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Conflict in the Middle East

UK to recognise Palestine as a state in September

227 replies

SomeWomanSomewhere · 29/07/2025 16:50

"Unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation".

Source: Reuters

It is largely symbolic but it does mean the tide is turning!

Also: interesting to see that they frame it as largely contingent on Israeli behaviour

OP posts:
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6
marmaladeandpeanutbutter · 29/07/2025 20:52

Making terrorists of Palestine Action was a mistake, although I don’t support slapping paint on planes like idiots.

Internationally, the people who should be arrested are Netanyahu and his government. That man is the reptile, and truly self interested.

Joiu · 29/07/2025 21:07

Very happy

DeftShaker · 29/07/2025 21:46

Well, I think this makes a degree of sense.

The UK and others have long held the view that Statehood shouldn't be unilaterally declared but a negotiated part of a peace process (the much vaunted but ever-illusive two-stare solution).

Given that a negotiated solution seems further away than ever, and given the magnitide of the current crisis, I think using it as leverage in ceasefire and humanitarian negotiations instead.

On domestic issues (and while acknowledging that the country is in dire straights), Starmer has been "sensible" but hugely underwhelming. On the world stage though, I actually think he's doing as good a job as can reasonably be asked.

Kakeandkake · 29/07/2025 22:09

"With Keir Starmer announcing today that the UK will seek to recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza and other conditions, recent YouGov data for The Times shows that the British public support recognising Palestinian statehood by more than three to one.
The survey, conducted on 24-25 July, finds that almost half (45%) say that the UK government should recognise Palestine as an independent state, while only 14% disagree – with 41% unsure."

Kakeandkake · 29/07/2025 22:10

I think alot of polls prove that the 'silent majority' that some posters bang on about when it comes to this conflict is just a myth.

SunnyPrague · 29/07/2025 22:13

I don’t really understand - is it to ‘punish’ Israel?

Does Israel give two hoots about what the UK thinks?

Echobelly · 29/07/2025 22:16

It seems a bit weird to frame it like a threat, just recognise Palestine already, as many countries have done already.

Kakeandkake · 29/07/2025 22:21

I think it is to put pressure on Israel to stop what they are doing in Gaza. I did see that there were conditions addressed to Hamas too.

PaxAeterna · 29/07/2025 22:33

SunnyPrague · 29/07/2025 22:13

I don’t really understand - is it to ‘punish’ Israel?

Does Israel give two hoots about what the UK thinks?

Pressure not punish.

Do you think nobody cares what a member of the G7 and a key ally of Israel thinks?? Really? Why do you think it is running as headline news all over the world? Slow news day?

SunnyPrague · 29/07/2025 23:03

PaxAeterna · 29/07/2025 22:33

Pressure not punish.

Do you think nobody cares what a member of the G7 and a key ally of Israel thinks?? Really? Why do you think it is running as headline news all over the world? Slow news day?

I said ‘Does Israel give two hoots about what the UK thinks?’

By which I mean that I don’t know whether Israel (/Netanyahu) really cares whether the UK recognises Palestine as a state or not. I suspect they probably don’t.

DeftShaker · 29/07/2025 23:21

SunnyPrague · 29/07/2025 23:03

I said ‘Does Israel give two hoots about what the UK thinks?’

By which I mean that I don’t know whether Israel (/Netanyahu) really cares whether the UK recognises Palestine as a state or not. I suspect they probably don’t.

Netanyahu's reaction doesnt exactly suggest ambivalence.

indoorplantqueen · 29/07/2025 23:24

The UK gov should recognise Palestine as a state regardless of what Israel does or doesn’t do. Regardless I’m pleased to at least hear some words of condemnation from the UK gov of the genocide that is being perpetrated by Israel.
Israel may or not give 2 shits but it’s a sign that the tide is turning significantly and the spineless UK has taken account of public opinion and outcry. Let’s wait for USA.

marmaladeandpeanutbutter · 30/07/2025 00:16

This reply has been withdrawn

This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

Voxon · 30/07/2025 01:29

If I were Israel I wouldn't hang about, I'd announce publicly that Britain should fuck right off.

Voxon · 30/07/2025 01:44

PaxAeterna · 29/07/2025 22:33

Pressure not punish.

