British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Stand on Palestine

• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his government’s intention to recognize Palestine during the UN General Assembly session in September.

• This move follows French President Emmanuel Macron’s declaration that Paris would recognize Palestinian statehood in September.

• The 21-month-long war on Gaza is causing Israel to face a diplomatic crisis with more Western countries adopting a favourable position towards Palestinian statehood.

• Of the 193 UN member states, 147 have already recognized Palestine.

• The position of powerful Western countries is shifting, with Russia and China among the five members of the UN Security Council.

• If France and the U.K. follow through with their recent statements, the U.S., Israel’s closest ally and patron, will be isolated at the Council.

• Britain’s move carries historic weight due to its central role in the Israel-Palestine question.

• The Balfour Declaration, issued by Sir Arthur Balfour, was the first major power to endorse the Zionist demand for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

• Britain established a colonial administration in Palestine under the League of Nations Mandate after the First World War.

• After the war, Britain informed the UN of its intention to end the Mandate, which was set to expire on May 15, 1948.

• Zionist leaders unilaterally declared the state of Israel, which the U.S. recognized within minutes, triggering the First Arab Israel war.

• A British recognition of the state of Palestine, 108 years after the Balfour Declaration, assumes enormous symbolic significance.

• As Israel faces accusations of committing genocide against Palestinians and images of Gaza’s devastation and starving children emerge, it becomes untenable for many Western nations to continue to back Israel unconditionally.