Recognition is the beginning
Posted: 22nd September 2025
Recognition is the beginning
The statement below sets out the Britain Palestine Project’s considered view on the UK’s recognition of the State of Palestine. Recognition is a vital first step, but it must be given real meaning through action. Britain’s historic responsibilities, and its obligations as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, require more than symbolic gestures: they demand decisive measures to end genocide and famine in Gaza, to stop illegal settlement expansion, and to support Palestinian statehood on the basis of international law.
Our recommendations are rooted in Britain’s legal duties under the ICJ Advisory Opinion of July 2024, UN Security Council Resolution 2334, and the Genocide Convention. They provide a practical framework for turning recognition into a pathway towards peace, justice, and equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis alike.
On behalf of the BPP, I commend this statement to policymakers, parliamentarians, and the public as a roadmap for Britain to fulfil its responsibilities with clarity and purpose.
best wishes
Andrew Whitley
Chair, Britain Palestine
Britain Palestine Project: Recognition is the beginning
Today’s recognition of the State of Palestine by the UK is an important, long overdue step. More than a century after the 1917 Balfour Declaration affirmed support for a Jewish homeland – on the explicit condition that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine” – the UK should now act decisively to remedy the second, broken part of that promise.
Recognition must be the start of a sustained process through which Britain finally fulfils its historic responsibility to advance Palestinian self-determination while meeting contemporary legal and political obligations as a permanent member of the UN Security Council charged with upholding international peace and security. Moving beyond words, it should now use all the tools at its disposal to press for an immediate end to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, accompanied by the release of all Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians.
The Britain Palestine Project, a non-partisan charity focused on Britain’s past and present responsibilities in this conflict, calls on our government to play a decisive leadership role in shaping a future in which both peoples – Israeli and Palestinian – can enjoy peace, security and freedom on their shared historic land. At a time when competing proposals for the future of Gaza threaten to rob Palestinians of their agency, Britain must work to end not just the Gaza war but the unlawful Israeli military occupation of 1967.
On Gaza, Hamas will play no part in governance. The BPP supports the full withdrawal of Israeli forces and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force responsible to the UN Security Council and the Arab League. Another neo-colonial administration of Palestinian Territories is unacceptable. With international assistance, the acknowledged authority in Ramallah must be enabled to resume responsibility for Gaza’s governance and work for its early reunification with the rest of Palestine.
End Genocide, Stop Famine
The UK must align its policy with its obligations under international law to prevent and punish grave breaches consistently, without fear or favour. More than three quarters of the international community now recognises Palestine. For the UK and the like-minded, recognition should lead to recourse to the following measures:
- Military: Impose a full arms embargo and suspend all forms of military cooperation until Israel demonstrates compliance with ICJ rulings. Prosecute here dual nationals charged with committing war crimes.
- Sanctions: With partners, pursue coordinated measures including targeted sanctions comparable to those applied over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, commensurate with the grave breaches of International Humanitarian Law and the 1948 Genocide Convention committed by Israel.
- Boycotts: Suspend all cultural, sporting and academic links with Israel until it ends genocidal actions in Gaza, lifts the 18-year siege of the territory, and enables the unhindered distribution of humanitarian aid by UN agencies to all those in need.
- Recovery and Return Home: Enable the early return home of all displaced persons. Engage with partners in a Marshall Plan scale comprehensive endeavour to revive and rebuild the territory, prioritising restoration of essential services (eg water, electricity and sewage), and rebuilding health facilities, schools and universities.
- Justice and Accountability: Give full diplomatic support to the ICC, ICJ and other legal bodies such as the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry; execute arrest warrants; demand ICRC access to Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners detained without trial.
Ensure its territorial integrity and economic viability by fulfilling UK legal obligations under the ICJ rulings and UNSCR 2334 — including practical measures to stop UK support for Israeli settlements and the settlement economy:
- Settlements: Ban settlement goods and services; prohibit UK finance, investment, or charitable support to settlement enterprises – see full note here.
- Trade: Suspend the UK–Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement and 2030 Roadmap, invoking the human rights clause. Lift these measures only after a verified settlement freeze and irreversible steps to end the occupation.
- Multilateral Standing: Consolidate recognition by voting for Palestine’s full UN membership and upgrading bilateral representation. Support future applications for membership of other global bodies such as the Commonwealth and the World Trade Organisation.
- Equal Visa regime: Implement an equal visa regime for the States of Israel and Palestine. Require declarations from Israelis on their military service in Gaza to prevent entry to the UK of those implicated in crimes against humanity.
- Democratic Renewal: Condition UK support to Palestine on the full restoration of democratic life, holding free and fair elections at all levels as soon as conditions permit, as well as combating corruption and ensuring respect for human rights and the rule of law, monitored by independent Palestinian institutions.
- Palestinian Economic Viability: Support revision of the 1994 Paris Protocols signed by Israel and the PLO, helping Palestine to gain control over its economy, notably tax revenues. Expand tariff free access and fast track customs clearance for Palestinian origin goods under a revised UK–State of Palestine agreement.