Britain's
opposition Labour Party has announced in its General Election
manifesto that a Labour government will “immediately recognize” a
state of Palestine if the party wins the June 8 vote.
Revealed by Labour leader Jeremy
Corbyn on Tuesday in Bradford, the manifesto called for an end to
Israel’s blockade and occupation of Palestine as well as
construction of illegal settlements on the occupied Palestinian
lands.
“Labour is committed to a
comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on a two-state solution
– a secure Israel alongside a secure and viable state of
Palestine,” the document said.
“There can be no military
solution to this conflict and all sides must avoid taking action that
would make peace harder to achieve,” the manifesto stated.
“Labour will continue to press for an immediate return to
meaningful negotiations leading to a diplomatic resolution.”
“A Labour government will
immediately recognize the state of Palestine,” it declared.
“We will also urge
negotiations towards a political resolution in all other regions
currently experiencing conflict, including Kashmir, Libya, Nigeria,
Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, and give our strong support to
those countries already working to end decades of division, including
Colombia, Cyprus and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” the
documented noted.
It seems the Labour Party was
forced to make some amendments to its manifesto because an earlier
leaked version even highlighted the “humanitarian crisis”
in the occupied Palestinian territories, denouncing
settlement-building in the occupied West Bank as “wrong, illegal
and a threat to the peace process.”
Over half a million Israelis live
in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli
occupation of the Palestinian territories. The presence and continued
expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine has created a
major obstacle for the efforts to establish peace in the Middle East.
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