As Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Britain’s landmark decision to recognise the State of Palestine on Sunday, the small team in the Palestinian mission to the UK erupted in cheers of joy.
“This is a historic moment,” beamed Palestinian envoy to the UK Husam Zomlot, watching the televised announcement at the mission in west London.
Canada and Australia took the same step in a coordinated decision marking a pivotal shift in Western foreign policy, with Israel under increasing international pressure over its deadly war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“This is a South Africa moment for Palestine,” the head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK told AFP in the building, which will soon be designated as Palestine’s embassy in Britain.
He was referring to the end of South Africa’s white apartheid government in the 1990s, which came after growing international pressure and isolation.
Recognition was an “act of assurances to the Palestinian people that they hope for a better future and … peace is possible”.
Zomlot was born in a refugee camp in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. “As a small boy from Rafah, this is all I was raised to know,” he said, gesturing towards the television screen which flashed with breaking news headlines about the recognition of Palestinian statehood.
“Well done, that’s a great moment,” said Zomlot, embracing and congratulating his team, as AFP journalists in the room witnessed Starmer’s announcement after a tense day of anticipation for the mission.
“It’s been decades,” joked one staff member, who wished to remain anonymous.
The UK government had said in July it would recognise Palestinian statehood in September ahead of the annual UN General Assembly unless Israel took “substantive” steps, including reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine,” Starmer said in a video message posted around 2 pm local time (1300 GMT).
– ‘Merely the beginning’ –
While the recognition, which will be echoed by France, Belgium and other countries at the United Nations next week, is a largely symbolic move, Zomlot said he hoped it would be “actual, practical, actionable.”
“Recognition is not the destination. Recognition is merely the beginning, the first foundational step towards … making sure that Britain takes its historic responsibility towards the Palestinian people,” said the envoy.
The UK’s Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told the UN in July it was “with the hand of history on our shoulders” that London planned to recognise Palestinian statehood, given Britain’s pivotal role in creating the State of Israel through the 1917 Balfour Declaration.
The decision is “not only about Palestine”, said Zomlot. “It’s also about Britain. It’s about correcting historic injustice.”
The team will hold a ceremony to mark the announcement on Monday. A carefully folded Palestinian flag, which will be raised outside the building, sits patiently at the reception of the mission waiting to be unfurled.
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