UK Government urged to formally recognise State of Palestine

Dundee East MP, Stewart Hosie, has signed up to cross-party efforts to urge the UK Government to formally recognise the state of Palestine.

In 2014 the House of Commons passed a motion calling on the UK Government to recognise Palestine however those calls have gone ignored despite their noted support of a two-state solution.

In October of the same year the Scottish Parliament and Government announced its recognition of the state.

A letter from Oxford West & Abingdon MP, Layla Moran, signed by Stewart Hosie and MPs from all parties stressed the need for a lasting peace process, calling on the Foreign Secretary to establish the UK’s support for Palestinian statehood.

Last week the SNP’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Alyn Smith, pressed the Foreign Office to recognise Palestine and called on the UK Government to ban settlement goods, in an Urgent Question in the House of Commons.

The SNP have also called on the UK Government to review its arms policy with Israel, noting that in the last decade the UK have been the second largest supplier of arms to the state.

The conflict in recent weeks claimed the lives of over 200 Palestinians, many of whom children.

Commenting Stewart Hosie said:

“Israel have every right to defend their people from terrorism, but when human rights watchdogs accuse the IDF and the state of Israel of war crimes the world must come together in condemning their actions and working towards a peaceful solution.”

“Warm words and sympathy from Boris Johnson or Dominic Raab won’t bring back peoples loved ones, their homes, schools, or hospitals.”

“While a ceasefire in hostilities is welcome news the scenes like the ones we’ve witnessed in the past few weeks occur far too often in the region at the detriment of innocent civilians.”

“The SNP support a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. A massive step towards securing that and a lasting peace in the area would be the UK Government joining 130 other UN countries, and Scotland, in formally recognising the state of Palestine.”