UK’s Labour to promise Palestinian statehood recognition in manifesto: Report

The Labour Party plans to recognize a Palestinian state if it wins the UK general election on July 4. (AFP/File)

• Move comes in bid to heal internal rifts after leader criticized for echoing govt support for Israel
• Labour fears it may fail to win seats over issue, having lost support in local elections to Gaza-focused candidates

LONDON: The Labour Party plans to recognize a Palestinian state if it wins the UK general election on July 4.
The pledge is set to be announced as part of Labour’s election manifesto, which is expected to be published next Thursday if it can be agreed upon with the UK’s trade unions.
It comes as the party tries to unify itself ahead of an expected victory, with the issue having caused deep divisions between members and with many voters choosing not to back it at recent local elections due to a perceived lack of support for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Labour leader Keir Starmer is thought to favor recognition of Palestinian statehood “as part of a peace process,” according to party insiders quoted by The Guardian, having previously stuck to the official line of the current Conservative government, which supports Israel.
The manifesto will lay out a plan to recognize Palestine before a peace process is concluded, and will include a promise not to allow the move to be vetoed by neighboring countries.
Starmer prompted criticism after suggesting last year that he believed Israel had the right to cut off water and electricity supplies to Gaza, but the party has subsequently shown support for a request by an International Criminal Court prosecutor to issue a warrant for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Attitudes in the Conservative Party have also shifted since the start of the Israeli offensive, with Foreign Secretary David Cameron saying in January that the Palestinian people would have to be shown “irreversible progress” toward a two-state solution “as (the peace process) happens.”
The Labour move is likely to fray ties with the Israeli government, which recently reacted with anger after Ireland, Spain and Norway recognized a Palestinian state.
Despite the softening of Labour’s stance on Palestine, that has not healed all internal rifts, with the party set to contest the election against numerous candidates campaigning on the issue of Gaza, including former Labour candidate Faiza Shaheen in the London constituency of Chingford and Woodford Green.
The party has identified two other constituencies, Bristol Central and Sheffield Hallam, which it fears it might not win due to local support for the Palestinians, having lost the recent Rochdale by-election to former Labour MP George Galloway who ran on a similar platform.
The selection of pro-Israel activist Luke Akehurst to stand as a candidate in North Durham has also worried Labour supporters.