The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has delivered a letter signed by over 300 Muslim groups to 10 Downing Street urging Prime Minister Keir Starmer to show “moral leadership” and swiftly recognise the Palestinian State.
The signatories, comprising organisations from every region of the UK, including mosques, student societies, charities and advocacy groups, are calling on the British government to urgently:
- Join European countries such as Spain in recognising a Palestinian state
- Demand an immediate end to the mass killing of civilians
- Ensure the safe return of all hostages both Israeli and Palestinian
- Facilitate the immediate and unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza
- Cease all arms exports and military support to the Israeli government
In a statement released to the press, the Secretary General of the MCB, Dr Wajid Akhter, explained why British Muslims are applying renewed pressure of Starmer’s government.
“We have rightly mobilised a coalition of the willing to oppose Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukraine, yet the illegal occupation of Palestine and the mass killing of Palestinian civilians is met with silence.
“We urge Prime Minister Starmer to show moral leadership and act swiftly. Britain has an opportunity to lead international efforts towards ending this conflict and recognising Palestinian statehood. France has indicated that they are going to recognise a Palestinian state in June. Norway, Spain and many other European nations have already done so.
“It would be a tragedy if Britain was to miss this opportunity to be on the right side of history and to lead on an issue that every Government has been committed to but not acted on.”
Since October 2023, at least 51,000 people have been killed in Gaza. In the past five weeks alone, at least 322 children have been killed and 609 more injured amid a renewed Israeli offensive.
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According to UNICEF, 15,000 children have been killed and over 34,000 injured, with nearly one million children repeatedly displaced.
Why won’t the UK recognise Palestine?
Nearly 150 countries recognise a Palestinian state, including, as of last year, Norway, Spain and Ireland. France recently indicated that it may recognise Palestine in June 2025.
The UK has close ties to the war for the Holy Land as during WW1 the British aided an Arab revolt to essentially destroy the Ottoman Caliphate and divide up the Muslim world along newly designed European colonialist lines – known historically as the Sykes-Picot Agreement.
Palestine wound up becoming the British Mandate for Palestine and under British rule Zionists from Europe began to colonise the land and eventually forced the Palestinians out of much of their homeland at gunpoint during the 1948 Nakba.
The Balfour Declaration, issued in 1917, was Britain’s promise to European Zionist settlers that Palestine will be permitted to become “a national home for the Jewish people” in line with the demands of the Zionist Movement.
Whilst superficially recognising that the rights of the Arab population should not be discarded, this Declaration was a huge blow to Palestinians and led to the increased colonisation of Palestine.
As a result, Britain has towed a very pro-Israel foreign policy line ever since, making No.10 reluctant to ever recognise a Palestinian state.
On April 29, 2025, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” with the Palestinian Authority which underscored the UK’s continued support for a two-state solution and the UK’s commitment to the eventual recognition of a Palestinian state.
However, many experts and Palestinian academics have expressed deep doubt about the two-state solution, believing it is a dead deal which will ultimately never lead to statehood.
While the UK dodges recognition, Israeli settlers continue to occupy Palestinian land in the West Bank and the genocide in Gaza remains ongoing.
The UK has taken steps to outlaw the BDS boycott movement in Britain and also refuses to acknowledge events in Gaza as a genocide.
