The UK's decision to recognise Palestinian statehood helped
to bring about the ceasefire deal in Gaza, Sir Keir Starmer has told MPs.
Speaking after a summit in Egypt, the PM stressed that the agreement signed there belonged to US President Donald Trump, telling MPs: "This is his deal."
But he said the UK had been in a position to work "behind the scenes" for a ceasefire "precisely because of the approach this government takes," including its recognition of a Palestinian state.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said recognising Palestine without setting a condition for the release of hostages was "rewarding terrorism" and accused the PM of "diminishing" UK influence in the Middle East.
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan made the remarks at a press briefing with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in New York, following a high-level international conference on implementing the two-state solution, co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and France.
“For the kingdom, recognition is very much tied to the establishment of the Palestinian state,” Prince Faisal said when asked whether Saudi Arabia could relaunch the Abraham Accords recognition for Palestine as a prerequisite for normalizing relations with Israel.
“We certainly hope that the clear consensus shown today – which will be shown tomorrow as well – and the clear momentum towards establishing that Palestinian state can open the conversation about normalization,” he added.
Faisal emphasized that normalization with Israel cannot be discussed while Israel’s genocide continues in Gaza.
On October 17, the Times of Israel noted "Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stated that it will not normalize relations with Israel unless Jerusalem agrees to establish a credible, time-bound, irreversible path to the creation of a Palestinian state."
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Many of us were sucked in by the line that Arab nations were focused on this.
In September of 2020, the Abraham Accords, presumably negotiated by President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, were signed at the White House. They led to a peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco. As the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace explained six months ago
From the United States’ perspective, the Abraham Accords served a dual purpose of solidifying the U.S. role as regional security guarantor while bypassing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. By presenting itself as a patron and guarantor of these accords, Washington also sought to counterbalance China’s rising regional influence, particularly in advanced technologies. The Joe Biden administration endorsed and tried to carry over the accords, with Saudi Arabia emerging as the focus of its expanded normalization efforts. However, this process came to a standstill after the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, prompting Israel to invade Gaza.
This process came to a standstill after the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023.
The attack of 10/7/23 came about for a few reasons, most of all because Hamas is an evil organization which revels in killing and raping Jews. Secondly, there was a failure on the part of both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli intelligence services..
Nonetheless, there was a tertiary factor- the likelihood of an impending agreement between Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. If Hamas were to attack, October of 2023 promised the greatest opportunity for success. Tragically, that promise was fulfilled.
Two years ago, Riyadh's alleged interest in a Palestinian state was no obstacle to its interest in joining the Abraham Accords. The nation did not care about creation of that entity back then, and it does not care now. The professed concern for the Palestinians was a sham then and is a sham now.
A former television executive, LaCorte notes long-time animosity between Kuwait and the Palestinians and remarks (at 6:55 of the video below)
Other countries have less violent but similar stories- Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia. Palestinians were often welcomed, at least to some extent, then expelled, either quietly or through mass expulsions. Each of these episodes showed Arab states and their ambivalence toward the Palestinians. They're publicly supportive of their cause but privately suspicious of integrating them into their societies. Keeping Palestinians separate and stateless became, in part a political strategy and maintaining their refugee crisis as a leverage against Israel rather than permanently solving it.
Wish for a Palestinian state is the company line. But the notion of Palestinian statehood does not appear in the Trumpian 20-point plan until point #19, which reads
While Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.
In an agreement which, aside from a ceasefire (already broken) and exchange of hostages held by Hamas for prisoners held by Israel, is largely aspirational, the Palestinian state thing doesn't show up until 90% of the conditions are laid out. And there it is "the conditions may finally be in place for a "credible pathway," whatever "credible" means and however long, arduous, and eventually unsuccessful that "pathway" may be.
You can take that to the bank- not. It is no more guaranteed than most promises from Donald Trump and relies on actions taken by other entities. And yet, Saudi Arabia and others oh, so devoted to the idea of a Palestinian state signed the agreement.
This is not to suggest that they did so in order to sell the Palestinians out. They came to an agreement because, in a strike Israel claimed was directed toward Hamas officials meeting in Doha, bombed Qatar. Qatar had been Hamas' strongest ally but had remained safe from Israeli retaliation. The attack failed to eliminate any Hamas but did allegedly kill six Qataris. No more would it be so, and other Arab states had to wonder if they themselves would remain off-limits. They wanted the war to end because it now posed a threat to them. Israel now was the Big Man on Campus.
Consequently, the agreement did not receive widespread endorsement in the Middle East in order to deny Muslim Palestinians their own state. However, the Arab nations probably realized that at most, it makes realization of that long-held dream no more likely than without an agreement. Whatever else has changed in the region, one thing has not: their fellow Muslims dream of the day when the Palestinians no longer exist.
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