Shockat Adam, MP for Leicester South, has today presented the ‘Recognition of the State of Palestine Bill’ to parliament – supported by MPs from across the house. If passed into law it would mean the UK would join 146 other UN members in diplomatically recognising the state and people of Palestine.

Recognition of the State of Palestine Bill

Statehood would enable Palestine to join the United Nations as a full member and would be an important step towards peace in the region, reinforcing Palestinian’s right to self determination and putting a political solution at its core.

In June, 25 UN experts called for the recognition of Palestinian sovereignty as a matter of urgency saying “Palestine must be able to enjoy full self-determination, including the ability to exist, determine their destiny and develop freely as a people with safety and security. This is a pre-condition for lasting peace in Palestine and the entire Middle East”.

Shockat Adam said “The time for Palestine sovereignty and for Palestinians is now. Israel has done everything in its capacity to try and destroy any chance of Palestinian statehood – through settlement, land theft and now the wholesale decimation of Gaza. UK recognition of the Palestinian state will help reinforce the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination, in a way that cannot be vetoed by Israel. This would initiate a path to peace for everyone in the region and not be at the expense of any community.”

The Bill’s sponsors include Sian Berry, Ian Byrne, Jeremy Corbyn, Stephen Gethins, Adnan Hussain, Kim Johnson, Ayoub Khan, Iqbal Mohamed, Brendan O’Hara. and Liz Saville-Roberts.

Adam continued by saying that “By presenting the Bill in parliament, which if passed into law would see the UK recognise an independent State of Palestine is not only the right thing to do, it’s an important step to ensure peace in the region for both Israelis and Palestinians.

He concluded by saying that “I urge parliamentary colleagues to back the Bill on 29 November and be part of the positive change we all want to see in this region”.

Featured image via the Canary

By The Canary

This post was originally published on Canary.