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UK turns Palestine recognition into tool of control

Tuesday, 23 September 2025 5:15 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 23 September 2025 5:39 PM ]

Britain's PM Keir Starmer speaks at a press conference in Aylesbury, central England, September 18, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has tied the formal recognition of Palestine to a series of conditions, including ending stipends to families of Palestinian prisoners and those killed by Israel, before any diplomatic ties or progress on a "two-state solution" can proceed.

While hailed in London as a landmark foreign policy move, the recognition comes with restrictions that directly impact the Palestinian people.

For Palestinians, these payments are a crucial form of social welfare, essential for survival amid decades of occupation and deprivation.

According to Arab and PA officials, President Mahmoud Abbas has already signaled to French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that he will end the stipends through an official decree.

The second demand targets Palestinian education. Britain and its European partners claim that Palestinian schoolbooks foster hostility towards Israel.

Sources say that Abbas could face pressure to implement curriculum reforms aimed at appeasing Israel and its Western allies.

Additional conditions call for political restructuring within the PA and the holding of new elections.

While Western powers frame these measures as steps toward state-building, many Palestinians view them as efforts to strengthen an unpopular body long seen as collaborating with Israel and its Western backers.

Britain, Canada, Australia formally recognize Palestine

The three major US allies formally recognized the state of Palestine as many traditional backers of Israel have said they will follow suit.

Britain, together with France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Malta, and Canada, is pushing for what it calls “tangible, verifiable, measurable commitments” from the PA, effectively turning recognition into a mechanism of control.

Meanwhile, Israel has threatened retaliation against the European states recognizing Palestinian statehood, including possible diplomatic expulsions and restrictions on foreign consulates in Al-Quds.

In response, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper defended London's move as a matter of “urgency and principle.”

Addressing the United Nations, she warned Israel against further land occupation in the occupied West Bank and described recognition as a path to “peace and justice.”

Portugal, France, Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Britain, Canada, and Australia formally recognized the state of Palestine on Sunday and Monday, amid growing public pressure to end their complicity in Israel's genocide in Gaza.

Israel's genocidal war on the besieged strip has so far killed more than 65,344 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

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