It has been brought to our attention that a debate is being organised in the Westminster Parliament on October 13th, with the intent to pressure the UK government to officially recognise a Palestinian State.
Immediately below is a very recent article from the Jerusalem Post on this matter:
British MPs to vote on motion calling for Palestinian State
The debate will offer the MPs the first-ever opportunity to vote on the vexed issue
(by Jerry Lewis - The Jerusalem Post - online edition - September 23rd, 2014)
British MPs will have an unprecedented opportunity to vote on whether there should be a Palestinian state when the House of Commons resumes after its current party conference break on October 13.
A group of MPs from all major political parties, headed by Labour’s Grahame Morris – including Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, Liberal Democrat Sir Bob Russell, and Green Party former leader Caroline Lucas – have secured a debate under a relatively new procedure for a full-scale, whole day’s debate in the Commons chamber.
The motion reads: “This House believes that the government should recognise the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel.’’ With those proposing the motion appearing determined to push the issue to a vote, seasoned Westminster observers fear a vote in favour of immediate recognition of a Palestinian state could cause a substantial shift in public opinion and lead to added pressures on the government to change its current policy, which favours securing an agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians before considering granting Palestinians recognition.
The debate will offer the MPs the first-ever opportunity to vote on the vexed issue. As the topic for debate has been chosen by backbenchers, it is very unlikely party whips will order MPs to attend or advise them how to vote, so predicting any possible outcome is virtually impossible.
However, The Jerusalem Post understands that the pro-Palestinian lobby will not have it entirely its own way. Several pro-Israel MPs from across the political divide in the Commons have just tabled an amendment that in effect insists that any call for establishing a Palestinian State should come about only “on the conclusion of successful peace negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority.”
Those associated with the amendment include former Conservative Friends of Israel Chairman James Arbuthnot, the highly regarded former Middle East Minister, Alistair Burt, Labour Friends of Israel Chairwoman Anne McGuire, and LFI vice chairwoman Louise Ellman.
After working very hard behind the scenes to ensure an amendment was tabled, Conservative Friends of Israel’s energetic director, Stuart Polak, told the Post: “It’s comforting to know that there are backbench MPs who understand the reality of the situation and were able to amend Grahame Morris’s motion. Calling for two states for two peoples after the resumption of successful peace negotiations is something all MPs should support.”
Without indicating which way the government minister – who will participate in the debate – will advise MPs on how to cast their vote, a Foreign Office spokesman told the Post in scarcely coded language that the government would not be endorsing a call favouring the recognition of a Palestinian State.
The spokesman made clear that the government “reserved the right to bilaterally recognise a Palestinian State at a moment of our choosing and when it can best help bring about peace,’’ before crucially adding that the government continues to believe that negotiations toward a two-state solution are “the best route to meeting Palestinian aspirations in reality and on the ground.”
Ellman told the Post that a negotiated two-state solution is required to give Israel security, and “that is the only way mutual recognition between the Palestinians and Israelis can be achieved with an agreement on sensitive issues including border and security arrangements.”
She added that the debate under the terms proposed by Morris and his colleagues is a clear attempt to bypass these requirements and would not require a Palestinian State to recognise Israel’s borders.
We here at CFI-UK are very grateful to our former UK Director, Roy Thurley, for putting together some briefing notes on how we would suggest that you, as a CFI-UK Advocate, might respond to this in any communication you might have with your local MP.
Recognising the Palestinian Authority as a State
A back-bench debate has been secured by Grahame Morris MP (Labour, Easington) to discuss “Palestine and Israel”. This debate will be held in the Chamber of the House of Commons on Monday 13th October, the day that MPs return from the Conference Recess. Although we do not have the exact text of the motion, we understand that it will be similar to: “This House recognises a Palestinian State alongside Israel”. Members of Conservative Friends of Israel have tabled an Amendment, which has been accepted for debate, that this recognition should occur after the successful completion of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Normally back-bench sponsored debates are not ‘whipped’ by the political parties. That is, there is no obligation upon the party members to be present or to vote in a particular way. If the amendment were to be defeated, and the original motion passed, it would mean that the UK Parliament had voted to recognise a Palestinian State now, which would put Parliament at odds with the current Government, whose declared position is that such a state should only come about at the conclusion of successful negotiations. The Government’s Chief Whip has therefore been requested by some Conservative MPs to enforce the whip for this debate, so that those MPs will vote for the amendment (or against the motion) in line with the Government’s position.
What you can do:
Write to your MP asking him/her to attend this debate and to vote for the amendment. It is the policy of both the UK and USA governments that Israel and the Palestinian Authority must negotiate the future status of the disputed territories in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 242 of 1967. The USA, in particular, have tried many times to encourage ‘peace talks’ between Israel and the PA, but these talks have never reached a successful conclusion. Recognition of a Palestinian State in advance gives no reason for the PA to be brought back to the negotiating table, and is likely to make them less willing to do so. If they can gain recognition without negotiation, why negotiate?
The most recent negotiations were broken off because of the unity agreement between the PA and HAMAS, recognised here and in many other countries as a terrorist organisation. The policy of Israel in refusing to negotiate with a terrorist organisation is the same as that of Britain and USA.
If you have a Conservative MP, you could ask him/her in addition to ask the Chief Whip to ensure that Conservative MPs are ‘whipped’ for this debate, to ensure that the policy of the Government is not undermined by a vote in Parliament.
NB. It may be your understanding from the Bible and International Law that Israel is entitled to the whole of the Land of Israel, including Judea and Samaria, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Whether they exercise their right or not is a matter for the Israeli Government, and not for us – though we can pray. Israel has already withdrawn from the Gaza Strip (2005) but did not renounce her sovereignty over that part of the Land. It is up to them how to deal with the PA in any negotiations, and not up to any other country or the United Nations to impose a settlement. That includes a unilateral recognition by the UK Parliament, which is why a defeat of this motion is important for Britain as well as for Israel.
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On a very different tack altogether, one of our CFI-UK Area Reps has made us aware that an advocacy group called Fair Reporting is back in action once more, and is asking for support for an online petition which seeks for the BBC to release its infamous Balen Report.
We are taking this opportunity to make all our email-based Advocates aware and giving you the opportunity to be involved...if you so choose.
Fair Reporting writes:
Fair Reporting is back in action again with a very urgent and important petition requesting :
- The complete publication of the Balen Report that was commissioned in 2004 and which the BBC buried.
- Also requesting an independent investigation of BBC reporting on Israel to expose anti Israel bias since the Balen Report to date.
The purpose of the Petition is to determine if the BBC has, and is, acting within its Charter and to expose biased media reporting.
Please click on the link below to read further and then sign (ie fill in the form on the right hand side with your name and email address and, if you wish, also a comment)
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fair-reporting-requests-the-bbc-to-release-the
On behalf of CFI-UK, thank you in advance for any support you can give to these two matters,
ROBIN BENSON
Head of Communication, CFI-UK |
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