Monday’s overwhelming vote in the British parliament to recognise Palestine as a state was an indication of a continuing global shift in favour of Palestine. Such a large margin — 274 to 12 in favour of recognising Palestine’s statehood — would have been unthinkable only a few years ago, when the Zionist message dominated the media and public thinking in Europe and the US.
The vote came a week after Sweden’s new government announced it would officially recognise Palestine. Both decisions illustrate how previous sympathy in European societies for the Israelis has been destroyed by their brutality and arrogance. There is now broad support across Europe for justice for Palestinians and a recognition that two decades after the Oslo agreement, the prospects of a two-state solution are fading fast and action should be taken immediately. The British motion was balanced as it sought to “recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel” as part of a “contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution”.
But the reality on the ground is changing every day in Israel’s favour as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government continues to undermine the Palestinians in the West Bank. And persists with unleashing brutal force on Gaza, leading to the deaths of thousands. Therefore, it is wrong that despite UK Prime Minister David Cameron having made clear that the vote would be non-binding on his government, Britain will not be joining 135 of the UN’s 193 member states that recognise Palestine as an independent state. Even so, the vote has set a benchmark from which it will be hard for the British government to retreat.