Do you think nobody cares what a member of the G7 and a key ally of Israel thinks?? Really? Why do you think it is running as headline news all over the world? Slow news day?

Yeah, honestly, I think nobody cares. The days of Britain as a superpower are going if not gone. I thought the Tories were embarrassing but this Labour shower of shit are like a bunch of very mid 6th formers. I'm going to guess the spads and advisors are probably 14 year old activists with no fucking clue at all.

Let’s be blunt: if Britain goes ahead with unilaterally recognising a Palestinian state in the middle of an ongoing war with Hamas still holding hostages and ruling Gaza, it’s making a catastrophic miscalculation, not just morally, but geopolitically.

Britain is vastly overestimating its influence and underestimating the fallout if Israel responds by cutting ties.

Britain might be a G7 economy with a Security Council seat, but let’s not pretend it holds decisive weight in global affairs anymore. Post-Brexit, it’s a shrinking diplomatic power with declining global influence. Recognition of Palestine won’t push peace forward — it will symbolically please some (especially the terrorists who libe streamed themselves raping and murdering) but materially achieve nothing. Worse, it alienates a high-tech, militarily advanced, democratic ally in a volatile region.

Israel has diversified ties: the U.S., Germany, India, Eastern Europe, and now even the Abraham Accords with Arab nations. If the UK disappears from the picture? A few diplomatic handshakes lost. Unpleasant, but survivable.

Britain, on the other hand, will lose:

Elite intelligence-sharing from one of the most capable security agencies on Earth.

Tech and defence partnerships that feed into UK innovation, especially in cyber and AI.

Political capital with pro-Israel democracies who see this move as appeasement of terror.

Israel is a £5+ billion trading partner, with huge joint ventures in defence, fintech, agri-tech, and med-tech. British exports in key growth sectors: chemicals, pharmaceuticals, defence systems etc. would be impacted. Israel has options. The UK will struggle to replace those deals with equivalently secure, high-performing partners.

Let’s not forget: Israel provides world-class intelligence on:

Iranian nuclear activity,

Hezbollah, Hamas, and PIJ infrastructure,

Cyberwarfare and terrorism.

Lose that intel? Britain is flying half-blind in the most volatile region on earth. And for what? A symbolic gesture that won't free a single hostage or stop a single rocket.

Jewish voters in Britain will rightly feel betrayed. Labour spent years rebuilding trust after Corbyn and while he's already almost utterly decimated that, this move trashes that. Antisemitic incidents will spike. And don’t think the rest of the population will be thrilled to see Britain ditch an ally and side with a phantom "state" ruled (in part) by genocidal terrorists.

Israel won’t fold. Hamas won’t surrender. No peace will come from this. But Britain will have weakened itself strategically, torched an important alliance and helped sink any real chance at a negotiated solution.

I'm not even going to get started with the amount of violence and terror that will explode after Britain and France send a message that it will be rewarded, but I shudder to think.

Recognition means nothing without peace. And peace isn’t possible while hostages are still in cages and rockets are still flying. Britain should know better, but then they do have quite good form for fucking everything up.

Stripes56 · 30/07/2025 06:41

Starmer may have played this resoundingly well.
He needs to keep Trump on side, and if Netanyahu’s government inevitably fails to meet Starmer’s reasonable demands - then he can blame UK’s need to recognise the state of Palestine on Israel’s government!

I think he has played it this way to keep Trump on side, but also get what his MPs and labour voters want.

It also adds to growing voices in Europe to influence to do something- and most effective will be through their association with Israel.

SunnyPrague · 30/07/2025 06:47

Voxon · 30/07/2025 01:44

Yeah, honestly, I think nobody cares. The days of Britain as a superpower are going if not gone. I thought the Tories were embarrassing but this Labour shower of shit are like a bunch of very mid 6th formers. I'm going to guess the spads and advisors are probably 14 year old activists with no fucking clue at all.

Let’s be blunt: if Britain goes ahead with unilaterally recognising a Palestinian state in the middle of an ongoing war with Hamas still holding hostages and ruling Gaza, it’s making a catastrophic miscalculation, not just morally, but geopolitically.

