UK: Bill to recognize Palestine submitted to parliament

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

A bill to officially recognize Palestinian state has been submitted to the House of Commons by the first British Palestinian MP on Wednesday.

Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat MP, said in a video she shared before submitting the bill that she is very proud for being elected as the first Palestinian MP in the U.K. “but it remains the fact that Britain has not officially recognized the Palestinian as a state and I believe that is something that should change.”

“Since I was elected I have been dismayed at the progress the Conservative Government has made towards the state of Palestine," Moran said in a statement issued to Anadolu Agency.

“I am in of a two-state solution, but until the state of Palestine is , the two actors can’t come to the table as equal partners,” she said.

She said: “Given the U.K.’s role in the Balfour declaration it is vital that Britain the role it has played and the role to play in re-igniting the peace talks.

“Whilst I appreciate that the U.K. recognizing the state of Palestine alone won’t be a solution, doing it would go some way to reigniting the spark of hope that has gone out in the heart of Palestinians across the world.”

The bill will be published in the next few days or weeks and it will, if passed into law, require the Government to formally the state of Palestine within 3 months of the Bill being passed, a statement from Moran’s parliamentary office said.

“I don’t believe that we should be waiting some sort of fictitious moment in the future with undefined goals where this is given as a reward for Palestine and Palestinian leaders’ going back to negotiating table,” Moran said in the video she shared earlier on YouTube.

“I encourage anyone who believes in peace between Israel and Palestine, who believes in the two-state solution to back this bill and back Britain recognizing Palestine as a state as soon as possible,” she said.

Palestine embarked on a strategy to seek international recognition as an independent state in 1988 with its declaration of independence. Between 2009 and 2010, a second phase began, during which many countries decided to recognize it as an independent state.

In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly granted Palestine the status of non-member observer state.

It has been recognized by 137 of the 193 UN member states and the UK, and most of the EU countries are still to recognize Palestinian state officially.