THE UK’s recognition of Palestinian statehood has been welcomed by a group of bishops, who said that it “does not reward terrorism, but rather it undercuts extremist narratives and strengthens moderates”.
The Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, along with the Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, the Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, and the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, warned that recognition would “not alleviate the horrors unfolding in Gaza today”.
They referred to a UN commission that concluded that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide (News, 17 September), besides “intensifying levels of settler violence, house demolition and administrative detention that we are witnessing across the West Bank and East Jerusalem”.
Despite having no immediate effect on these conditions, recognition does “offer all Palestinians the hope of a future free from occupation and violence not only for them but for all future generations.
“It sends a strong moral and political signal that this occupation is unjust and untenable and must be brought to an end through negotiations,” the bishops, all of whom have visited the region in the past two years, said.
In an announcement on Sunday, the Prime Minister said that the decision was made “to revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution”.
Australia, Canada, and Portugal also joined the more than 140 countries that already recognise Palestinian statehood, and, on Monday, France followed suit, during a one-day UN summit in New York.
The President of the Palestinian Authority, based in the occupied West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas, addressed the summit by video link after the US government revoked his visa.
The decision to deny entry to the US to Palestinian officials was criticised by the UN, which said that this violated a convention that the US government facilitate travel to the UN headquarters, regardless of people’s political positions.
On Tuesday, the Pope reiterated that the the Vatican supports a two-state solution, saying: “We must seek a path that respects all peoples.”
Pope Leo XIV told reporters that recognition “could help, but right now there is no real willingness to listen on the part of the other side; dialogue is broken”.
The lead bishop for the Holy Land in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, the Rt Revd Bishop Jim Curry, welcomed the Government’s decision, saying that it was “a right and not a reward”.
Referring to a recent visit to the region, Bishop Curry said that the pain he encountered “reinforced my conviction that the path to justice and peace can only be achieved when equal rights for all peoples — Jews, Christians and Muslims — are respected.”
The US President did not attend Monday’s summit, convened by France to discuss a two-state solution. Israel’s representatives did not attend, either.
On Tuesday, however, President Trump told the UN General Assembly that recognising Palestinian statehood would be a “reward” for Hamas, and called for the release of the hostages remaining in Gaza.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Sunday that recognition amounted to rewarding terrorism, and vowed that a Palestinian state “will not happen”.
He said: “The response to the latest attempt to force upon us a terror state in the heart of our land will be given after my return from the United States. Stand by.”
On Monday morning, the Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said that she had told Israeli ministers not to annex more of the West Bank in retaliation.
THE Prime Minster’s announcement was made on the day that churches around the UK, of many denominations, joined a day of prayer for peace (News, 18 September).
Christian Aid welcomed the announcement, describing it as “long overdue”. The head of UK advocacy and campaigns, Jennifer Larbie, said that recognition required “concrete plans that deliver a sovereign state and a pathway towards a just and lasting peace. The UK must take further action now.
“A government policy that allows engagement with settlements is effectively supporting them — and therefore destroying the viability of the very state that they have just recognised, let alone making life for Palestinians in the West Bank intolerable. Action now must be taken to ban all trade between the UK and illegal settlements.”
The establishment of settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law but sanctioned by the Israeli government, has increased since the war in Gaza.
A report published on Monday of last week, and endorsed by more than 80 organisations, including Christian Aid and Oxfam, charts the part played by multinational corporations in the construction of settlements.
UK trade with Israel is estimated to be worth just under £6 billion a year.
On Sunday, a number of UK-based family members of hostages taken on 7 October condemned the UK’s decision to recognise Palestine, saying that it harmed the prospects for the release of those still being held in Gaza.
“It harms the negotiations. It is bad for Gazans, bad for the hostages,” Ilay David, whose brother Evyatar is a hostage in Gaza, said. “Giving this recognition is like saying to Hamas: ‘It is OK, you can keep starving the hostages, you can keep using them as human shields.’”
Mandy Demari, whose daughter Emily was released at the start of this year, said that Sir Keir was “rewarding Hamas” for the 7 October attacks, and that he was “under a two-state delusion”.
THE intention of the UK to recognise Palestinian statehood was announced in July, when the Prime Minister said that, unless a number of conditions, including a ceasefire and promises not to further annex the West Bank, were met by Israel, formal recognition would follow.
At the time, the Archbishop of York, along with the four bishops who made this Sunday’s statement, urged the Government to “recognise Palestine while there is still land on which a state could be recognised” (News, 30 July).
Re-posting Sunday’s statement on social media on Monday morning, Archbishop Cottrell urged followers to join him in praying for peace.
The House of Bishops has previously called for recognition of Palestinian statehood. In a statement in May, they issued a statement saying that “to maintain the hope of a long-lasting peaceful solution, governments should now formally recognise Palestine as a sovereign and independent state. To delay further invites despair” (News, 23 May).
Sunday’s statement by the Bishops of Southwark, Chelmsford, Gloucester, and Norwich said that the UK’s decision to recognise Palestinian statehood, 75 years after recognising the state of Israel, provided “much needed parity of esteem and equal status for both peoples”.
They said: “We hold that it is the reasonable aspiration of all peoples to belong to a state and enjoy the merits of full and active citizenship on their own lands.”
The Prime Minister has said that the UK sees no role for Hamas, which is proscribed as a terror organisation, in a Palestinian state, and the bishops endorsed the idea that recognition would empower more moderate bodies.
Recognition “gives the Palestinian Authority the legitimacy and pressure it needs to govern responsibly and to work towards the implementation of a two-state solution that provides for the creation of a sovereign, independent and viable Palestinian state — living in peace and security, side by side with Israel,” they said.
“Other actions by the UK Government — humanitarian, political and economic — must now accompany recognition. But recognition is essential, as a step towards the attainment of equal rights and the settling of a long standing debt that Britain owes the Palestinian people.”
The full statement is on the Church of England website.
This article was updated on 25 September