The UK should recognise Palestine as an independent state, Birmingham MPs have told the Government. Khalid Mahmood, MP for Perry Barr, Tahir Ali, MP for Hall Green, and Liam Byrne, MP for Hodge Hill, called for the UK to formally recognise Palestine, according to the UK newspaper Birmingham Mail.
The House of Commons voted in 2014 to recognise Palestine. However, the UK government has refused to do so, arguing that it supports the creation of a Palestinian state but an independent state does not currently exist.
Speaking in Parliament, Mr Mahmood argued that Israel and Palestine should both have the same status in order to make peace. He said: “Peace is always there for us to recognise, but we can only do that when we are able to sit down together at the same table with the same status as each other. That is what is important, and that is what we are talking about here.”
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Byrne highlighted the measures taken by Israel to enforce the occupation, and the seizure of land belonging to Palestinians. He said: “I have stood in Palestine and seen how the route taken by Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem is now impossible to take, because it is broken up by walls.”
“I have heard children talk about the post-traumatic stress disorder they now suffer. I have listened to shepherds whose lives have been destroyed because they have no legal right to build a home of their own. I have listened to farmers whose water has been stolen,” he added.
