LIVE BLOG: British MPs vote on recognising Palestinian state

Chris Doyle, Director of  of CAABU (Council for Arab-British Understanding), writes a column for MEE in which he argues that a historic vote to recognise Palestine opens many opportunities but will mean nothing if further action is not taken to bring the state into reality.

After several hours of discussions, British MPs now voting on whether or not to recognise Palestine as a state.

Yes: 274 No: 12 Motion carried. The UK has voted to recognise Palestine as a state as part of a two state solution.

Hareetz has a story on how Hilik Bar, an Israeli official, has been trying to thwart the vote on recognising Palestine.

Hilik Bar, the secretary-general of the Israeli Labor Party, according to the Israeli paper, sent a letter on Monday to the British Laboour party's senior MPs, following a conference call with several members of the Labor Friends of Israel parliamentary group.

"I understand why many of you will want to vote for anything which claims to be a contribution to peace. But immediate and unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood does nothing to advance this vital cause. In fact, precisely the opposite," the letter continues.

Bar added: "To counter such arguments, and get the peace process moving again, we in the Israeli Labor party need your help, which is why I urge you to stick to your party’s long-standing policy of a negotiated two-state solution, and oppose any unilateral moves which threaten that goal."

American academic Juan Cole tweets that Israelis have been marching in favor of the British vote:

Grahame Morris, the Labour Party MP who put forward the Palestine statehood motion for debate, explains how a yes vote might impact future British politics.

In an email to The Times of Israel, Morris wrote:

“If the vote is a success it would put a tremendous amount of pressure on the current government and the next government, which is likely to be a Labour government, to recognize Palestine as a state.”

“The UK recognizing Palestine could give decisive momentum to more EU states following suit.”

Conservative MP Robert Halfon was met with howls and heckles from backbenchers after comparing Hamas to the Islamic State and saying that a Palestinian state "already existed in Jordan."

"The only difference between Hamas and ISIS is one of degrees," said Halfon who went on to say that if a Palestinian state was recognised "there would be three Palestinian states, one that already exists in Jordan and two statelets, run by Hamas and by Fatah."

Several MPs have alluded to the vote being part of a growing international shift in opinion against Israel.

A recent Guardian article quotes an EU official:

“Each time that there is a major event like the second Lebanon war, Operation Cast Lead [in Gaza], the Turkish flotilla, then support for Israel drops back a little more,” said one senior EU official

MP Andy Macdonald said that over 50,000 emails sent to MPs in the last three weeks expressing anger at Israel during the latest Gaza war.

Middle East Eye editor David Hearst says in a Huffington Post column that British attitudes toward Israel have changed.

All Britons today are more likely to be aware of the 14,000 settlements Israel approved during its nine month peace talks with the Palestinians; to wonder where a Palestinian state is going to go , with more than 600,000 settlers in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank; to acknowledge the insouciant racism of Israeli discourse about non-Jews; to recoil at the cost in Palestinian civilian lives of Israel's definition of its own security.

Britons are losing faith that a solution is just around the corner. The idea of Israel is changing in the minds of its allies. It is no longer a cause. It is becoming heavy baggage.

Hearst talks of the ramifications the vote could have for British politics, in particular the Labour party who have been divided over the vote:

The vote will be a symbolic one. A Palestinian state is a virtual concept, and it has already been recognized by 134 states, most recently by Sweden. But there is nothing symbolic or theoretical about the pressure applied by the Israel lobby on MPs of all parties to toe the line, but particularly a Labour Party led Ed Miliband. The vote in favor would amount to an historic act of defiance with an ally used to dictating the terms of the debate.

(Photograph: Paul Cooper/Rex Features)

Lady Warsi, an ex-minister who quit over British Prime Minister David Cameron's refusal to take a tougher line on Israel during the Gaza war explains in an interview with the Observer her argument for recognising Palestine:

“There is a lack of political will and our moral compass is missing. There are no negotiations, there is no show in town. Somehow we have to breathe new life into these negotiations, and one of the ways we can do that is by recognising the state of Palestine.”

"Britain’s commitment to a negotiated two-state solution is fading so rapidly that the window has almost closed."

Warsi, 43, the daughter of a businessman who emigrated from Pakistan as a mill worker was named as one of the world’s “500 most influential Muslims” by the Middle East thinktank the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, Jordan.

The MP's remarks have been dotted with discussion of whether the vote itself, which is legally non-binding, will make any difference.

During a speech by former foreign minister and Labour Party MP Jack Straw, one politician intervened: "This is a backbench motion, it has no effect on government policy and it is therefore futile.

Straw shot back: "We represent the people of Britain," if this motion goes through it will make a difference."

Jack Straw went on to remind MPs that Barack Obama, in his speech to the UN a year ago, looked forward to welcoming "an independent sovereign state of Palestine" as a new member of the world body by September 2011.

In a letter to MPs last month Straw wrote: 

"I'm as firm as anyone about Israel's right to security, as a sovereign state. We all understand the fears that Israelis have for their security, but it will not enhance their security to deny the right of self-determination permanently to the Palestinians. The World Bank, the UN, the EU and the IMF have all assessed the progress of the Palestinian Authority and judged it to be ready for statehood."

Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman said it would be a "game changer" if parliament passed the motion.

"The recognition of Palestine by the House of Commons will affect the international situation," said Kaufman.

"This House can create a historic new situation and I call on members on both sides of the House to give the Palestinians their rights and show the Israelis that they cannot suppress another people all the time."

Much of the debate has focused on what impact recognition of a Palestinian state would have on the two bodies (Hamas and the Palestinian Authority) currently governing Palestine with opponents of the vote suggesting it would strengthen the hand of Hamas, an organisation deemed terrorists by the U.S.

MP James Clappison accused Hamas, the Islamist government controlling Gaza, of "locking Gaza into a deeply depressing cycle of violence" and being "reckless to the consequences of this to the population.

Clappison said: "The Palestinian authority took a backward step when they entered into a unity agreement earlier this year."

Alan Duncan, a British Conservative Party politician and former minister for international development, is the next to step up.

Cheers go up as Duncan says: "recognition is not a reward for anything, it's a right."

Duncan goes on to say that endorsing a state is not the same as endorsing a government, referring to Hamas.

Grahame Morris, opens the debate by telling MPs that they have a "historic opportunity to take a small but symbolically important step" by voting in favour of the motion.

"Recognition is not an Israeli bargaining chip. It is a Palestinian right. One that has to form the basis of any serious negotiation."

British MPs voting in favour of recognising a Palestinian state gathered earlier outside the Houses of Parliament: