Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has likewise dragged its feet at every key juncture of Israel’s murderous campaign. When Israel cut off food and water to the people of Gaza, Starmer supported them. When the Tories were singing the praises of the brutal Netanyahu regime, Starmer was slow to break with them. It comes as no surprise that the Westminster government’s proposal to recognise the legitimacy of a Palestinian state comes far too late, and achieves much too little.
The nation of Palestine has no internationally agreed borders, and has been subject to many waves of incursions by Israeli settlers. The West Bank and Gaza city are facing the nightmare of occupation. Engineered famine is devastating Gaza’s population, with over a third of all children suffering malnutrition. Like Kurdistan, Palestine is a nation that has been systematically thwarted in its struggle for self-determination. Consistent misrecognition of Palestine, a nation wholly deserving of political autonomy, has dire consequences.
Oppression and war have displaced millions of Palestinians from their homeland. The majority are currently living in Jordan, though Palestinian refugees are scattered across the globe. Though they are often forgotten, all of these displaced persons must have the right to return, in peace and safety, to their homes. As Simon Foster, Deputy Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, points out, any recognition of a Palestinian State must include an affirmation of the right to return of Palestinian refugees if is it is to be more than a purely symbolic gesture.
147 United Nations Member States consider Palestine to be a legitimate state- the United States of America, of course, is not one of them. When one state recognises another it represents an acknowledgement that the territory in question possess a functional system of government, the right to self-determination, and the right to remain free from outside aggression. It should be obvious that the denial of legitimate claims to statehood and nationality, on an collective or individual basis, is a key weapon of the colonial and neo-colonial global system.
State logic
The logic of the State structures the relationships between nations. This is not to say that states are perfect institutions- they are not. The capitalist state is a fundamentally violent machine, forged by centuries of exploitation, imperialism, and class conflict. Nor would the recognition of the State of Palestine guarantee the right to return for the thousands who have been displaced from their homes. Nevertheless, the state is the institution through which most people on earth are forced to engage in politics, and populations that are denied access to this machinery, and the legal rights that come with it, are often more easily victimised, not least by imperialist states that claim ownership of other people’s land, labour, and lives.
The Palestinian people have a fundamental and inalienable right to self-determination, and it is vital that this fact is universally recognised. Acknowledging the existence of the Palestinian state is a means to that end. The current position of the UK Government is that it will recognise a Palestinian State in September, although the proposal is conditional. The government will only recognise the State of Palestine if Israel fails to agree to a ceasefire, among other conditions. This makes Palestine’s right to exist wholly contingent on the behaviour of its occupiers. If Palestinian statehood is recognised by the UK Government, it will not be on the basis of moral and legal principles; rather, recognition is being employed as a threat and a bargaining chip in the government’s negotiations with the Netanyahu regime.
Incoherent
The contradictions and incoherences of the government’s position are immediately evident. If the State of Palestine has the right to exist then it should be recognised unconditionally and with immediate effect. No one would argue that the right to life applies only in situations where a person’s life is in immediate danger. The right to life is fundamentally inalienable and universal, and applicable at all times. Rather than waiting for the Israeli government to come to its senses, the Starmer administration should recognise the Palestinian State without delay. This would be the right thing to do even if the Palestinian people faced no immediate threat from their neighbours. The right to exist is unconditional.
The Labour Government further contradicts itself through its relationship with the Israeli State. To condemn war crimes while continuing to trade with the regime responsible, to sell it weapons whilst providing humanitarian aid to its victims, is a morally repugnant hypocrisy. The governments which do recognise the State of Palestine must also commit themselves to the peaceful repatriation of Palestinian refugees, anything less being a woefully insufficient half-measure.
The recognition proposals have clearly been made reluctantly. Kier Starmer is under immense pressure from activists, and seeks to placate his critics with a thin tissue of compromise and rhetoric. It will not work. Only an immediate ceasefire, an unconditional recognition of the right to self-determination and return, and prosecutions for the war criminals, can bring an end to the historic evils currently being perpetrated against civilian populations by Israeli forces. Palestine is being murdered not just by military aggression, but by a long history of half-measures adopted by Western states. This era of utterly shameful compromise must be brought to an end, and the UK Government should take immediate action to restrict Israel’s capacity to carry out its crusade of genocide. No lives will be saved by vague promises of future recognition.
The time for half-measures ended a very long time ago.