Labour govt. will immediately recognize a state of Palestine

Britain's opposition Labour Party has announced in its General Election manifesto that a Labour government will “immediately recognize” a state of Palestine if the party wins the June 8 vote.

Revealed by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Tuesday in Bradford, the manifesto called for an end to Israel’s blockade and occupation of Palestine as well as construction of illegal settlements on the occupied Palestinian lands.

“Labour is committed to a comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on a two-state solution – a secure Israel alongside a secure and viable state of Palestine,” the document said.

“There can be no military solution to this conflict and all sides must avoid taking action that would make peace harder to achieve,” the manifesto stated. “Labour will continue to press for an immediate return to meaningful negotiations leading to a diplomatic resolution.”

“A Labour government will immediately recognize the state of Palestine,” it declared.

“We will also urge negotiations towards a political resolution in all other regions currently experiencing conflict, including Kashmir, Libya, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, and give our strong support to those countries already working to end decades of division, including Colombia, Cyprus and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” the documented noted.

It seems the Labour Party was forced to make some amendments to its manifesto because an earlier leaked version even highlighted the “humanitarian crisis” in the occupied Palestinian territories, denouncing settlement-building in the occupied West Bank as “wrong, illegal and a threat to the peace process.”

Over half a million Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. The presence and continued expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine has created a major obstacle for the efforts to establish peace in the Middle East.