that stops the decent world saying that they are entitled to be a country like any other?” he said. He told Sky News: “We recognised Israel in 1948 after a rather nasty civil war there and now for too long Palestine has been occupied, they are living a miserable life, the Israelis illegally are continuing bit by bit to build on land which is not theirs and it is high time the world recognised Palestine as 134 out of about 160 countries have already done in the United Nations.” | |
| “We continue to believe that negotiations toward a two-state solution are the best route to meeting Palestinian aspirations in reality and on the ground,” a Foreign Office spokesman said. | “We continue to believe that negotiations toward a two-state solution are the best route to meeting Palestinian aspirations in reality and on the ground,” a Foreign Office spokesman said. |
| On Sunday night a group of more than 350 Israeli politicians, civil society activists, scientists, artists and others released an open letter to members of parliament calling upon them to vote in favour of recognising the state of Palestine. | |
| The letter states: “We, Israelis who worry and care for the well-being of the state of Israel, believe that the long-term existence and security of Israel depends on the long-term existence and security of a Palestinian state. For this reason we the undersigned urge members of the UK parliament to vote in favour of the motion to be debated on Monday 13 October 2014 calling on the British government to recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel.” |