Baroness Mobarik (Con)

My Lords, I first congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, on introducing this Private Member’s Bill, which I strongly support. Some have said that a two-state solution is no longer an option, but they have yet to propose an alternative. I believe that the only viable option is a two-state solution. Some 5.32 million Palestinians are recognised as a distinct population with the inalienable right to self-determination under the UN charter, making a Palestinian territory comprising the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. The Montevideo criteria have been referred to, but the Palestinians have a defined territory, as mentioned. It is universally accepted that this territory does not need to be fixed or of a particular size. When the UK recognised Israel in 1950, it did so without defining borders or its capital. Palestine is recognised by 75% of the countries around the world, a global majority. The UK has supported the various UN resolutions that affirm the rights of the Palestinian people. It is the occupation that has hampered Palestinians in the achievement of self-determination and territorial integrity. The Palestinians are a highly educated people, with a distinct culture. They need our support to achieve a brighter future and should not have their human rights, which we all take for granted, denied. Sympathy and symbolic gestures will not result in change. Recognition will give the people of Palestine the dignity and credibility to negotiate as equals. To make a two-state solution a reality means listening to those on the ground, the ordinary peace-loving people of both Israel and Palestine, of whom there are many, despite the divisive rhetoric and misery of this past year and a half. Palestinian and Israeli organisations are working together to shift the dynamics on the ground and combat settler violence and rampages through Palestinian towns and villages, and are educating and campaigning within and among their communities for diplomacy and non-violence. The organisations include: Rabbis for Human Rights, Looking the Occupation in the Eye, Combatants for Peace, Molad, Ir Amim, the Holy Land Trust, House of Lope and Nonviolence International, to name but a few of the many. I welcome that in December the Prime Minister endorsed the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace to support civil society in the region as part of the work to negotiate a two-state solution. This is an important and welcome step, but in an ever-worsening situation the UK must do more, show real leadership and bring a degree of urgency to the matter. We must enhance the international rules-based order so that all are enfranchised and protected by it, whether in the global north or the global south, rather than benefiting only those with power who can discard it whenever they wish. Most importantly, we must do everything to protect our humanity with integrity and our moral compass.