Peers' bid to stop UK recognising Palestine as a state is 'deplorable'
The Convention, signed by 17 signatories in the Americas, set out four key criteria for statehood. The UK was not a signatory.
Richard McNeil-Willson, who lectures in the Islamic and Middle Eastern studies department at Edinburgh University, said that the interpretation was 'not only ludicrous' by a 'cynical' interpretation of the treaty.
READ MORE: Ipso defends chair for publicly opposing recognition of Palestine
And, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said it was 'deplorable' that peers were trying to use legal technicalities while a genocide is underway.
The criteria under the Montevideo Convention sets out that a state must have a permanent population, a defined territory, a government and capacity to enter into relations with other states.
But, McNeil-Willson explained there are several issues with that argument, adding that it was a 'spoiler attempt' to stop Palestinians from having 'basic rights'.
'It's very bizarre that this has been focused on by the 43 peers and signatories who essentially put forward these arguments that Palestine doesn't meet any of the four criteria," he said.
'You can look at this from a technical point of view, the letter of the law, and you can say, well clearly Palestine has a permanent population.
'It also has borders, and it has borders that are internationally recognised, and they are recognised under the International Court of Justice.'
(Image: Supplied) McNeil-Willson noted the claims that this applies as there isn't a functioning government in Palestine, there have been no elections for decades, and Hamas is a terrorist organisation, falls short.
'The [Montevideo Convention] doesn't care what kind of government is in place, if it's a democratic organisation, they wouldn't care if it's non democratic authoritarian – that doesn't stop it from being recognised as a state,' he added.
'Equally, the idea that it's a terrorist organisation – if you look at contemporary international relations, the recognition of the Taliban as a government in Afghanistan, despite it being previously seen by the US and lots of Europe as a terrorist organisation.
'Then there's the HTS [Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham] in Syria which is now being recognised as the legitimate government of Syria, that doesn't change Syria's righteousness as a state. None of these ideas make any sense.'
McNeil-Willson added that under the interpretation put forward by the peers in the letter, the 147 states that have already recognised Palestine, including Mexico, Brazil, and Chile, who also signed the Montevideo Convention, are already in violation of international law.
READ MORE: 'Keir' name goes extinct after Starmer comes to power
'The arguments they're putting forward – that the population isn't permanent, the borders aren't recognised – are a direct result of Israel's genocide, of its bombing and its invasion,' he added.
'It's not only ludicrous, it's a very cynical view of the conflict that in no way takes Israel's role into account.'
He added: 'To Israel, the existence of Palestine is a threat. To Palestinians, it's simply a way of proclaiming basic human rights that should be granted to them.'
Scottish Greens co-leader Harvie said that recognition of Palestine as a state is 'long overdue'.
'It must be just the first step of many toward achieving peace, security and justice for the Palestinian people,' he added.
'To seek legal technicalities to block progress is deplorable. We should completely reject the idea that Palestine should be denied statehood because of factors which are entirely the result of Israel's occupation and illegal settlements over many years.
'The current genocide must end, the occupation must end, and the international community must finally take action against the state of Israel for its dehumanisation of Palestinians and hold war criminals accountable.'
