UK recognition of Palestinian state distracts from what is right – Middle East Monitor

The current debate over recognising a Palestinian state is a dangerous distraction. It lets Keir Starmer and his government look like they are doing something bold while sidestepping consequential questions. Will the UK hold Israel accountable for the genocide in Gaza? Will it stop supplying arms, intelligence and diplomatic cover to an operation that is destroying any hope of a Palestinian state and Palestinian lives?

Declaring recognition without attaching measurable, enforceable demands turns politics into theatre. Recognition becomes a headline-grabbing substitute for genuine self-determination.

Worse, the contour of this “state” is being shaped not by Palestinians but by western capitals and Israel. David Lammy, as foreign secretary has been explicit that any future Palestinian state must be demilitarised. A formulation that sounds reasonable only until you test its consequences.

A demilitarised state, by definition, cannot guarantee its own security or the safety of its people. That means Palestinians would be permanently vulnerable and dependent on the mercy of Israel and the same Western powers that refuse to check Israel’s violence.

In addition, Starmer’s proposal demand that Hamas be excluded from Gaza and play no role in future Palestinian politics. Conditioning statehood on the dismantling of popular, if contested, political movements make sovereignty contingent on political subordination.

This pattern is not unique to Britain. It reflects a broader Western diplomacy that privileges Israeli security frameworks over Palestinian survival and dignity. The predictable result is an international order that rewards domination and penalises resistance offering the occupied the appearance of statehood without the substance of sovereignty.

Starmer’s proposal, then, is not emancipation. It is capitulation dressed as generosity. When recognition is granted only after Palestinians meet conditions set by external actors and their occupiers of demilitarisation, political disarmament, acceptance of externally designed security arrangements and where Israeli “security” is prioritised above Palestinian rights. Recognition becomes a reward for compliance, not the restoration of an inalienable right to self-determination.

What does Starmer’s “recognised” Palestine look like under these terms? A state with no agreed borders; no sovereign authority over Jerusalem and Masjid al-Aqsa; no control of its own security forces; no independent control over its water and other natural resources; and no right of return for refugees. A Palestine in name only, a façade of statehood.

READ: UK government urged to ‘prevent and punish’ Israel’s genocide after UN’s Gaza report

Political power inside this phantom state will be constrained from the start. The leaders of the state will need to be approved by Western governments and Israel. These Israeli subcontractors masquerading as Palestinian leadership will function as intermediaries for Israel rather than representatives of the Palestinians. They will be able to govern only so long as they preserve the strategic interests of Israel.

Recognising a hollowed-out Palestine while the UK continues business as usual with Israel preserves the fundamentals of Israeli settler-colonial domination. It cements apartheid structures and shields Israeli leaders from accountability over grave violations of international law, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Recognition that is merely symbolic or, worse, conditional on Palestinian disempowerment will not liberate Palestinians.

Starmer, more than most, should recognise that Britain bears a particular moral and historical responsibility for Palestinian suffering. Imperial Britain’s Balfour Declaration and the policies that followed were central to shaping the Palestinian catastrophe that has been ongoing.

Seventy-seven years on, the imperial project that helped create Israel has produced mass dispossession, forced expulsions, more than five million Palestinian refugees, massacres, ethnic cleansing and genocide.

The Balfour Declaration which pledged a homeland for the Jewish people while insisting that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of the Palestinian people” lies in tatters. Today’s reality, far from honouring that dual promise, features Israel committing violations of international law, the Geneva Conventions, UN resolutions and basic humanitarian norms.

If Starmer truly cares about Palestinian rights and takes historical responsibility seriously, his proposal would be backed by material consequences.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.