Starmer's pledge on Palestinian state ‘grotesque,' says campaign group
Keir Starmer pledged to recognize a Palestinian state in September if Israel fails to reach a ceasefire with Hamas, among other conditions.
Placing the Palestinian right to self-determination 'within the context of Israel's actions' is 'shameful,' the PSC said in a statement, adding that it is an 'inalienable right' that should be recognized regardless of Israel's conduct.
Starmer's apparent shift, which followed in French President Emmanuel Macron's footsteps, 'came in part because of intense pressure from the British public, expressed in the huge protest movement that has persevered over many months,' the PSC said.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war in October 2023, the PSC and a host of other campaign groups have led regular protest marches through British cities.
The protests have swelled in size amid mounting public anger over Israel's conduct in Gaza, as well as the UK government's perceived reluctance to take action against it.
Protesters have focused on British ties to Israel and its military, waging boycott campaigns against companies with ties to the Israel Defense Forces.
'Every British MP and government official is also aware of the fact that British-exported weapons are being used by the Israeli military in its brutality against Palestinian civilians and complete devastation of the Gaza Strip's infrastructure,' the PSC said.
'British politicians are now bemoaning the images of horror, but continuing to act as partners in Israel's genocide by maintaining trade with Israel, including in weapons and other military items, and by implementing limited sanctions on a few individual ministers, as though Israel's genocide is being engineered and carried out by a 'few bad apples.''
The PSC condemned Starmer's move this week as 'grotesque,' and one that tells Palestinians: 'State recognition may come, but only if and when many, many more of you are dead.'
Rather than representing a turning point, his decision is 'simply more of the same,' the PSC said, describing the pledge as having been 'added to the package of collusion and complicity with genocide.'
It called on the government to take immediate steps and 'everything in their power' to secure an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza. The UK must also place a comprehensive weapons embargo on Israel, the PSC demanded.
'Keir Starmer claims support for the Palestinian right to self-determination while ensuring that Israel has all the means it needs to eradicate the Palestinian people and annex their land,' it said.
'The British public will not be fooled into holding out hope for the possibility of a symbolic gesture granted by the British government in September.'
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