We previously told how Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the UK Government would follow France's lead and officially recognise Palestinian statehood in September if Israel and Hamas do not agree to a ceasefire.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Stay or go? Under Trump, dreams fade for Chinese who trekked to US
When Pan decided to leave his homeland in early 2023, he did so with a conviction that his future no longer belonged he headed to America, he dreamed of a freer society, a fairer economy, and a life lived with dignity – things he said he could never claim in China, where his home had been forcibly demolished by the local government to make way for real estate chase that dream, he embarked on a journey of thousands of miles from China to Ecuador in 2023, from which point he trekked jungles as part of his long route. About two months later, he finally made it to the a soft-spoken man in his late 50s from a small village in Jiangxi province in eastern China, is one of tens of thousands of Chinese nationals who have made the same journey in recent years. Known colloquially as zou xian ke, or "those who walked the line", they represent a new wave of migration driven by authoritarian tightening at home and the belief – sometimes naive, often desperate – that the US still offers a fair shot at a better reasons for exodus varied, but their experiences once on American soil follow certain trends: many have ended up isolated by language, burdened by debt and surviving on gig work as they wait for their asylum claims to crawl through an overwhelming immigration remain hopeful. Others are all of them, now, are living in the long shadow of President Donald Trump's political return - during which the poor US-China relations of recent years have soured even further. 'Hard work here brings hope' Pan is one of several Chinese migrants who I first met two years ago. Like many of the group who he travelled with, he now works in a Chinese restaurant, even though back home, he prided himself on his farming know-how. In America, those skills don't translate, since the soil conditions are different and he doesn't speak English. Past lives hold little a while after arriving, Pan wandered from city to city, sleeping on borrowed couches or bunking with fellow migrants. Eventually, he landed in Barstow, California, a dusty industrial life today is penned within a tight radius. He cooks and sometimes waits tables at a restaurant during the day, video-calls his wife and children in China at night, and repeats the routine the next day. He lives in a room attached to the outsiders, and even to his family back home, Pan's life might seem unbearably monotonous. But to him, it's defined not by what's lacking, but by what's no longer present. No land seizures. No meddling officials. No fear of arbitrary punishment."My family doesn't understand," he said with a half-smile. "They ask why I left a comfortable life behind. But here, even if it's simple, it's mine. It's free."Pan's sense of freedom is quiet but stubborn. Two years ago, in a cramped hotel room in Quito, Ecuador, he told me on the eve of his journey that even if he died en route, it would be worth still says the same. "All of this," he repeated, "is worth it." Like many newcomers, Pan doesn't have any meaningful social circle – the mounting language and cultural difference challenges confine his life to interactions with fellow migrants. Occasionally, he travels to Los Angeles to join protests outside the Chinese consulate. He admits that is partly to strengthen his asylum claim by establishing a public record of political dissent. But it is also because, after decades of silence, he 4 June, the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre – a date scrubbed from China's public memory by the authorities – he stood again outside the consulate chanting anti-Chinese Communist Party slogans. That day, among the familiar crowd, he spotted James.A young man in his early 30s who hailed from western China, James had travelled with Pan from Ecuador through the Darién Gap and up to the US border. But if Pan's story is one of quiet stoicism, James's is more kinetic, more his release from a US immigration detention centre, James bounced between cash gigs in Monterey Park, a Chinese-majority suburb east of Los Angeles. He ultimately bought a cargo van, drove out to Palm Springs, and made the car both his livelihood and his van is cluttered with sleeping bags, gas canisters, and a portable charger - that's all he needs to be content with his life. During the day, he delivers food around the city; at night, he parks outside a 24-hour gym and sleeps with the windows was always a hustler in China. But after Covid tanked the economy and political crackdowns left little room to breathe, he decided to leave."At least your hard work here brings hope, but back in China, you could work over ten hours a day and see no future," James told me. 'America is becoming another China' Yet hope alone isn't enough. For nearly all the newcomers, including James and Pan who are by and large content with their life in the US, Trump's political return has brought back a gnawing sense of wave of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across southern California, Trump's continuous push to deport undocumented immigrants, and rising US-China tensions including a battle over trade tariffs, have all deepened a climate of I was re-connecting with the migrants who I first met in 2023, clashes between protesters and the government police forces were unfolding in downtown Los Angeles over recent ICE raids were part of the president's aim to enact the "biggest deportation operation" in US history - a pledge that helped him to win the White House again last year. A CBS News/YouGov poll conducted in early June found 54% of Americans saying they approved of his deportation administration says its raids have primarily targeted people with criminal records, although critics say innocent people have been caught up in the drive - sparking anxiety among all of the migrants I reconnected with now hold what's called an Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) that allows them to legally work in the US, but they have not been granted official asylum status. In Trump's expansive ICE raid campaign, people who hold exactly the same status as these migrants have been what's the driving the fear is a sense of