Recognition is a right, not a gift, says Palestinian envoy to UK

LONDON (AA) – The UK has a moral, political and legal responsibility to recognize the state of Palestine, which is a long overdue right, not a gift, says the Palestinian ambassador to the UK.

While the dire humanitarian situation and efforts towards a possible cease-fire in the Gaza Strip are among the top issues when it comes to Palestine, a political solution has recently taken the spotlight again following British Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s remarks.

Last week, Cameron said the UK would consider recognizing a Palestinian state as part of efforts to bring about an “irreversible” peace settlement.

His remarks were rejected by Israeli officials but hailed by Palestinians, including Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, who called them “historic.”

“We said that was significant, especially the part that this is the first UK foreign secretary that says that recognition should not be an outcome of a negotiation process but could be an entry point to it,” Zomlot said in an interview.

So now, recognition is a bilateral matter between Palestine and the UK which does not include Israel.

“We need action, not words. So what are they waiting for? Recognition is long overdue, long overdue. It is a Palestinian right; this is not a gift,” said Zomlot.

“It is a British historic, moral, political and legal responsibility, given that it was Lord Balfour, lord before Lord Cameron, who promised our land without consulting us and canceled us as a nation,” he added.

Zomlot stressed that this is a moment when Britain corrected the “historic injustice” at that time, adding it is a moment “when they actually do it, not (just) talk about it.”

Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was against the establishment of a Palestinian state in any way after the October 7 attacks.

Later, former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, the chairman of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu Party, claimed that the possibility of a two-state solution has vanished.

– ‘Netanyahu placing his interests before interests of region and world’ –

Zomlot said there are many efforts by regional partners including Qatar, Egypt and several other countries to try to achieve an immediate, permanent and comprehensive cease-fire.

But “Netanyahu personally is placing his interests before the interests of the region and the world,” he said, referring to Israel’s opposition to a permanent cease-fire.

“Netanyahu knows that once we achieve a cease-fire, it is a moment when he will end up in court and maybe in jail, and therefore his main interest and those of the fanatics in his government is to maintain the aggression against our people, to spread the conflict all over the region.”

He stressed that this is a moment when certain powers, including the US, “have to put their full pressure” on Netanyahu particularly. Otherwise, he “will drag all of us into his immoral orbits of wars and reprisals and revenge and this genocidal rage that has led to the complete and utter destruction of Gaza and the murder, mass murder of children, women and tens of thousands.”

“So the issue is Netanyahu, the issue is Israel, and we need more pressure to enforce a cease-fire,” he added.

Last week, the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, said Hamas received a proposal discussed at the Paris meeting and it received an invitation to visit Cairo to discuss the agreement, without specifying the date of the visit.

On January 28, a meeting was held in Paris with the participation of Israel, the US, Egypt and Qatar to discuss a prisoner exchange deal and the cessation of the war in Gaza, conducted in three stages, according to Palestinian and American sources.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on Gaza since October 7, killing at least 27,365 Palestinians and injuring 66,630 others.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.