But Trump, Kushner, Witkoff, Blair just don’t get it. And neither do those world leaders who signed up to Trump’s phony ‘Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity’.
Last week a Conservative MP in Westminster submitted a string of written Parliamentary questions about the UK’s recognition of Palestinian statehood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to withdraw recognition of the State of Palestine in the event that Hamas break any conditions of that recognition.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK will support Palestinian membership of the United Nations, in the context of UK recognition of the State of Palestine.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she made the proscription of Hamas by the Government of the State of Palestine a condition of UK recognition.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what her Department’s policy is on the status of East Jerusalem, in the context of the UK’s recognition of the State of Palestine.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she made continued access for Jewish and Christian communities to holy sites in the State of Palestine a condition of UK recognition.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the level of (a) human rights and (b) democracy in the State of Palestine.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made free and fair elections a condition of the UK’s recognition of the State of Palestine.
They didn’t sound at all Palestine-friendly to me. On the other hand they may have been cleverly drafted to trap the Secretary of State, but that seems unlikely as the MP was not among the 84 parliamentarians who signed the letter calling for sanctions against Israel on the first anniversary of a landmark ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israel’s presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) is “unlawful” and must end “as rapidly as possible”.
And he misses the essential point. Palestinian freedom and self-determination are non-negotiable. It’s a basic right and doesn’t depend on anyone else, such as Israel, the US or the UK agreeing to it. In short, statehood must not come with conditions attached. So what was the motive behind this MP’s largely irrelevant questions? To inflict even more anxiety on a people who have suffered unspeakable cruelty and injustice not just for the last 2 years but the last 7 decades, and now face extermination by their tormentor while the vultures gather for the rich pickings from their devastated homeland? Or was he just making mischief along with the countless others who should know better?
He is surely aware that a team of 28 independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council have warned that any peace plan must absolutely safeguard the human rights of Palestinians, and not create further conditions of oppression. They also advise that key elements of Trump’s so-called peace plan are inconsistent with fundamental rules of international law and the 2024 Advisory Opinion of the ICJ which demands that Israel ends its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The experts’ warnings include the following:
Any peace plan must respect the ground rules of international law. The future of Palestine must be in the hands of the Palestinian people – not imposed in circumstances of extreme duress by outsiders (Trump please note).
The Trump plan does not guarantee the Palestinian right of self-determination as international law requires; and vague pre-conditions put Palestine’s future at the mercy of decisions by outsiders, not in the hands of Palestinians as international law commands.
The ICJ has ruled that fulfilling the right of self-determination cannot be conditional on negotiations.
The “temporary transitional government” is not representative of Palestinians and even excludes the Palestinian Authority, which further violates self-determination and lacks legitimacy.
Who governs is a matter for the Palestinians only, without foreign interference.
An “International Stabilisation Force”, outside the control of the Palestinian people and the United Nations as a guarantor, would be contrary to Palestinian self-determination.
The plan largely treats Gaza in isolation from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, when these areas must be regarded as a unified Palestinian territory and State.
The plan omits any duty on Israel and those who have sustained its illegal attacks in Gaza to compensate Palestinians for illegal war damage.
The plan does not address other fundamental issues such as ending illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, borders, compensation, and refugees.
The plan does not provide a leading role for the UN General Assembly or Security Council, or for UNRWA which is vital to assisting and protecting Palestinians.
The ICJ has been crystal clear: Conditions cannot be placed on the Palestinian right of self-determination. The Israeli occupation must end immediately, totally and unconditionally, with due reparation made to the Palestinians.
The United Nations – not Israel or its closest ally – has been identified by the ICJ as the legitimate authority to oversee the end of the occupation and the transition towards a political solution in which the Palestinians’ right of self-determination is fully realised.
The full list of objections can be found on the UN’s website.
We’re told the MP is a barrister specialising in ethics and compliance. So you’d expect him to know about UN Resolution 37/43 which comprehensively re-affirms previous resolutions and treaties on the universal right to self-determination and the speedy granting of independence to colonial countries and all peoples still under foreign domination and alien subjugation – such as the Palestinians. It is hoped he is mindful that Palestinians have been kept waiting for over 100 years for this.
What’s more, 37/43 considers that denying the Palestinian people their inalienable rights to self-determination, sovereignty, independence and return to Palestine, and the repeated acts of aggression by Israel against the peoples of the region, constitute a serious threat to international peace and security.
And, by the way, 37/43 gives Palestinians an unquestionable right, in their struggle for liberation, to “eliminate the threat posed by Israel by all available means including armed struggle”. As China reminded everyone at the ICJ, “armed resistance against occupation is enshrined in international law and is not terrorism”. So who are Trump, Netanyahu and Starmer to insist Palestinians disarm when their neighbour has been illegally occupying them for nearly 78 years and continues genociding them (with US-UK support) as we speak?
As for the MP’s point about “free and fair elections”, there have been no elections to the Palestinian Authority since 2006. As everyone surely knows by now, Hamas won fair and square on that last occasion under the scrutiny of international observers, a result that didn’t suit the Israel-US-UK axis or the ruling Fatah faction. President Mahmoud Abbas indefinitely postponed national elections in April 2021, stating as his reason that Israel refused to allow Palestinians in East Jerusalem to participate in voting per Israel’s commitment in the Oslo Accords.