Britain is vastly overestimating its influence and underestimating the fallout if Israel responds by cutting ties.

Britain might be a G7 economy with a Security Council seat, but let’s not pretend it holds decisive weight in global affairs anymore. Post-Brexit, it’s a shrinking diplomatic power with declining global influence. Recognition of Palestine won’t push peace forward — it will symbolically please some (especially the terrorists who libe streamed themselves raping and murdering) but materially achieve nothing. Worse, it alienates a high-tech, militarily advanced, democratic ally in a volatile region.

Israel has diversified ties: the U.S., Germany, India, Eastern Europe, and now even the Abraham Accords with Arab nations. If the UK disappears from the picture? A few diplomatic handshakes lost. Unpleasant, but survivable.

Britain, on the other hand, will lose:

Elite intelligence-sharing from one of the most capable security agencies on Earth.

Tech and defence partnerships that feed into UK innovation, especially in cyber and AI.

Political capital with pro-Israel democracies who see this move as appeasement of terror.

Israel is a £5+ billion trading partner, with huge joint ventures in defence, fintech, agri-tech, and med-tech. British exports in key growth sectors: chemicals, pharmaceuticals, defence systems etc. would be impacted. Israel has options. The UK will struggle to replace those deals with equivalently secure, high-performing partners.

Let’s not forget: Israel provides world-class intelligence on:

Iranian nuclear activity,

Hezbollah, Hamas, and PIJ infrastructure,

Cyberwarfare and terrorism.

Lose that intel? Britain is flying half-blind in the most volatile region on earth. And for what? A symbolic gesture that won't free a single hostage or stop a single rocket.

Jewish voters in Britain will rightly feel betrayed. Labour spent years rebuilding trust after Corbyn and while he's already almost utterly decimated that, this move trashes that. Antisemitic incidents will spike. And don’t think the rest of the population will be thrilled to see Britain ditch an ally and side with a phantom "state" ruled (in part) by genocidal terrorists.

Israel won’t fold. Hamas won’t surrender. No peace will come from this. But Britain will have weakened itself strategically, torched an important alliance and helped sink any real chance at a negotiated solution.

I'm not even going to get started with the amount of violence and terror that will explode after Britain and France send a message that it will be rewarded, but I shudder to think.

Recognition means nothing without peace. And peace isn’t possible while hostages are still in cages and rockets are still flying. Britain should know better, but then they do have quite good form for fucking everything up.

Thanks for explaining, far better than I possibly could, what I meant when I asked if Israel would give two hoots about what the UK thinks.

I don’t think that the UK recognising a Palestinian state will change anything for the Palestinian people - for all the reasons you state.

EasternStandard · 30/07/2025 07:59

wrong place

EasternStandard · 30/07/2025 08:13

@Voxoninteresting post.

I see Qatar and a few others have issued another statement on Hamas. Macron too ties the Palestinian state to peace.

Whereas Starmer is the only G7 to suggest a state where the conditions don’t have to be met by Hamas. But if they are by Israel they don’t get to be a state.

What bizarre tactics. I’m wondering if his cabinet made him do it for his job. He’s pretty craven and motivated by not being ousted.

LipstickLessons · 30/07/2025 08:33

Voxon · 30/07/2025 01:44

Yeah, honestly, I think nobody cares. The days of Britain as a superpower are going if not gone. I thought the Tories were embarrassing but this Labour shower of shit are like a bunch of very mid 6th formers. I'm going to guess the spads and advisors are probably 14 year old activists with no fucking clue at all.

Let’s be blunt: if Britain goes ahead with unilaterally recognising a Palestinian state in the middle of an ongoing war with Hamas still holding hostages and ruling Gaza, it’s making a catastrophic miscalculation, not just morally, but geopolitically.

Britain is vastly overestimating its influence and underestimating the fallout if Israel responds by cutting ties.

Britain might be a G7 economy with a Security Council seat, but let’s not pretend it holds decisive weight in global affairs anymore. Post-Brexit, it’s a shrinking diplomatic power with declining global influence. Recognition of Palestine won’t push peace forward — it will symbolically please some (especially the terrorists who libe streamed themselves raping and murdering) but materially achieve nothing. Worse, it alienates a high-tech, militarily advanced, democratic ally in a volatile region.

