{"id":8022,"date":"2014-10-14T15:40:07","date_gmt":"2014-10-14T15:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tat.reddaisytrading.co.uk\/index.php\/2014\/10\/14\/mps-pass-motion-on-palestinian-state\/"},"modified":"2016-01-07T14:46:58","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T14:46:58","slug":"mps-pass-motion-on-palestinian-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/2014\/10\/14\/mps-pass-motion-on-palestinian-state\/","title":{"rendered":"MPs Pass Motion on Palestinian State"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Parliament Votes to Recognise Palestine<\/h3>\n

\"\"\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Reuters) – British lawmakers voted on Monday to recognise Palestine as a state, a move that will not alter government policy, but carries symbolic value as Palestinians pursue international recognition.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n <\/p>\n

Britain does not classify Palestine as a state, but says it could do so at any time if it believed it would help promote peace between the Palestinians and Israel.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Prime Minister David Cameron abstained from the vote, which was called by an opposition lawmaker, and Cameron’s spokesman earlier said foreign policy would not be affected whatever the outcome.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The vote was closely watched by Palestinians and Israelis seeking to gauge the readiness of European countries to act on Palestinian hopes for unilateral recognition by U.N. member states.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The final motion, which passed by 274 votes to 12 stated: “That this House believes that the Government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution.”<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The vote comes just as Sweden’s new centre-left government prepares to officially recognise Palestine, a move condemned by Israel, which says an independent Palestine can only be achieved through negotiations.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Lawmakers who backed the motion said it would increase pressure on Israeli and Palestinian authorities to revive the stalled peace process.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

“Its purpose is very simple, based upon the belief that the recognition of a state of Palestine, alongside a state of Israel will add to the pressure for a negotiated two-state solution and may bring that prospect a little closer to fruition,” said Jack Straw, who served as foreign minister between 2001 and 2006.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

NON-BINDING<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Only 286 of 650 lawmakers voted, with many outside the government choosing to abstain. The ballot is non-binding and will not force Britain, once the colonial ruler of Palestine, to change its foreign policy.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The government said progress towards a two-state solution was urgent, and recognition of Palestine as a state should be carefully timed to help that outcome.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

“The UK will bilaterally recognise a Palestinian state when we judge that it can best help bring about the peace,” said Tobias Ellwood, the government minister with responsibility for the Middle East.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

“You can, after all … only play this card once,” he said. “Once it’s done, you cannot repeat it, so the timing of this is critical.”<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The U.N. General Assembly approved the de facto recognition of Palestine as a state in 2012, but the United States, the European Union and most EU countries, including Britain, have yet to throw their weight behind unilateral independence.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza, with its capital in East Jerusalem.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Palestinians have long resented Britain’s role in the region, arguing its three-decade rule over Palestine and subsequent withdrawal in 1948 allowed the creation of an Israeli state.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

U.S.-backed peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians collapsed earlier this year and there is no sign they might be revived any time some.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Western diplomats in Jerusalem question in private whether the so-called two state solution is still viable, given extensive Israeli settlement building on occupied lands.<\/div>\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parliament Votes to Recognise Palestine \u00a0 \u00a0 (Reuters) – British lawmakers voted on Monday to recognise Palestine as a state, a move that will not alter government policy, but carries symbolic value as Palestinians pursue international recognition. Britain does not classify Palestine as a state, but says it could do so at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}