unknowing - of if and when these raids will reach the Chinese community, or when the next downturn of China-US relations could the two Trump presidencies, US-China relations hardly improved when Joe Biden served in the White House. The Democrat kept earlier Trump tariffs in place, and tensions rose as Beijing escalated its rhetoric over the status of US ally some, all the unease has prompted a question that many Chinese migrants have quietly begun to ask themselves: is America worth it?Kevin, a man in his thirties from China's Fujian province, didn't think so. Like Pan and James, Kevin journeyed through Latin America to reach the US. But the American dream he once believed in now feels like a I asked him how settled he was in California's San Gabriel Valley, where he lives with his wife and their newborn son, he referred to the ICE raids in LA and answered: "Everything feels uncertain. So no, I don't feel settled."Kevin's disillusionment runs deep. "America, to me, feels like it's becoming another China," he said. "A Darwinian society.""If I had known what it would really be like, I might not have come," he continued. Caught in a pincer For a long time, what bound all these migrants was the journey they shared on that treacherous now, that binding has an extra layer: the emotional undercurrent they now swim against two years after they arrived in the US. It is the creeping realisation that their place in America is precarious, that the country they bet everything on might not have space for them after zouxian wave was driven by desperation – but also by an almost childlike faith in the American idea: that this country, for all its flaws, still offered a shot at dignity. A delivery job. A sliver of land. A bed behind a restaurant where no one came knocking at with Trump portraying China as national security threat, warning of "infiltration," and promising sweeping crackdowns on many things China-related, even those modest hopes feel more under siege than effect is clear. This new wave of Chinese migrants – many of them still awaiting asylum – now feel themselves caught in a pincer: mistrusted by Americans, unwanted by Beijing, and sometimes suspended in legal for one, is bracing for the worst. "The future here doesn't feel as certain anymore," he said, standing outside the restaurant in Barstow, watching the freeway traffic blur past. "I'm worried I might not be allowed to stay. And if I go back to China…"He trailed off. For a moment, he said nothing. Then he looked at me, steady, calm, resigned."That thought," he said, "is unbearable."It was the same look I remembered from that hotel room in Quito, two years and a world ago: worry flickering behind tired eyes, but beneath it, a core of absolute matter what happens, Pan told me, he's staying.
Scottish Sun
4 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Benjamin Netanyahu defies ex-army chiefs as he hints at new Gaza offensive despite calls to end war with Hamas
'We're going for the full conquest of the Gaza Strip – and defeating Hamas' CONQUER CALL Benjamin Netanyahu defies ex-army chiefs as he hints at new Gaza offensive despite calls to end war with Hamas Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at wider military action in Gaza despite former army and intelligence chiefs calling for the war to end. A security cabinet meeting was postponed last night amid mounting tensions about possible plans for a 'full occupation' of the battered Middle Eastern strip. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted at a possible Gaza escalation despite calls to end the war with Hamas Credit: Getty Mr Netanyahu was said to be considering taking total control of the Palestinian-occupied territory to end the 22-month fight against Hamas. Senior Israeli military officials warned it could endanger the lives of captured hostages and further isolate the nation on the world stage. But local media reported Mr Netanyahu had already made up his mind, quoting an unnamed senior official saying: 'The die has been cast. 'We're going for the full conquest of the Gaza Strip – and defeating Hamas.' READ MORE WORLD NEWS SCHEME TRUMPED US deportees set for Rwanda hostel spruced up with £20m in UK taxpayer cash Previously, In a fiery address Sunday night, the Mr Netanyahu declared that Israel would press forward with a "decisive military victory" to free the remaining hostages. Netanyahu again vowed to crush Hamas, which he said was deliberately starving captives in scenes chillingly reminiscent of the Nazi death camps. Referencing horror hostage videos released by Hamas, he said: "You see them languishing in a dungeon, but the Hamas monsters surrounding them have thick, fleshy arms. "They have everything they need to eat. They are starving them, just as the Nazis starved the Jews." The footage — released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad last week and approved for publication by the families — shows the hostages visibly emaciated, trembling, and close to collapse. Starmer vows UK will recognise Palestine in weeks unless Israel ends crisis – but critics blast 'reward' for Hamas
The Herald Scotland
4 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Couple make first call home since being detained in Iran
They deny the allegations. Their son Joe Bennett, of Folkestone, Kent, told the BBC he had an eight-minute call with his mother. He said: 'We laughed, we cried, and for a few brief moments, it felt like the weight of the past seven months lifted.' He feels his parents are 'holding strong', adding that 'they're resilient, they're positive, and somehow, they're still smiling'. Travel advice for Iran (FCDO) The couple have been separated, are being held in different prisons and have access to basic resources, according to Mr Bennett. He also told BBC Radio Kent that British officials saw his father was 'dishevelled and had lost a lot of weight'. His mother is not walking well due to prison conditions. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office advises British and British-Iranian nationals, who are at significant risk of detention, not to travel to the Middle Eastern country. A spokesman said: 'We are deeply concerned by reports that two British nationals have been charged with espionage in Iran. 'We continue to raise this case directly with the Iranian authorities. 'We are providing them with consular assistance and remain in close contact with their family members.'