Israel has diversified ties: the U.S., Germany, India, Eastern Europe, and now even the Abraham Accords with Arab nations. If the UK disappears from the picture? A few diplomatic handshakes lost. Unpleasant, but survivable.

Britain, on the other hand, will lose:

Elite intelligence-sharing from one of the most capable security agencies on Earth.

Tech and defence partnerships that feed into UK innovation, especially in cyber and AI.

Political capital with pro-Israel democracies who see this move as appeasement of terror.

Israel is a £5+ billion trading partner, with huge joint ventures in defence, fintech, agri-tech, and med-tech. British exports in key growth sectors: chemicals, pharmaceuticals, defence systems etc. would be impacted. Israel has options. The UK will struggle to replace those deals with equivalently secure, high-performing partners.

Let’s not forget: Israel provides world-class intelligence on:

Iranian nuclear activity,

Hezbollah, Hamas, and PIJ infrastructure,

Cyberwarfare and terrorism.

Lose that intel? Britain is flying half-blind in the most volatile region on earth. And for what? A symbolic gesture that won't free a single hostage or stop a single rocket.

Jewish voters in Britain will rightly feel betrayed. Labour spent years rebuilding trust after Corbyn and while he's already almost utterly decimated that, this move trashes that. Antisemitic incidents will spike. And don’t think the rest of the population will be thrilled to see Britain ditch an ally and side with a phantom "state" ruled (in part) by genocidal terrorists.

Israel won’t fold. Hamas won’t surrender. No peace will come from this. But Britain will have weakened itself strategically, torched an important alliance and helped sink any real chance at a negotiated solution.

I'm not even going to get started with the amount of violence and terror that will explode after Britain and France send a message that it will be rewarded, but I shudder to think.

Recognition means nothing without peace. And peace isn’t possible while hostages are still in cages and rockets are still flying. Britain should know better, but then they do have quite good form for fucking everything up.

Jewish voters in Britain will rightly feel betrayed. Labour spent years rebuilding trust after Corbyn and while he's already almost utterly decimated that, this move trashes that.Antisemitic incidents will spike.

Do you have any proof that British Jews will feel 'betrayed' by moves to recognise Palestinians fundamental human right to self determination, it's quite a shocking claim to be honest especially from someone who says they are concerned about antisemitism.

SunnyPrague · 30/07/2025 08:45

And the US has accused Britain of ‘rewarding’ Hamas.

Twiglets1 · 30/07/2025 08:53

Arab world tells Hamas to lay down arms and end rule of Gaza

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt called for the Palestinian terror group to disband on Tuesday, the first time they have done so.

They joined 14 other countries, including Britain and France, in signing a statement that also condemned the Oct 7 terror attacks and told Hamas to give up power.

It is the first time Arab countries have condemned the group and demanded it play no part in the future governance of Palestine.

“In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State,” reads the declaration, which was produced after a conference at the United Nations.

By signing the statement, the Arab nations also demanded the release of all remaining Israeli hostages.

The statement calls on Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to “issue a clear public commitment to the two-state solution, including a sovereign and viable Palestinian State”.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/07/29/arab-world-tells-hamas-lay-down-arms-end-rule-gaza/

BeRedRobin · 30/07/2025 08:54

This is just starmer wanting to appear to look like the big I am on the world stage. Who cares about the UK and its receding power? Israel will just laugh at his face.
It's also to appease his MPs, some who are terrorist supporters.

Twiglets1 · 30/07/2025 08:54

Arab world tells Hamas to lay down arms and end rule of Gaza

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt called for the Palestinian terror group to disband on Tuesday, the first time they have done so.

They joined 14 other countries, including Britain and France, in signing a statement that also condemned the Oct 7 terror attacks and told Hamas to give up power.

It is the first time Arab countries have condemned the group and demanded it play no part in the future governance of Palestine.

“In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State,” reads the declaration, which was produced after a conference at the United Nations.

By signing the statement, the Arab nations also demanded the release of all remaining Israeli hostages.

The statement calls on Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to “issue a clear public commitment to the two-state solution, including a sovereign and viable Palestinian State”.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/07/29/arab-world-tells-hamas-lay-down-arms-end-rule-gaza/